Food and Fibre Case Studies II (AGRC2000) addresses strategic issues for agribusinesses along the food supply chain. The course provides the basis for understanding, critically analysing and communicating the complex and multi-faceted issues that characterise agribusiness management. This course is the second in a series of three capstone courses that together form an important part of the Agribusiness degree. The first capstone course is Food and Fibre Case Studies I (AGRC1012) and the third capstone course is Food and Fibre Case Studies III (AGRC3000).
Understanding financial performance is critical as (a) profit is one of the major drivers for agribusinesses as they work to generate the greatest possible returns from their resources, and (b) sustainability needs to pay to be sustainable. Moreover, almost all decisions involve an element of risk or uncertainty as hardly any situation exists where the outcome from a decision is known with perfect certainty. Given this backdrop of the importance of understanding financial performance in a risky environment, businesses require strategies and problem-solving approaches to get from where they are to where they would like to be. This course is part of the process of students developing their skills in understanding financial performance, risk, and strategic thinking.
You'll need to complete the following courses before enrolling in this one:
AGRC1012
For course content: (1) schedule using Calendly, (2) call on the phone +61 7 5460 1314, or (3) drop by in-person. For accurate and timely administrative support, contact directly the AGFS Student Administration team by phone at +61 7 5460 1321 or via email at agriculture@enquire.uq.edu.au.
The timetable for this course is available on the UQ Public Timetable.
This course aims to increase student knowledge of key concepts related to financial performance, risk management, and approaches for strategic thinking relevant to the operation of agribusinesses. Key financial concepts relate to cash flow for liquidity, profit for efficiency, and the balance sheet for wealth, and cash flow analysis under a variety of scenarios. Key risk management concepts relate to types of risk, measuring and managing risk, decision trees, expected payoffs, and decision criteria under risk. Strategic thinking relates to stakeholders in the business and several approaches are used to increase knowledge of strategic thinking including the use of different evaluation matrices.
In this course, a series of lectures introduce key concepts related to financial performance (cash flow, profit, and wealth), risk, and strategic thinking. In parallel to these lectures are a series of tutorials that are used to apply to real-world scenarios these key concepts from the lectures, using the case study approach. The course requires students to use both quantitative methods, such as cash flow and profit and loss analysis in Excel, and qualitative methods such as using strategic thinking to develop growth strategies for businesses. Each week, different learning objectives are used to provide benchmarks of learning expectations.
After successfully completing this course you should be able to:
LO1.
Apply financial management concepts relevant to understanding agribusiness contexts and performance.
LO2.
Apply risk management concepts relevant to understanding agribusiness contexts and performance.
LO3.
Evaluate strategies that aim to improve agribusiness performance through the case study approach.
LO4.
Create recommendations that address the challenges and opportunities agribusinesses encounter.
| Category | Assessment task | Weight | Due date |
|---|---|---|---|
| Tutorial/ Problem Set |
Problem set
|
30% |
29/08/2025 2:00 pm |
| Paper/ Report/ Annotation | Case study report | 30% |
10/10/2025 2:00 pm |
| Examination |
Final Exam
|
40% |
End of Semester Exam Period 8/11/2025 - 22/11/2025 |
A hurdle is an assessment requirement that must be satisfied in order to receive a specific grade for the course. Check the assessment details for more information about hurdle requirements.
29/08/2025 2:00 pm
This online assessment task must be submitted using the correct submission link in the course Learn.UQ site. An electronic copy of every piece of assessment submitted should be retained.
Legal Declaration: By submitting your work via this website, you formally declare that (1) it is your own original work, and no part of the work has been copied from any other source or person except where due acknowledgement is made; (2) no part of the work has been previously submitted for assessment in this or any other institution; and (3) you have read the Student Integrity and Misconduct Policy (https://policies.uq.edu.au/document/view-current.php?id=149) and understand its implications.
It is a student's responsibility to check their assessment has been submitted correctly and is markable (such as all the text is in the file submitted). Course staff do not routinely check and inform individual students if their assessment has not been submitted or is not markable. For online assessments that are timed, regularly (1) save your work, (2) take timestamped photos or screenshots of your progress, preferably showing your name or student number.
You may be able to apply for an extension.
Submission of an Extension of Assessment Due Date (EADD) should be completed online through your My Requests tab via my.UQ Dashboard, in accordance with the University's Assessment Procedure (located in the Policies and Procedures section of this course profile) which outlines the requirements for requesting extensions to assessment due dates. Extensions require the correct evidence/documentation to support the requested length of time of the extension.
A penalty of 10% of the maximum possible mark will be deducted per 24 hours from time submission is due for up to 7 days. After 7 days, you will receive a mark of 0.
For example, a report worth a maximum of 40 marks, submitted 28 hours late will attract a penalty of 8 marks, calculated as 2 periods of 24 hours x 10% x 40 marks.
Assessment deadlines are firm and must be met. Late submission without permission or non-submission of assessable work will result in penalties being applied. Late submission of assessment will only be granted for documented medical reasons, accident, bereavement, jury service and other circumstances allowed in the UQ Policies and Procedures Library (PPL).
10/10/2025 2:00 pm
You must submit your Assessment task, in Blackboard, via the Turnitin link by the submission deadline. You should also retain an electronic copy of every piece of assessment you submit.
Legal Declaration:
By submitting your work via this website, you formally declare that (1) it is your own original work, and no part of the work has been copied from any other source or person except where due acknowledgement is made; (2) no part of the work has been previously submitted for assessment in this or any other institution; and (3) you have read the Student Integrity and Misconduct Policy (https://policies.uq.edu.au/document/view-current.php?id=149) and understand its implications.
You may be able to apply for an extension.
Submission of an Extension of Assessment Due Date (EADD) should be completed online through your My Requests tab via my.UQ Dashboard, in accordance with the University's Assessment Procedure (located in the Policies and Procedures section of this course profile) which outlines the requirements for requesting extensions to assessment due dates. Extensions require the correct evidence/documentation to support the requested length of time of the extension.
A penalty of 10% of the maximum possible mark will be deducted per 24 hours from time submission is due for up to 7 days. After 7 days, you will receive a mark of 0.
For example, a report worth a maximum of 40 marks, submitted 28 hours late will attract a penalty of 8 marks, calculated as 2 periods of 24 hours x 10% x 40 marks.
Assessment deadlines are firm and must be met. Late submission without permission or non-submission of assessable work will result in penalties being applied. Late submission of assessment will only be granted for documented medical reasons, accident, bereavement, jury service and other circumstances allowed in the UQ Policies and Procedures Library (PPL).
End of Semester Exam Period
8/11/2025 - 22/11/2025
| Planning time | 10 minutes |
|---|---|
| Duration | 120 minutes |
| Calculator options | Any calculator permitted |
| Open/closed book | Open book examination - any written or printed material is permitted; material may be annotated |
| Exam platform | Paper based |
| Invigilation | Invigilated in person |
You may be able to defer this exam.
Full criteria for each grade is available in the Assessment Procedure.
| Grade | Cut off Percent | Description |
|---|---|---|
| 1 (Low Fail) | 0 - 34 |
Absence of evidence of achievement of course learning outcomes. Course grade description: 0% to 34% |
| 2 (Fail) | 35 - 46 |
Minimal evidence of achievement of course learning outcomes. Course grade description: 35% to 46% |
| 3 (Marginal Fail) | 47 - 49 |
Demonstrated evidence of developing achievement of course learning outcomes Course grade description: 47% to 49% |
| 4 (Pass) | 50 - 64 |
Demonstrated evidence of functional achievement of course learning outcomes. Course grade description: 50% to 64% |
| 5 (Credit) | 65 - 74 |
Demonstrated evidence of proficient achievement of course learning outcomes. Course grade description: 65% to 74% |
| 6 (Distinction) | 75 - 84 |
Demonstrated evidence of advanced achievement of course learning outcomes. Course grade description: 75% to 84% |
| 7 (High Distinction) | 85 - 100 |
Demonstrated evidence of exceptional achievement of course learning outcomes. Course grade description: 85% to 100% |
In order to pass this course, students must achieve a cumulative score of 50% or greater and a passing mark in the End of Semester Exam.
If a student obtains an overall percentage greater than the cut-offs set to achieve a 4 or higher for the course based on marks from all assessment and the student does NOT score a passing mark in the end of semester exam, they are unable to achieve a grade higher than a 3 (failing grade) for the course.
Supplementary Assessment
In the event of supplementary assessment being awarded, this will take the form of an exam. In order to receive a grade of 3S4 (pass) a student must obtain a mark of 50% or higher in the supplementary examination. Therefore, the final grade (maximum 3S4) is awarded solely on the basis of performance in that exam.
Supplementary assessment is available for this course.
Please note the following when writing your assignments
You must not re-use past work from previous assessments in your assignments.
Academic Integrity and Plagiarism
All reported work must be done by the individual student. Assignments that look and sound alike will be reported as plagiarism – a serious offence at UQ. Please note the university’s policy on academic integrity and plagiarism which can be accessed at Student Integrity and Misconduct Policy / Document / Policy and Procedure Library
TurnItIn Assignments
TurnItIn Assignments that are required to be submitted through TurnItIn, must only be uploaded to the assessment specific Turnitin link on the relevant course Learn.UQ site.ﾠIf you submit any version of your assessment item to any alternative Turnitin link, this is considered cheating, and you will be held liable for this action.
Results
Unless specifically indicated by the lecturer involved, every attempt will be made to have the results for progressive assessment tasks available within 3 weeks of submission. For items of assessment submitted in the last 2 weeks of the semester, the results will be available before the day of your end of semester examination in the course, unless otherwise indicated by the Course Coordinator. Results and feedback availability for progressive assessment will be announced via the course Learn.UQ site.ﾠ
Feedback in this course
Feedback is welcome in this course as any information on how students find this learning experience is constructive. A course evaluation process will occur in the last few weeks of semester.
Re-mark Applications -ﾠrefer to the ﾠUniversity's Re-mark Policyﾠto check on your eligibility.
You'll need the following resources to successfully complete the course. We've indicated below if you need a personal copy of the reading materials or your own item.
Find the required and recommended resources for this course on the UQ Library website.
The AGRC2000 Learn.UQ site is the main method of communication for the course. http://learn.uq.edu.au
The learning activities for this course are outlined below. Learn more about the learning outcomes that apply to this course.
Filter activity type by
| Learning period | Activity type | Topic |
|---|---|---|
Multiple weeks From Week 1 To Week 13 |
Applied Class |
Series of applied classes Please refer to Learn.UQ for weekly learning activities. Sub-activity: Lecture on (1) course introduction and administration, and (2) profit. Tutorial to apply this week’s lecture content to assess profit on a sheep farm. Lecture on wealth for assessing financial performance. Tutorial to apply week’s lecture content to assess profit and wealth on a sheep farm. Lecture on cash flow, and combining profit, wealth, and cash flow. Time allocated for an overview of problem set assessment. Tutorial to apply week’s lecture content to assess cash flow on a sheep farm. Tutorial to apply concepts of profit, wealth, and cash flow to assess current financial performance using a case study business. Lecture on (1) case study approach, (2) contemporary and ongoing issues in agriculture, and (3) overview of case study report assessment requirements. Time allocated to one-on-one consultations for case study reports. Tutorial to apply this week’s lecture content for a classroom case study on growth strategies for a vegetable production business. Lecture on strategy matrices. Tutorial to apply this week’s lecture content for a classroom case study that identifies growth strategies and financial performance for a crop-livestock farm business. Lecture on risk, decision trees, and payoffs. Tutorial to apply this week’s lecture content to understand risks for a hemp start-up business. Lecture on decision criteria under uncertainty and risk. Tutorial to apply this week’s lecture content to explore decision making under uncertainty and risk for a pecan trading business. Lecture on sustainability and stakeholder theory. Tutorial to apply this week’s lecture content on stakeholder theory to decision making in a genetically modified potato supply chain. Time allocated for preparing and revision for the final exam Field trip and/or guest lecture |
Any changes to the published Learning Activities during the semester will be communicated through the course's Learn.UQ site.
University policies and procedures apply to all aspects of student life. As a UQ student, you must comply with University-wide and program-specific requirements, including the:
Learn more about UQ policies on my.UQ and the Policy and Procedure Library.