Pursuing the strategic priorities of agricultural development imposes high requirements for the professional skills of specialists. Implementing professional standards requires new methodological approaches to the formation of educational programs for training breeders-zootechnicians on the basis of the modular-competency approach which ensures training specialists for agricultural organizations who will be able to implement the federal science and technology program of developing Russian agriculture. The methods of building professional competences through the educational program development are substantiated and tested by the authors. The program provides the immediate reaction of the specialist training system to the dynamic requirements of the labor market, qualification obtaining, qualification level improvement, and career development in the directions demanded on the labor market.