International Livestock Management
Bachelor of Animal Husbandry
Content programme
First and second year
In the first year you will get an overall picture of the broad context of livestock farming in Europe. What influence does the consumer have on the market and how does this effect the way farmers have to produce? What opportunities for profit are there in farming? How do you manage the farms in practice? Working in collaboration with other institutions and agribusinesses in the Netherlands, you will also gain a broad range of practical knowledge, in farming as well as in agricultural businesses.
The second year starts with a ten-week work placement at two different farms, in different countries. Back in Wageningen you will have a term in which the management of production processes is the main topic. The third and fourth term relate to production factors analysis (land, capital investments and labour), including a project in which you have to develop your own practical business plan.
Third and fourth year
The third and fourth year are divided into four semesters, each with a different character.
The first semester is a twenty-week course in which giving advice to and the analysis of livestock farms is the key subject. Some weeks are spent at Practical Training Centres. Within this first semester livestock management subjects such as farm management, animal health, fodder production, breeding, and farm technology are studied and applied in livestock production management assignments and advisory assignments.
In the second semester you will take a work placement of 20 weeks at a selected company within the livestock sector. Focus of this placement is learning by doing research, developing plans, and supporting the management.
In the third semester you take a minor, which is a subject within the field of your personal choice. Minors offered at our university are: International Entrepreneurship, Applied Animal Science, Equine Leisure and Sports, International Agritrade and Fair Trade Management. Or you could do a pre-masters minor at Wageningen University. It is also possible to select a course (at bachelors' level) at another university, in another country.
The fourth semester contains your final project, your thesis. You have to write a thesis about a specific innovation or development in animal production. You will be doing research and develop new activities, processes or products for a specific company or organisation within the livestock sector, in or outside the Netherlands.