Jobs in Michigan Agriculture
MABA's Michigan AgFacts includes an article on agriculture jobs
Posted: Feb 17, 2012
As Michigan agriculture battles to produce enough food to feed our ever growing population, many employers are keeping a close eye out for those with agriculture degrees. Michigan’s agriculture is continuously growing and agriculture employers are hiring. However, agriculture businesses in Michigan are desperate to find people qualified enough to fill those positions. This demand will only increase as the demand for food increases. Recently this has become a problem for Michigan as well as around the country. Many agriculture businesses are hiring college students as interns and are eventually offering them full time positions the minute they graduate - some starting at as much as $50,000 a year - with benefits. This is a ray of sunshine compared to the bleak outlook most college graduates are looking at. Agriculture is providing an abundance of job openings, challenging assignments, opportunities for growth, and an industry that combines local work with global impact. Additionally, many graduates don’t go back to the family farm. Many enter the industry working for grain companies, agronomy companies, manufactures, distributors, retailers, food processors, and many more. Already, one of Michigan’s most important industries, food safety, is looking at even more growth and more job openings. Case in point, the Yahoo News article that included three agriculture related degrees as among the 10 most useless college majors is “grossly misleading and does a disservice to both college students and agriculture,” said the Michigan Agri-Business Association. Michigan is a prime example of how quickly agriculture graduates get hired. Michigan’s dairy sector, pork sector, turkey industry and egg industry are all experiencing an increase in expansion whether it’s in international trade, exports and production capacity, or quality standards. Additionally, agri-businesses are seeing a rise in demand of everything from feed to seed and beyond. “To keep pace with the massive demand we face nationally and around the world, Michigan agriculture needs to hire more people, plain and simple. And college graduates with agriculture degrees are hot commodities in the job market right now,” said the Michigan Agri-Business Association. Sooner rather than later, Michigan high schools should look into focusing more on job prospects in agriculture considering that agriculture technology is becoming more and more advanced everyday. “Instead of pitchforks, the Michigan agricultural specialist today is more likely to hold smartphones and GPS technology to make sure every acre of land gets the optimum amount of nutrients, saving cost while protecting the environment.” If you need further convincing, the facts say it all. According to data from The Ohio State University, Purdue and Iowa State, within six months of graduation, 90 percent of graduates with agricultural related degrees are hired in their field. For other degrees, the average is 50 percent. These degrees are in demand because agriculture itself is becoming more complex and state-of-the-art, requiring more logistical and technical know-how. This demand stems from inevitably the agriculture industry looking at a generational shift in the workforce, which means more job openings in the future. Idaho may not have been the best example of graduates with agriculture degrees getting jobs, as the Yahoo article states but here in Michigan, we’re hiring and even more workers will be necessary. College grads with agriculture majors, get ready to bask in the sunlight of Easy Street– Michigan jobs await you.
*All information has been obtained from MABA's "Michigan AgFacts"*
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