UF Institute of Food and Agricultural Sciences is working to recruit students to fill the shortage of young professionals in the agricultural industries.
A STEM Food & Ag Council-sponsored report released at the World Food Prize Borlaug Dialogue symposium in Des Moines, Iowa, last week found there is a national decline of students entering the food and agricultural fields.
Elaine Turner, dean of the UF College of Agricultural and Life Sciences, said IFAS is doing its best to draw more students into the professions.
“There is and will continue to be high demand for professionals in the food and agriculture fields,” Turner said. “The good news is that there is interesting and exciting careers available.”
The report included that nearly 34,000 people were hired each month in the food and agriculture industries between January and August 2014. A quarter of the workers are 55 or older.
The report projects a 4.9 percent growth in employment opportunities in the next five years, adding 33,100 new jobs in advanced agriculture fields.
Turner said some majors in IFAS have as few as 30 students.
“There is reassurance for jobs when these students graduate,” Turner said. “They can make a good living while also making a difference in the world.”
Charles Sims, a professor of food science, is involved in food safety and security from harvesting to consumption. He said the food science job market cannot find enough people to take much needed positions.
“The demand will not diminish due to the advancing technology in agriculture all around the world,” he said.
Christian Mignano, a 23-year-old UF agricultural operations management senior, said the findings in the report are one of the reasons he got into production agriculture.
“No longer is the farmer who grows your food the old man in overalls with a pitchfork in his hand and straw in his teeth,” Mignano said. “The amount of science and technology that goes into agriculture is astonishing and filled with opportunities for our generation to define ourselves as leaders.”
[A version of this story ran on page 5 on 10/21/2014]
