Sought-After Agriculture Majors

Agriculture is in dire need of skilled people to tackle the ever-changing, complex issues it faces. Universities with strong agriculture programs play a key role in preparing skilled personnel. What are the most sought-after college graduates in agriculture? Nebraska Farmer's Elizabeth Hodges recently provided the answer with the results of a survey of five Midwest universities with strong agricultural programs. The results showed which majors in agriculture had the best graduation and job placement rates. Administrators at the Institute of Agriculture and Natural Resources at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln took part in the survey along with their counterparts from universities in Minnesota, Missouri, South Dakota, and North Dakota.

According to Hodges, the top five majors are:

1. Animal/Veterinary Science-nutritionist, meat scientist, livestock production, livestock geneticist, veterinarian
2. Agribusiness/Economics-commodity merchandiser, credit analyst, loan officer, sales manager, economic analyst
3. Crop Scientist-seed analysists, plant pathologists, agronomist
4. General Agriculture-sales, farm management, agricultural communications
5. Biochemistry-plant research biologist, research lab technician, pharmaceutical research

Along with expertise in these fields, graduates will also need a solid background and experience in technology. Systems analysis, data analysis, automation, artificial intelligence and more will be increasingly a part of these fields. For those young people willing to tackle the challenge, agriculture should offer many opportunities.