Employment Outlook Remains Strong for Agriculture Graduates

Nov 11, 2025

By Nyssa Lilovich

A new report released by Purdue University’s College of Agriculture and the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s National Institute of Food and Agriculture (NIFA) projects that employment opportunities will remain strong for new college graduates with degrees in food, agriculture, renewable natural resources and the environment (FARNRE).

The Employment Opportunities for College Graduates in Food, Agriculture, Renewable Natural Resources and the Environment report for 2025-30 forecasts about 104,766 job openings annually across four broad job clusters: business and management; science and engineering; food and biomaterials production; and education, communication and governmental services. The estimate was developed using Bureau of Labor Statistics data and web-scraped data on FARNRE position announcements.

“Agriculture offers outstanding career opportunities for those committed to ensuring a safe, nutritious and affordable food supply,” said Bernie Engel, the Glenn W. Sample Dean of Agriculture at Purdue. “It’s a field where passion meets purpose, and the future looks exceptionally bright. As this report shows, today’s agricultural careers are powered by innovation from data analytics and automation to sustainable engineering and precision technologies.”

Employer demand for graduates with FARNRE-aligned skills is expected to dramatically exceed the number of available FARNRE majors. Of the 104,766 projected annual openings, graduates earning FARNRE degrees (associate degrees through graduate/professional degrees) will make up 48% (50,057) of the supply, while allied disciplines will contribute 25% (25,802). The remaining 27% (28,907) of hires will come from other fields, including about 10% of the available positions filled by candidates without a degree.

“Across the board, employers are looking for graduates who can integrate data, technology and leadership into decision-making,” said Christine Wilson, senior associate dean and director of academic programs in Purdue’s College of Agriculture and lead author of the report. “These trends reinforce the value of agricultural business, food and science education and degrees in preparing students for meaningful, high-impact careers.”

Source : purdue.edu

Video: Learning to Wrench From Dad the Hard Way

Harvest is a week out and the farm picked this week to fall apart. The truck needs a battery, the barn curtain's got a problem, and the corn and beans are telling us we're out of time to get it all fixed.

So it's a full day of wrenching. Tork supervises while I get the truck back running, then we're out at the hog barn where one rusted up part has the whole curtain system hung up. Ladder work, cable work, and a little dad-and-son disagreement about the right way to do it. We close it out walking the fields, shelling beans and checking corn, because whether everything's fixed or not, harvest starts when harvest starts.

Chapters: 00:00 Everything breaks the week before harvest 01:00 Tork supervises while I fix the truck 12:30 Out to the barn to find the curtain problem 14:30 One rusty part hung up the whole curtain 20:00 Running the curtain cable from the ladder 24:00 Walking the beans and corn before harvest 26:30 Wrapping up

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