"The Agriculture Science major offers a variety of courses that I could choose from that suit my interests and goals.

-Erin Ploetz,
3^rd year student

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Program Coordinator

Krista Isaacs
605 Bradfield Hall
(607) 255-0660
agsci@cornell.edu

Program Director

Dr. Antonio (Toni) DiTommaso
903 Bradfield Hall
(607) 254-4702
ad97@cornell.edu

Capstone Experience; 3 credits
AGSCI 495

Designed for seniors in the Agricultural Sciences major, this exciting course will involve team identification and analysis of agricultural problems. Students will design a project to evaluate and synthesize the problem, and develop possible options for dealing with the problem. Their projects will culminate with a written and oral report of the end product. Students will present their findings orally as part of the Seminar in Agricultural Sciences the following spring semester.

Course topics:

The capstone course will be student-driven, with students working together in interdisciplinary groups to select 'a problem' in the agricultural sciences on which to focus over the course of the semester. Guest speakers and field trips will be used to orient students to the topical area early in the semester. Possible topics include:

• Agricultural Labor and its Impacts on Farm Sustainability: Availability of a stable and legal labor supply for hand-labor, milking and berry picking; migrant farmworker policies.
• "Where the Farm Meets the City": Development pressures from urban encroachment on agriculture, neighbor relations and perceptions (especially with dairy industry), 'urban sprawl', urban agriculture and community gardens.
• Bioenergy Feedstocks: Lack of producer experience with and agronomic information about perennial grasses and unconventional oilseeds being proposed as cellulosic ethanol and biodiesel feedstock; Information about the value of different agricultural feedstocks in relation to the varying market prices for end-products.
• Food Safety: Trace-back requirements, contamination of food from field applications of pesticides and improper post-harvest handling, recent outbreaks.
• Confined Animal Feeding Operations (CAFO's): Benefits and environmental costs; regulations, compliance issues, manure storage, alternatives.
• Organic Agriculture: Costs and benefits from environmental, social and economic standpoints. Divisiveness within the agricultural community and why it occurs.
• Environmental Regulations in Agriculture: Concern over wetlands, fish and wildlife and the impact of these concerns on production practices, policy options and paybacks.