How to Write an Agriculture Term Paper: Expert Advice

A term paper is an important final stage of students activities, which he/she did throughout the specific course. Such assignments often scare learners, because it seems impossible to link different kinds of research into a single piece, isolate the key moment on which the report will be based, and overcome all possible barriers. However, in practice, a term essay does not represent a real complexity if you follow the instructions and perform each action sequentially. Moreover, the creation of such a report can be much easier than previous tasks, because its writing requires the use of already available information, which has been thoroughly explored during the study of the discipline. The agriculture term paper guide provided below will assist you in creating a well-structured term paper and will reveal possible pitfalls that could happen on your way.

What Is an Agriculture Term Paper?

Throughout the academic term, you have studied many topics related to agriculture. They could either be theoretical or be your own research projects. If looking globally, your agriculture term paper should summarize all the information you have received and provide the conclusions you have made in the learning process. In other words, it is a kind of academic qualification work: it shows how well you know certain basic competencies in the field of agriculture.

The writing of a term paper is the development and consolidation of certain skills, especially your ability to create an independent text in the genre of academic writing, expound your own and other people’s thoughts reasonably, clearly, and consistently as well as observe the basic formalities of an academic qualification work. In addition, writing the term paper develops your ability to work with sources of information systematically and purposefully. All these skills will be useful for you in the future life if you decide to link your career with agriculture. Therefore, your term paper is the final research work, which purpose is:

consolidation, synthesis, and deepening of knowledge on Agriculture;
consolidation of skills in working with scientific literature and electronic sources;
formation of skills for problem-solving within the Agriculture discipline;
independent generalization, analysis, modeling, assessment of the influence of factors, and comparison of different points of view on the problem under study;
summarizing the information studied;
evaluation of the influence of the studied material on the formation of your personal and professional experience.

Agriculture Term Paper Tips on Preliminary Notes

Ideally, you should start preparing to write the term paper when you are assigned the first assignment during the semester. Mind that timely preparation allows you to facilitate the process of writing your final report to a large extent. So, every time you perform another task (for example, writing a research or theoretical paper, conducting surveys or field experiments, and others), you must develop the habit of keeping preliminary notes.

What Are They Needed For?

They will allow you to make a brief summary of the work done to recall its features over time with ease.
They help to highlight the key points and topics that seem most important to you or are important for writing the term essay. For example, agriculture is evolving, the use of biotechnology is actively developing in agriculture, agriculture can positively affect the environment, and so on.
They will help you to systematize the information received as its complexity increases or in the context of individual subtopics.
In the process of making preliminary notes, you can state your thoughts, reflections or suggestions on the topic in question. For example, during the assessment of the ecological state of a poultry farm, I noted that the level of various toxicants is exceeded in feed and meat of birds. Therefore, the research on the ways to improve the environmental safety of feed products can become an important topic for future research.
Such notes will help you formulate key findings for each individual task, which will subsequently provide significant support in writing the term paper.

How to Make Preliminary Notes? Our Writers Know:

Always have a sheet of paper for notes and a pen at hand.
Take notes systematically, without missing a single topic.
The notes should be short. Outline the key points only.
The preliminary notes should be presented on paper only after the completion of the assignment done in order to have time to consider the topic comprehensively and exclude erroneous conclusions.
Each note entry should correspond to the topic under study to avoid mixing information.
Do not hesitate to ask your instructor or academic supervisor for advice.

The preliminary notes will help you when writing the term essay, especially when you are describing your personal and professional experience.

Selecting a Relevant Topic for the Agriculture Term Paper

During the semester, you have to face a lot of topics. Nevertheless, the term paper should summarize them all and provide some general conclusion that seems difficult. However, you should remember that your thematic assignments intersect each other throughout the reporting academic term in one way or another, so you should find one general topic that affects these previous works directly or indirectly. The choice should be made as follows:

View your previous papers carefully and refresh your memory regarding their features.
Explore your preliminary notes with paying attention to the highlighted points.
The topic should be interesting to you. It is desirable that you can continue working on it further.
The proper formulation of the topic is the key to the successful completion of the final paper. Your supervisor will help you in this matter.

In this way, among all your completed assignments, you can find a common theme that will become a key point in your term essay. Considering the past stages, it will be necessary to formulate all the conclusions in terms of interaction with the chosen topic.

For example, during the semester, you studied the following topics:

Use of Advanced Technologies in Agriculture;

Agriculture – the Evolution or Degradation;

The Impact of Climatic Conditions on Agriculture;

Contamination of Agricultural Lands with Toxicants;

Features of Organic Farming;

Sustainable Agriculture, as a Factor in Improving the Environment.

You have the preliminary notes and a general impression on each of these topics. It is necessary to find the one that would unite all these studies and would be relevant for its further consideration. For example, the generalized topics may be the following ones:

environmental sustainability in agriculture;

ways to make agriculture safe and environment-friendly;

environmental problems in agriculture and ways to minimize them.

As you can see, the proposed topics combine assignments, which you performed earlier, which means that they can be the basis for the term paper.

Key Points to Mind Working on an Agriculture Term Paper

In order for the final essay to meet the stated goal, it must include three mandatory items that will disclose the characteristics of the work on agriculture that you have performed:

The main thesis statement and description of the selected key idea. At the very beginning of the final paper, you should interest those who will read it afterward. The explanation of your main topic, as well as its problems, relevance, and significance for future research, are the basis of all the work done. You may express your interest, show your personal interpretation of the observed events and phenomena, and apply your own skills and qualifications. In addition, remember that you must adhere to the stated thesis or hypothesis throughout the entire writing of the essay and link all the analyzed items with it, thereby confirming or, conversely, refuting it.

For example, the relevance of the issue of environmental protection in agriculture is increasing in modern conditions in connection with the processes of pollution of natural resources used in agricultural production. Violation of the natural balance of the environment is associated with the intensification of agricultural production without proper assessment and accounting of the natural resource potential of agriculture (the mechanization of many processes, melioration, excessive or deep plowing of fields, high concentration of production, use of mineral fertilizers, pesticides, and so on), which has negatively affected the quality of the soil and its fertility.

Summary analysis and characteristics of the work done. In this part, you will need your preliminary notes and the information base of your previous papers. The best option is to break this stage into several ones, in each of which you will briefly characterize one particular study you have conducted. For this purpose, you need to point out the purpose and the main research question of each paper as well as describe your observations and thoughts that arose in the process of making them. It is also necessary to show results and draw conclusions. It is desirable that these results would be supported by practical examples from your works. In this section, you can add statistical information on aspects of agricultural activities. However, they must strictly intersect with the stated topic. Each paragraph should adhere to the initially stated thesis and explain how the work relates to it, and what significance the findings have for highlighting this direction. At the end of this section, you should draw a general conclusion on all your research projects and confirm your assumption regarding the topic that you have chosen.
Evaluation of the work done and experience gained. This item will include your subjective vision of the significance of the work done. In it, you must raise the studied topics once again and then draw a conclusion about what experience you have gained and why it will be necessary for you in the future.

For example, in the process of observing the peculiarities of plowing agricultural lands, I concluded that modern mechanical devices conduct excessively deep plowing of the soil, which can adversely affect its ecological balance in the future. The experience gained is necessary for future research and development related to ensuring the safety of the environment and minimizing the adverse impact of agriculture on the ecological situation.

Also, additional points may be such sections:

Barriers and obstacles identified in the course of work. In this paragraph, you can tell what difficulties you encountered and why they arose. Also, you can offer your or someone’s solution that will help overcome such obstacles in the future and improve the effectiveness of the work.
Suggestions for future research. Based on the areas studied, you can choose one direction that you would like to develop further. It can touch the topics already studied directly, or be the information that you encountered in the process of your research accidentally and without planning. You can indicate the importance it has for the topic of agriculture, and what scientific value it can bring in the future.

So, have a look at a possible structure of your agriculture term paper:

Writing and Post-Writing Tips: Get Ready to Submitting

In the process of writing the agriculture term paper, it is recommended to adhere to the following points:

The final essay should demonstrate progress in your learning and gradual mastery of the necessary competencies.
The primary core competency is the high-grade and adequate representation and reflection of the required information.
It is important to demonstrate the skills of searching and organizing information from the specialized literature on your topic. That is, in the process of writing the term essay, cite peer-reviewed sources as often as possible.
Arrange your paper properly. This point is especially true for the correct design of references, citations, and bibliographic arrangement of works. You must demonstrate the ability to work with other people’s studies and distinguish them from yours.
Constantly work on your style and syntax of your sentences. Pay attention to how the texts that you read are written. Use appropriate reference books and apply correct words.
Do not be afraid to seek help from your instructor. It does not indicate your lack of knowledge. On the contrary, it means that you are striving to make your term paper as good and effective as possible. In addition, the instructor can help you formulate an elusive thought or turn your ideas in the right direction.

The Main Criteria for Assessing the Agriculture Term Paper

You should be aware of the assessment criteria because, in this case, you can stick to them during the process of writing your agriculture term paper. It should be remembered that the topic of agriculture is very broad, so the vagueness of formulations and generalized characteristics that do not have a narrow focus can reduce the quality of your work. As a rule, the evaluation criteria for the term essays are as follows:

The paper must be well-structured and organized;
Your judgments and reflections must be supported by evidence;
The content of the term paper must be consistent with the stated topic;
The work should contain a qualitative analysis;
An extended range of questions for analysis is desirable;
The paper must be informative and reflect clear thoughts;
You must use peer-reviewed sources and cite them correctly;
Do not forget about literacy and accuracy.

Finally, remember the most important point – writing an agriculture term paper is not a difficulty. However, preliminary preparation and accurate adherence to the recommendations is the key to the success.

Agriculture Term Paper Guide: Professional Writing in a Few Steps