Ag Colleges Get Grads Job Ready
Yahoo raised a lot of hackles in 2012 when the site posted an article maintaining a college diploma in agriculture ranked at the very top among most useless degrees for graduates seeking job opportunities.
Don’t try telling that to Brian Scott, who graduated in May 2012 with a bachelor of science degree in animal science from Angelo State University (ASU), in San Angelo, Texas.
Scott reports he had at least eight interviews with several companies before accepting a position as a feed mill assistant trainee in Yuma, Ariz., with the giant, multilocation JBS Five Rivers Cattle Feeding LLC. Scott credits multiple employers’ pursuit of his talents to the hands-on experience working with cattle he received as part of ASU’s unique agricultural curriculum.
more than books. ASU, like many smaller ag universities and community colleges, puts a lot of emphasis on ensuring students get an appreciable amount of practical experience, along with “book learning,” to prepare them to step out into the workplace.
“We try to give our kids the strongest possible background in the basics and practical application of agriculture as we can,” says Michael Salisbury, chair of ASU’s agriculture department. “We want them to be adequately prepared whether they go back into production agriculture, take a position in agribusiness or pursue a career in education or research.”
ASU, which is part of the Texas Tech University system, enrolled approximately 8,200 students during the fall 2012 semester, including 450 undergraduate students and 25 graduate students in agricultural studies.
ASU offers bachelor’s degrees in animal science, natural resources management, food animal science and marketing, animal business and agricultural science and leadership. It also offers a master’s in animal science and an integrated degree combining animal business with a master of business administration (MBA).
“Nearly all of our courses are designed with students spending one-third to one-half of their time in the field involved in the day-to-day care of livestock,” Salisbury reports. “We believe in hands-on learning.”
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All labs take place on the 6,000-acre working ranch that ASU has on a long-term lease from the Corps of Engineers. In addition, student workers take care of the animals and help drive tractors, clear brush and haul hay on the 600 acres of farmland on the ranch.
“We make sure they understand all the details of the food chain from birth to dinner plate,” Salisbury says. “We have required courses on animal behavior, animal welfare and food safety.
“We put a strong emphasis on business in all our majors,” Salisbury adds. “One of our courses requires students to develop a complete business plan, taking into consideration fixed and variable costs, and true market prices.”
experience counts. ASU is one of many ag universities and colleges emphasizing the importance of field experience along with time spent in the classroom.
At Abraham Baldwin Agricultural College (ABAC), in Tifton, Ga., 25% of the school’s 3,300 students are enrolled in agricultural courses. ABAC offers associate and bachelor’s degrees in natural resource management (forestry and wildlife) and agriculture (turfgrass and golf course management, and diversified agriculture).
The diversified agriculture major is designed to meet the needs of Southeast production agriculture and agribusiness, explains Tim Marshall, dean of ABAC’s school of agriculture and natural sciences. Many graduates go back into some form of production agriculture, either with their own families or with someone else.
Students enrolled in diversified agriculture receive 78 hours of instruction in agribusiness management, finance, marketing, human resource management, soils, plant protection and crop-management systems, livestock health, nutrition and reproduction physiology, as well as precision agriculture.
“Our whole curriculum is based on experiential learning utilizing our 200-acre teaching farm and a nine-hole teaching golf course,” Marshall reports. “The majority of our students in agriculture complete an internship, and the Natural Resource Management students complete a required summer program.”
valuable partnerships. ABAC partners with several corporate and local agribusinesses that provide financial support as well as equipment, guest lecturers, internships and research demonstration plots on the ABAC farm and golf course. Partners include AGCO, Case IH, Krone, John Deere, KMC, Bobcat, Bayer CropScience and the U.S. Poultry and Egg Association.
On the Chatham County campus of Central Carolina Community College (CCCC), in Pittsboro, N.C., Robin Kohanowich coordinates one of the few sustainable agriculture programs in the country. The program was developed in partnership with North Carolina Cooperative Extension, with input from the Carolina Farm Stewardship Association and local farmers and consumers.
“We typically have 65 to 70 students per semester,” Kohanowich reports. “We offer both a two-year associate degree and a one-year certificate.”
Kohanowich points out most graduates leave to participate in the burgeoning local food scene, either as farmers, farm managers, educators or advocates for sustainable agriculture. Many are second-career people who have developed an interest in the local food movement. However, many also continue their education at a four-year university.
diverse skills. “Our program is highly entrepreneurial,” she adds. “We combine basic instruction in the sciences with production and business skills.”
Courses offered include soil science, farm business management, ag mechanization, construction and plumbing and electricity. Along with 68 to 70 hours of course work for a two-year program, students get hands-on experience on the college’s farm.
The program utilizes three or four adjunct instructors, along with two full-time instructors. Typical instructors include a full-time farmer with a soil science degree and 30 years of farming experience, a former building contractor and a Ph.D. with a soil science degree.
Jobs Aplenty
According to the deans of agriculture at Iowa State, Purdue, Ohio State and the University of Illinois, not only is the need for graduates of agricultural/animal science and horticulture growing steadily, but there is also a shortage of graduates in agriculture and food and natural resource sciences.
In the “Employment Opportunities for College Graduates in Food, Renewable Energy, and the Environment, 2010–2015” report, USDA projects 53,500 qualified graduates will be available for about 54,400 jobs annually in agricultural and food systems, renewable energy and the environment.
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