Crops Continuing Education
Agriculture
Contact Us
Kim Hinton
Agricultural Sciences Continuing Education
kim.hinton@lakelandcollege.ca
780 853 0222
Your one-stop shop for everything crop related. We have several topics including grain marketing, agronomy, integrated crop management and nutrient management.
Courses that Lakeland offers are outlined below. Check those you are interested in for a brief description and see if they are currently open for registration.
Better understand credit within the agriculture industry. In the current risky economic environment, credit should be managed as closely and as carefully as other production inputs. This course will help break down concerns in credit and risk management, while allowing you the opportunity to better manage your financial affairs.
You will:
- evaluate loans
- establish short and long-term financial objectives within your operation
- understand debt service capacity of your operation
- understand the farm’s ability to service debt
- understand the levels of uncertainty within your operation
- create provisions that reduce uncertainty
- learn the language of credit to create understanding when manage your finances
Course length: 1 month to complete the course
Total hours: 15 hours
Cost: $295.24 (GST included)
Delivery: online
Prerequisite: none
Registration closes: Dec. 31, 2025
This course compares and contrasts different types of business entities, examines farm income tax, interprets farm financial statements, and calculates and assesses farm financial ratios.
You'll learn:
- the types of business entities
- benefits, drawbacks and tax implications
- farm income tax, personal income tax rates and corporate tax rates
- cash flow management
- farm financial ratios and ratio analysis
Course length: n/a
Total hours: n/a
Cost: $295.24 (includes GST)
Delivery: online
Prerequisite: none
Registration closes: Dec. 31, 2025
Build a stronger, more sustainable farm business. This course gives you the tools to plan, budget, and invest with confidence while setting up your operation for long-term success.
You’ll learn:
- different business structures and how to choose what works best for your farm
- how to create a strong business plan that includes marketing, operations, HR and financial strategies
- how to build a budget that keeps up with changing markets and production conditions.
- capital budgeting
- how to measure return on investment (ROI) and compare investment opportunities
- the importance of succession planning and passing your farm on successfully
By the end of the course, you’ll know how to apply business and finance principles directly to your own operation.
Course length: 1 month to complete the course
Total hours:
Cost: $295.24 (GST included)
Delivery: online
Prerequisite: none
Registration closes: Dec. 31, 2025
This course is an overview of Integrated Crop Management (ICM). The emphasis is on the importance of integration across all of the disciplines critical for crop production. Soil and plant science, while not the foundation of this course, will be included where necessary in the course work.
You'll learn:
- the principles of ICM
- how ICM systems function
- current methods and technologies required for practical and efficient ICM
There are 7 modules in the course:
- Agronomic Practices & Crop Establishment
- Tillage Systems
- Crop Rotation
- Yield Building with Crop Genetics
- Yield Building with Fertilizers
- Yield Protection
- Precision Farming
Course length: 11 weeks to complete all modules
Total hours: 40 - 60 hours
Cost: $780 (GST included)
Delivery: online
Prerequisite: none
This online course covers understanding, managing and planning for optimal nutrient benefits.
You will:
- review the components of nutrient management plants
- examine the Agricultural Operations Practices Act (AOPA) and how it affects you
- look at the importance of soil testing
- learn how to understand the economic potential of a field
- review manure collection, storing and treatment
- study the nutrient content of manure
- investigate appropriate times to apply manure and fertilizer
- explore transporting manure and fertilizer
- delve into appropriate manure and fertilizer rates to get desired crop productivity
The course has 10 units:
- Fundamentals of Soil Nutrients and Plant Interactions
- Fundamentals of Manure and Fertilizer as Nutrient Sources
- Alberta's Agricultural Operations Practices Act (AOPA) and Manure Management
- Soil Sampling and Soil Sample Analysis
- Assessing Fields for Nutrient Application
- Storing, Treating & Managing Livestock Manure
- Manure Sampling and Interpretation
- Nutrient Application for Methods and Best Management Practices
- Manure and Fertilizer Handling Safety & Emergency Planning
- Calculating Nutrient Requirements and Applications Rates
Course length: 15 weeks to complete
Total hours: 50 - 60 hours to complete all units
Cost: $780 (GST included)
Delivery: online
Prerequisite: none
This course is a comprehensive online review of perennial forage agronomy as it pertains
to the agriculture retail sector. It will provide you with basic understanding of
customer needs and provide reference materials to help you support customers in selecting
products and management practices needed to improve their forage production.
You’ll work through 3 modules:
- Seed Selection
- Establishment
- Fertility
Course length: 7 weeks to complete all modules
Total hours: approximately 20 hours
Cost: $699 (includes GST)
Delivery: online
Prerequisite: none