Changes in the agricultural scene worldwide require owners and managers of agricultural enterprises to think and act differently in order to sustain business growth. The South African agricultural sector, in particular, has been in a state of continuous change for the past decade. In recent years agriculture in South Africa has been marked by events such as market deregulation and the abrupt termination of all government support to producers; real decreases in general commodity prices; increasingly competitive overseas markets; globalisation; technological advances; government intervention in the agricultural labour market; and the always present environmental risks (droughts and floods) so inherent to agriculture. These changes brought about enormous challenges to the traditional mindset of farmers as being "producers of commodities " only. Suddenly farmers found themselves operating in the midst of a business environment with a range of external uncontrollable variables. The challenge now facing South African farmers is how to innovatively navigate the process of transition from an "agricultural producer " to an "agricultural entrepreneur", while taking advantage of new opportunities. One way of assisting the farmer in this process is for higher education institutions to introduce the