Department of Food, Agricultural and Resource Economics, Ontario Agricultural College

The food and agriculture sector connects people with the world’s natural resource base and is at the heart of many of the most pressing global issues. In this major, students will acquire the analytical and management skills needed to effectively deal with emerging issues and challenges related to food and agriculture, such as food poverty, food safety and insecurity, and sustainability. Building on an understanding of economic theory and applied methods in both the Canadian and world contexts, a variety of career opportunities arise in industry, government agencies and non-governmental organizations.

Beyond the core offering, the major provides the flexibility for students to pursue thematic areas of study, as well as an opportunity to take additional liberal arts courses. In addition, this major provides excellent background for those students planning to undertake graduate work in food, agricultural or resource economics and other fields of applied economics.

Learning Outcomes

Upon completion of the program, students will be able to:

• Reflect critically on the complex challenges facing the agri-food sector in Canada and internationally and the implications of these challenges for agri-food policy and business decisions.
• Apply the concepts and analytical approaches of economics to the analysis of the agri-food sector and related policies in Canada and internationally.
• Identify all relevant stakeholders in the policy process and determine their needs and translate them in the framework of societal costs and benefits.
• Select and apply appropriate research methods to the analysis of agri-food markets and policies.
• Interpret the results of market and policy analysis and discuss the implications for policy and business decisions.
• Communicate effectively through written, visual and orals means with business, government and other stakeholders.
• Work independently and as part of a team to prioritize tasks and manage time while maintaining academic and professional integrity.

Credit Summary

(20.00 Total Credits)

Course List

Code	Title	Credits
Required core courses		9.50
Restricted electives (from lists)		2.00
Electives (must include 1.50 Humanities from two subject areas)		8.50
Total Credits		20

The recommended program sequence is outlined below.

Major (Honours Program)

Course List

Code	Title	Credits
Semester 1
AGR*1110	Introduction to the Agri-Food Systems	1.00
ECON*1050	Introductory Microeconomics	0.50
0.50 electives		0.50
Select 0.50 credits from the following:
MATH*1030	Business Mathematics	0.50
MATH*1080	Elements of Calculus I	0.50
MATH*1200	Calculus I	0.50
Semester 2
ACCT*1220	Introductory Financial Accounting	0.50
ECON*1100	Introductory Macroeconomics	0.50
FARE*1300	Poverty, Food and Hunger	0.50
FARE*1400	Economics of the Agri-Food System	1.00
Semester 3
ECON*2310	Intermediate Microeconomics	0.50
ECON*2740	Economic Statistics	0.50
1.50 electives or restricted electives		1.50
Semester 4
ECON*2410	Intermediate Macroeconomics	0.50
ECON*2770	Introductory Mathematical Economics	0.50
FARE*2410	Agri-food Markets and Policy	0.50
1.00 electives or restricted electives		1.00
Semester 5
ECON*3740	Introduction to Econometrics	0.50
FARE*2700	Survey of Natural Resource Economics	0.50
1.50 electives or restricted electives		1.50
Semester 6
FARE*3170	Cost-Benefit Analysis	0.50
2.00 electives or restricted electives		2.00
Semester 7
FARE*3030	The Firm and Markets	0.50
2.00 electives or restricted electives		2.00
Semester 8
FARE*4000	Agricultural and Food Policy	0.50
2.00 electives or restricted electives		2.00

Restricted Electives

A minimum of 2.00 credits from the following lists, regardless of area:

Course List

Code	Title	Credits
Food and Agribusiness Management
FARE*4220	Advanced Agribusiness Management	0.50
FARE*4240	Futures and Options Markets	0.50
FARE*4360	Marketing Research	0.50
FARE*4370	Food & Agri Marketing Management	0.50
MGMT*3320	Financial Management	0.50
Food Industry Economics and Management
FARE*3310	Operations Management	0.50
FARE*3320	Supply and Value Chain Management	0.50
FARE*4330	Advanced Operations Management In the Agri-Food Sector	0.50
FARE*4380	Agri-Food Retailing, Merchandising and Sales	0.50
FARE*4500	Decision Science	0.50
International Agricultural Development Economics
ECON*2650	Introductory Development Economics	0.50
FARE*3000	International Food Sector and Policy Analysis	0.50
FARE*3250	Food Security, Nutrition and International Development	0.50
Resource Economics
ECON*4930	Environmental Economics	0.50
FARE*4290	Land Economics	0.50
FARE*4310	Resource Economics	0.50

Notes: A student may obtain permission to substitute certain other courses for the ones listed if the substitute courses fit with the students' program. Approval from a departmental advisor is required. Unless taken to satisfy the requirements of another program, no student may receive credit in this program for more than one of the following statistics prerequisites ECON*2740 Economic Statistics, STAT*2040 Statistics I, STAT*2060 Statistics for Business Decisions, or STAT*2080 Introductory Applied Statistics I.