Types and Systems of Agricultural Operations

Course Description

AOM 2012C Types and Systems of Agricultural Operations is a study of "the operational and management styles utilized in agricultural situations" (statewide description). It covers how an agricultural business is organised and run: systems development, administrative structure, product research and development, service and maintenance, and machinery and equipment needs.

⚠ One institution in Florida teaches it: Valencia College, in Orlando, at 3 credits. Valencia teaches it with a horticultural focus. Its catalog reads "agricultural (horticultural) situations" and adds "operational analysis for purchasing, communications, transportation, production, and marketing." ⚠ "Lab experiences will include field trips to horticulture concerns for systems analysis." Valencia charges a special fee of $82 for the course.

Where it sits at Valencia

⚠⚠ The course is required for every student in Valencia's A.S. in Landscape and Horticulture Technology, whatever their specialization (Horticulture, Landscape, or Sustainable Agriculture). It is one of the program's intermediate courses, alongside BOT 2010C Botany, PLP 2001C Plant Pathology and SWS 2102C Soils and Fertilizers. It is also an elective in Valencia's landscape and horticulture certificate.

Why the horticultural focus makes sense in Orlando: nursery, greenhouse, floriculture and sod make up about a third of Florida's farm sales (USDA 2022 Census of Agriculture), more than all Florida livestock combined. Central Florida, and Apopka in particular, is a national centre for foliage-plant production. The "horticulture concerns" on the field trips are the region's main agricultural employers.

Learning Outcomes

Required Outcomes

• Compare the operational and management styles used in different kinds of agricultural and horticultural enterprise: owner-operated, corporate, cooperative and contract.
• Describe the process of systems development in an agricultural operation, from inputs through production to market.
• Define the administrative structure of an operation, with its roles, reporting and decision rights.
• Explain the role of product research and development, such as new cultivars, production methods and packaging.
• Plan for service and maintenance of facilities and equipment.
• Assess machinery and equipment needs and their application to an operation.
• Analyse an operation's purchasing, communications, transportation, production and marketing functions.
• Carry out a systems analysis of a working horticultural business, based on a site visit.

Optional Outcomes

• Map a nursery or greenhouse operation's annual production and sales calendar.
• Identify the regulatory touchpoints of a Florida nursery: FDACS nursery registration and plant-inspection rules, water-use permits, pesticide licensing, and worker-protection rules.
• Recommend an improvement to an operation's workflow, and support it with costs.

Major Topics

Required Topics

• Types of agricultural and horticultural operation
• Management styles and organisational structure
• Systems development and systems analysis
• Product research and development
• Service, maintenance and facilities
• Machinery and equipment needs
• Purchasing and supply
• Communications and transportation
• Production planning
• Marketing
• Field visits to working horticultural businesses

Optional Topics

• Labour management and seasonal staffing
• Logistics of shipping live plants
• Technology and automation in greenhouse operations

Resources & Tools

• An agribusiness or horticultural-business management text. Instructors vary; ask for the current choice.
• UF/IFAS Extension publications (EDIS) on nursery and greenhouse management and on production budgets.
• FDACS Division of Plant Industry guidance for nursery growers and dealers.
• The USDA Census of Agriculture Florida profile, for the size and shape of the state's industry.
• Spreadsheet software, for the operational analysis.

Career Pathways

• Farmers, ranchers and other agricultural managers (SOC 11-9013). O*NET's titles for the occupation include Nursery Manager and Greenhouse Manager. See this site's Agricultural Manager career path.
• First-line supervisors of farming workers (SOC 45-1011) on nursery and greenhouse operations.
• First-line supervisors of landscaping workers (SOC 37-1012), for students in the Landscape specialization.
• Sales, purchasing and logistics roles with growers, wholesale nurseries and horticultural suppliers.

Special Information

Offering Notes

The only carrier is Valencia. The guide records 60 contact hours: Valencia's 3 lecture and 1 lab hours a week over a 15-week term. ⚠ Field trips may add time outside the scheduled meeting. Plan transport, because sites are off campus.

Prerequisites and transfer

No prerequisite in the statewide record or Valencia's catalog. It is a course in an A.S. (career) degree, and no other Florida institution teaches the number. ⚠ A university will normally treat it as elective credit. UF's nearest courses are AOM 4455 Agricultural Operations and Systems and AEB 3133 Principles of Agribusiness Management.