Educational Course Offerings
Agricultural professionals face a rapidly evolving landscape from technological advances and regulatory fluctuations to global geopolitical undulations. These changes have a significant impact on what they do and how they do it. MACS Academy’s continuing education and professional development training offers a hedge against and a means of adaptation to successfully manage these challenging changes. Since no area of the ag product lifecycle can escape the effects of these advancements, our education is tailored towards agricultural consultants, agribusiness professionals, and ag technology.
MACS Academy Professional Development Tours
Next Featured Tour: Sugar Industry
Agricultural Consultants
The knowledge levels and skill set of agricultural consultants across the U.S. vary as widely as coffee orders at the local coffee shop. Seeing this opportunity, MACS Academy is aware of the important need to provide all levels of professional development from fundamental principles to advanced practical applications. As agricultural consultants themselves, co-founders Paige Gilligan and Russell Morgan believe in raising the bar and training both the current and future generations of ag professionals. The desire to prosper as an entrepreneur carries an even greater weight of urgency for agricultural consultants new in their practice. MACS Academy’s educational offerings for Ag Consultants are designed to provide training in diverse topics and subject areas from effective communication, report writing and starting a consultancy business to hiring employees and financial forecasting. See below for our current course offerings in these areas.
CNSLT 317 - Principles of Communications for Agricultural Consultants
- 4, 1.5 hour sessions
- September: 09/24, 09/27 and 10/1, 10/3
Audience:
Agricultural Consultants; Agribusiness Professionals
Course objective:
The course aims to enhance the communication skills of attendees by equipping them with the knowledge and skills to effectively convey complex agricultural matters to diverse audiences. Upon completion, attendees will learn communication principles that enable successful outcomes and productive collaborations.
Learning outcomes:
By completing this course, attendees will be able to:
- Understand the importance of communication.
- Lead effective meetings with clients.
- Present information, findings, conclusions and recommendations to clients.
- Understand the importance of company branding.
Modules:
- The Role of Communication in Ag Consulting
- Common Communication Challenges in Ag Consulting
- Key Communication Skills Necessary in Ag Consulting
- Types and Formats of Client Interactions During the Sales and Delivery Cycles of Ag Consulting
- The Impact of Effective Communication on Client Relationships and Project Success
- The Concept of Branding; Elements and Importance
- Review and Conclusion
CNSLT 318 - Applications of Communications for Agricultural Consultants
- 1, 6 hour session
- Held In-Person the Sunday prior to ASAC Annual Conference in Ft. Myers, FL 11/03
Audience:
The course aims to provide a practical application of effective communication skills for Agricultural Consultants and Advisors through one-to-one and one-to-many practicums. Upon completion, attendees will learn skills to effectively convey complex matters enabling them to build stronger client relationships.
Learning outcomes:
By completing this course, attendees will be able to:
- Apply communication techniques in various formats.
- Demonstrate effective observation skills.
- Compose a technically written report.
- Demonstrate clear and concise email and text writing styles.
- Demonstrate engaging social media writing techniques.
- Develop and write informative blog posts.
- Understand the components of podcasting.
Modules:
- Overarching Applications
- Observation Skills and Importance in Communication for Ag Consultants
- Philosophies of Report Writing Styles
- Proper Management of Client Communications and Information
- Clear and Concise Email and Texting Writing Styles
- Composing Engaging Social Media Marketing for Specific Target Markets
- Develop and Plan Informative Blog Posts
- Develop and Plan Dynamic Podcasts
CNSLT 300 - Principles of Agricultural Consulting
- 6 Hours Total
- TBA - Mid-November 2024
CNSLT 301 - Advanced Agricultural Consulting
- 6 Hours Total
- TBA - Early January 2025
CNSLT 410 - Consulting Practice Management
- 8 Hours Total
- TBA - Early February 2025
Audience:
Independent Agricultural Consultants
Course objective:
This course aims to provide the independent agricultural consultant tools and techniques for managing their professional practice; enhancing the agricultural consultant’s ability to manage, market, operate and analyze their consulting business. This course will focus comprehensively on Consulting Practice Management: From Startup to Growth and Maintenance.
Check back for full course information and pricing.
Contact Us
MACS Academy
PO Box 413 Portland, TN 37148
Phone:
615-565-6315
“Education is not the learning of facts, but the training of the mind to think”
Albert Einstein