Secondary school agricultural education programs are composed of three essential components: classroom instruction, supervised work experience, and integrated student career and leadership development activities through the FFA. In New York, we recommend that all agricultural courses are developed to align to the National Agriculture, Food and Natural Resources (AFNR) Content Standards. We also recommend connecting with the Advance CTE Career Clusters for Agriculture and Energy & Natural Resources.

The AFNR Career Content Standards provide a high-quality, rigorous set of standards to guide what students should know and be able to do after completing a program of study in any of the following AFNR career pathways:

1. Agribusiness Systems

2. Animal Systems

3. Biotechnology Systems

4. Environmental Sustainability Systems

5. Food Products Resource Systems

6. Natural Resource Systems

7. Plant Systems

8. Power, Structural and Technical Systems

9. Education, Communication, & Leadership

10. Energy & Natural Resources

New York schools are encouraged to use the AFNR standards as a guide for the development of well-planned curriculum and assessments for AFNR-related CTE programs and adapt the standards to meet local needs.  

If you would like information on each of the comprehensive AFNR Career pathways, alignments, and crosswalks to aid in the creation of new or existing agricultural education courses, please contact slighthall@cornell.edu for digital copies.