Careers in ag present, but workers don’t appear to be

Mar 21, 2016

New survey shows a lower interest in ag industry

By Diego Flammini
Assistant Editor, North American Content
Farms.com

According to a nationwide survey completed for Land O’ Lakes, an American agribusiness company, there are plenty of career opportunities in agriculture, but only about half of the positions are being filled.

Number from the survey, which took the responses of 1,020 people between Feb. 8 and 10, indicate that only three per cent of graduates and nine per cent of Millennials (anyone born between 1980 and 2000) would consider a career in agriculture.

The numbers are echoed by the USDA as its reports show more than 20,000 agriculture jobs go without an employee annually.

Lydia Botham, executive director for Land O’Lakes Foundation, said in a March 15 release that there’s misinformation about what a career in agriculture can be.

“People still think you have to wear boots and overalls to work in ag,” she said.

Many people may not realize the importance technology, transportation, marketing, social media and other industries play in agriculture, and how each industry can provide its own opportunity in ag.

“To me this is sort of a wake-up call,” Brian Buhr, dean of the College of Food, Agricultural and Natural Resource Sciences at the University of Minnesota told the Minneapolis StarTribune.

Survey Findings:

54 per cent of people who took the survey think it’s “difficult or very difficult for recent college graduates to get a job in agriculture”
76 per cent aren’t sure a career in agriculture pays well
35 per cent of Millennials think ag careers do pay well

The United States isn’t the only country with a shortage of ag workers.

According to recent data, Canada’s agriculture industry is short by about 59,000 workers and approximately one in every 12 ag jobs go unfilled.

In search of a job in agriculture? Visit AgCareers.com.

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