Beyond the Farm Gate: An Abundance of Career Opportunities

Dale E. Wolf, group vice president, Agricultural Products, Du Pont Company, Wilmington, DE.

The American food and agriculture system stands atop the ranks of global enterprise. It is the world's largest commercial industry with assets exceeding $1 trillion.

It accounts for 20 percent of the United States' gross national product. And more than 23 million Americans are employed in agriculture-related jobs most of which are beyond the farm gate.

This lofty status places the American food and agriculture system, and the people who make it work, at the center of international business and finance. Agricultural professionals are making their marks in such places as the brokerage houses and investment banks of Wall Street, international trading companies, Madison Avenue advertising agencies, and the board rooms of national and international corporations as corporate executives, managers, financial and commodity analysts, and sales and marketing representatives.

Many food and agricultural specialists also are at the vanguard of science and technology. They are developing and using new techniques to improve the productivity and cost efficiency of American farmers and to enhance their ability to compete in the world marketplace. Likewise, new and better food products are being developed continuously to enhance consumer welfare and satisfaction.

The globalization of American agriculture has important implications fol students in the food and agricultural sciences. Few, if any, agriculture-related businesses, whether they are financial, manufacturing, service or processing, can ignore international business issues today. No other industry compares with agriculture in terms of diversity of career opportunities at home or abroad. And no other industry offers a broader, more complex array of challenges to the best and the brightest seeking involvement in key domestic and world issues.

The Ultimate Challenge

Tomorrow's agricultural scientist, in either the private or public sectors, faces the ultimate challenge helping to feed a world population expected to grow by 80 to 90 million people annually through the end of the century.

Already the pace of scientific innovation is accelerating to meet this challenge. Today, new, highly effective, environmentally safe crop protection products, applied at fractions of an ounce per acre, are replacing those which were applied at pounds per acre. And, as significant as this breakthrough is, it is a mere harbinger of what is to follow. Every major corporation that manufactures or processes agricultural products has a significant research effort that extends from the most basic to the applied.

In decades to come, biotechnology and genetic engineering will be used to develop herbicide-resistant plants. The livestock industry will use embryo transfer techniques to produce more productive animals. Crop physiologists will work with fruit and vegetable growers to improve yields through the use of plant growth regulators. And computer experts will develop models to predict and monitor yield-limiting soil erosion and reduce production costs.

Increasingly sophisticated communications techniques have created a demand for advertising and public relations professionals with backgrounds in the food and agricultural sciences.

Diverse Opportunities

Bright career opportunities in agriculture are by no means limited to the laboratory. A study conducted by the U.S. Department of Agriculture in 1986 revealed that of the 49,000 annual employment opportunities for College graduates in the food and agricultural sciences, 32 percent are in the marketing, merchandising, and sales sector. Included in this category are landscape contractors, marketing specialists, and sales representatives. Research and development openings for scientists, engineers and technicians account for 28 percent of the openings, while 14 percent of the Projected positions are for managers and financial specialists. Overall, nearly three fourths of the opportunities are expected to be in the agribusiness components of the food and agricultural system. The study also revealed significant career opportunities in farm management, agricultural economics, international trade, agricultural engineering, communications, education, and many more occupations.

More Good People Needed

Despite these excellent employment opportunities, there is a need for more college graduates in the food and agricultural sciences. The 1986 USDA study all too accurately predicted that the annual average demand for college graduates in the food and agricultural sciences will exceed the available supply by 10 percent through 1990. In several areas, the shortfalls are more severe.

For example, the annual demand for marketing, merchandising, and sales representatives exceeds the supply by 17 percent. Demand for scientists, engineers, and related specialists and for managers and financial specialists also exceeds the supply by 16 percent.

Best of All Worlds

As a result, those seeking careers in agriculture have the best of all possible worlds. Not only does agribusiness offer careers that are challenging and rewarding, but, in many areas, there are more opportunities than there are qualified individuals.

Philosopher Francis Bacon once said," A wise man will make more opportunities than he finds." As we approach the 21st century, his words ring true for students of the food and agricultural sciences. Their opportunities are limited only by their ability to create them.