Studies Suggestion

[farmme]

My family is starting a business in farming and as I am about to graduate from high school and still not sure what I should study in university, I thought I might get a degree in agriculture. I did some research and found that an "agribusiness" degree would, I believe, be more relevant for me.

If anyone could please give me some suggestion I would really appreciate it.

The thing is I am not sure how useful it would be, or if it would be better to get a degree in Business Management, or if I should forget about it and think about something that I know I would enjoy... not that I despise agriculture or anything.

But I would really like to help my family in the future, I also know that one big reason they are starting this business is for me and my brother, and our future family.

I would also like to study abroad, ruling out the option of Kasertsart University, preferably in Asia, New Zealand or Australia.

And another thing I was wondering is if I could apply what I learn abroad back home in Thailand? Well Im sure I could but I don't think learning about the agricultural condition in another country would be useful.

These are two programs in New Zealand and Australia I found:

massey university agribusiness (type in google and first link)

uq.edu.au/study/program.html?acad_prog=2007 (type in google and first link)

If anybody could take the hassle of looking at the links and giving me some suggestions, I would be so grateful..

This "life decision" thing has been slowly killing me day after day!

Thank you so much.

[Phuket Stan]

I am a New Zealander living in Thailand for more than 7 years and have travelled extensively throughout the country....have often looked at agriculture on my trips....am sometimes amazed at the systems etc etc

Massey College is a world renowned place of learning agriculture....dont know much about the Aus one...it would depend a lot on the type of farming you would want to enter when u came back to Thailand but I am sure you would come away with a hel_l of lot more knowledge than you had before studying there and you would learn systems that many Thai farmes lack

Maybe if you wrote to the college I am sure that they could tell you a lot more

New Zealand is an agricultural based economy and I am sure that the college would be really forth coming with information for your studies

Massey is situated near Palmerston North which is quite a large city in the bottom part of the South Island....about 140 kilometres north from Wellington which is the capital

Another agricultural college you could look at is Lincoln College which is in the South Island which is also a place of high repute

Remember New Zealand has cold winters...you can go snow skiing not far from both colleges and the summers are not quite as hot as Thailand

Good Luck and even if you go for just one year I think you would find it very benifical to your future

BTW are you Thai ? if you are you have amazing English writing skills

[roundeye]

Hey Farmme, I would first like to say that you are a bright person for asking for help. That is a sign of success. Gathering information is key for making the best decision. No matter which career path you choose, gaining a business management degree will help you greatly. It can be put to use in any career choice. Many people are good at a certain trade: farming, masonry, agriculture, but will fail at their business due to a lack of knowledge of how to run a business successfully. It will teach you dicipline and how to wisely handle your money and time. Time managment is very important to a successful busness. I did not have a chance to check out those web sights yet but i will try to in future. I do not know how soon you must make a decision but do not rush. Continue to gather info and you will do well. Take the time and think through your options and continue to ask questions of others. But always consider from whom you are getting info from. This gives you the opportunity to disregard info from less knowlegable people so you can make a clear desicion. You will do well. No luck needed, just informed decisions.

[Maizefarmer]

Your family is starting a farming business – fair enough, but is that what you want to do as a career? You don’t say anything about that, your motivation or enthusiasm and I can assure about of thing: while a formal education is a very big plus point if you intend to run a farm on a commercial basis and make a financial success of it, farming is a 24/7/365 career, which will not work out unless one is totally committed to it. So education is one part of it, commitment is the other – and speaking for myself, I think it’s the more important part.

So what should you study? Well, its like running any business – if you are going to be desk bound in a management position, counting the money, developing startergy and all the sort of management side of stuff – yes, go for something “management orientated”, but if you are the hands on type, do agriculture engineering, anaimal husbandry, crop science … or any one of the other half dozen or so science orientated courses – and to that end, Thailands’ agriculture training (at both tech & uni level) is actually very good.

Khon Khaen Uni runs some top shelf ag courses – some of the best in South East Asia – both animal and crop science courses.

In Pak Chong there are 2 separate facilities (actually one is just outside PC): there is the crop research station in Pak Chong, and a little way out heading towards Bangkok, there is another crop science facility which is more an ag college than a research station. This latter facility is one of the biggest in the Thailand – located about 5kms past Chok Chai Dairy, on the same side of the main road. The area is called Klang Dong and has students at form all over Asia – if you go to www.thaiflyingclub.com/linkairportklangdong.html you will see pictures of lots of flat fields – that’s all part of the college grounds.

Where to study?

The great thing about studying in Thailand is that much of the training and education will be against the background of circumstances and conditions you will experience when farming here - so I think Thailand has to be a first choice (it will also be a dam_n side cheaper!)

Out of curiosity - you sound like a Thai ex-pat who has been living outside of Thailand - Correct?

Good luck

[paulchiangmai]

I am a New Zealander living in Thailand for more than 7 years and have travelled extensively throughout the country....have often looked at agriculture on my trips....am sometimes amazed at the systems etc etc

Massey College is a world renowned place of learning agriculture....dont know much about the Aus one...it would depend a lot on the type of farming you would want to enter when u came back to Thailand but I am sure you would come away with a hel_l of lot more knowledge than you had before studying there and you would learn systems that many Thai farmes lack

Maybe if you wrote to the college I am sure that they could tell you a lot more

New Zealand is an agricultural based economy and I am sure that the college would be really forth coming with information for your studies

Massey is situated near Palmerston North which is quite a large city in the bottom part of the South Island....about 140 kilometres north from Wellington which is the capital

Another agricultural college you could look at is Lincoln College which is in the South Island which is also a place of high repute

Remember New Zealand has cold winters...you can go snow skiing not far from both colleges and the summers are not quite as hot as Thailand

Good Luck and even if you go for just one year I think you would find it very benifical to your future

BTW are you Thai ? if you are you have amazing English writing skills

If you can't find Palmerston North in your map of the south island then try the north island. 140 kilo's north of Wellington should give you a clue. Good luck with your future plans, get them right and you could be set for life.