Olds College Launches Ag Communications Course

Oct 13, 2022

Olds College is launching an Agriculture Communications Certificate for fall 2023, an Oct. 11 news release said. The first of its kind in Canada one year program will prepare students for a career supporting the agriculture and agri-food industry in communications and marketing.

“We are very excited to offer the first communications program in the country that is focused on supporting the agriculture and agri-food industry,” Debbie Thompson, Olds College Vice President of academic and student experience, said in the release. “Our students will learn both the fundamentals of marketing and communications, along with specific competencies in agriculture advocacy.”

The new program will be offered online and offer course focusing on writing, videography, photography, marketing and audio production, as well as, strategic planning for social media, public relations and crisis communications. The release said students will also complete a 14-week internship within the agriculture and agri-food industry that will provide them with work-integrated learning opportunities.

“Agriculture has important stories to tel,” Bertrand Bickersteth, instructor, communications for the Werklund School of Agriculture, said in the release. “Graduates from this program will be equipped to work in the industry to share these stories in meaningful ways.”

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Video: Evolution of Beef Cattle Farming

The Clear Conversations podcast took to the road for a special episode recorded in Nashville during CattleCon, bringing listeners straight into the heart of the cattle industry. Host Tracy Sellers welcomed rancher Steve Wooten of Beatty Canyon Ranch in Colorado for a wide-ranging discussion that blended family history and sustainability, particularly as it relates to the future of beef production.

Sustainability emerged as a central theme of the conversation, a word that Wooten acknowledges can mean very different things depending on who you ask. For him, sustainability starts with the soil. Healthy soil produces healthy grass, which supports efficient cattle capable of producing year after year with minimal external inputs. It’s an approach that equally considers vegetation, animal efficiency, and long-term profitability.

That philosophy aligned naturally with Wooten’s involvement in the U.S. Roundtable for Sustainable Beef, where he served as a representative for the Colorado Cattlemen’s Association. The roundtable brings together the entire beef supply chain—from producers to retailers—along with universities, NGOs, and allied industries. Its goal is not regulation, Wooten emphasized, but collaboration, shared learning, and continuous improvement.