My Take On The Yahoo Story on Ag

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By now most of us have read the recent Yahoo article regarding useless college degrees. Topping the list was a degree in agriculture. The 4th useless degree was animal science. The author points to data from the US Department of Labor that projects a net job availability decrease of 64,000 jobs in agriculture over the next 7 years.

The natural first reaction (if you work or are studying agriculture) when confronted with this is to become a little offended. How can someone so removed from agriculture call what I spent (currently spending) my entire college career studying useless? We can’t survive without food. The nerve of that guy, right?

Well, I see it completely different. I am not offended. All the author was doing was taking data from the Department of Labor, that does indeed show job declines, and then correlating that to the ability to find a job based on said major. I don’t see it as a personal attack, and I certainly don’t believe that the author is trying to be disparaging toward agriculture. It is just data.

We need to take a step back and remember that we don’t need to defend our degrees. We need to show our passion for the field that we love so much. We need to be transparent in how we operate and why. We need to continue to reach out and engage the public.

At the end of the day, maybe it will be harder to find a job as a farm manager over the next 7 years. It could be just as difficult to find a job in business development or graphic design or whatever. I still believe you should pursue your passion. And we all know that there are plenty of other roles besides farm manager!!

I am proud to be involved in agriculture. I am proud to provide services to farmers and others in food production. I am proud to be an #agnerd. I am proud to be “useless.” How does that sound all you “useless” aggies!!!!