Agriculture as a college major?

[Complete Turf Care]

I was in the same situation as your son about 40 years ago. I grew up working with my uncle on a rice farm. My passion was to farm so I got a degree in Production Agriculture from UL Lafayette.

Things didn't work out for me to farm when I finished college so I went into research at the LSU Rice Research Station. After a few years there, I went to work for a large regional ag supply company. That was a really good job. We sold everything that anyone in ag could want or need. From guns to pet food, to cattle supplies to fertilizer and seed for the biggest farmers.

About 15 years ago, I started my own business offering landscaping and lawn maintenance. Now, most of my work is building and maintaining athletic fields and some work on golf courses.

My point is that there are many careers available in agriculture besides farming. There is a huge need for horticulturists, and turf experts, especially in high end golf courses and sports venues. Don't be afraid to support your son if he wants a degree in agriculture.

 

[smstonypoint]

This info on job opportunities in ag. should be useful to you and your son --https://www.purdue.edu/usda/employment/wp-content/uploads/2015/04/2-Page-USDA-Employ.pdf.

Steve

 

[zmountaineer]

My wife has a BS in agribusiness management and rural development and a masters in agriculture. When she graduated she became an extension agent (started out a little over $50k in Virginia over 10 years ago). After we moved she became a loan officer for Farm Credit (paid even better and was really suited to her and her major). Now she works for the government and doesn't use her degree and it pays much better but it was all bc she had a masters. Didn't matter what the masters was in.

 

[2LaneCruzer]

I had an uncle with an agricultural degree; he was a County Agent for years. He...along with his family...also spent several years in Africa as an agricultural advisor to the government of Ethiopia.

 

[Groo]

Ill agree with everyone else; a BS in Ag doesn't equal farming your own 40. Its an industrial degree.

 

[ovrszd]

There's a lot more to agriculture than farming.

See Undergraduate Programs | College of Agriculture and Life Sciences | NC State University for a listing of the undergraduate majors in the College of Agriculture and Life Sciences at NCSU. My grandniece started at NCSU last fall as an Animal Science major with plans of going on to veterinary school.

Most (all?) ag. colleges host open houses for prospective students at various times during the year. My grandniece attended ones at the University of Kentucky, Virginia Tech, and NCSU. It's not too soon for your son and you to attend one of those open houses if he is interested in agriculture.

I spent nearly 30 years as an undergraduate adviser for agricultural economics majors at Clemson University. Most of our majors did not come from farms.
I'm guessing that less than 20% of our graduates returned to their family farms and a handful were hired as farm managers. Those family farms were usually large-scale operations.

Other ag. economics graduates were employed by agribusiness firms (e.g., chemical companies, farm credit, commodity marketing, etc.), non-agribusiness firms, or government agencies (e.g., USDA).

Still others went on to graduate school (e.g., agricultural economics, economics, MBA, finance, law, etc.).

Steve

Yep. An AG degree rarely has anything significant to do with working the soil and raising a crop. Kinda like the Farm Bill has little to do with farming.

 

[newbury]

Talking with the one boy. Grades are good and apparently his goal now is NC State and agriculture.

Keep in mind, he's still a teen who can't drive, and I know things can change down the road.

Just got me to think, is it worth helping contribute money for a 4 year degree in agriculture and exactly what do you do? Something that I've never thought about. First thought is without a farm, what are you going to farm? On top of that, where you going to get the money to buy a farm after college:laughing:

Assuming he applies himself and gets decent grades in college, exactly what do you do with an agriculture degree?

Anyone have any experience? Is there a decent future in farming?

A good friend of mine works on someone elses farm (large dairy and crop) and he does his own farming as well on his 40 acres, but he does have an associates degree at a vo tech college in diesel mechanics, and he is basically in charge on working on all the farm equipment on the dairy farm.

Unlike when I grew up a 4 year degree means diddly squat.

still a teen who can't drive

Add in maybe another 6 years of education an he might be an engineer or a politician.
It's too late now, you've spent 14 or 15 years training him. If he is anything like your online persona which we see he will do well.

Children are like arrows fired in dense woods, you guide them for a while then they are out in the open, they might hit a branch and deflect.

 

[hawkeye08]

As others have indicated, lots of opportunity.. Back in the 70s, I wanted to farm (and not continue in college). Pa suggested I get a degree in something useful that I could fall back in case farming did not work out (he had BS degree in mechanical engineering and civil engineering). I farmed for almost 2 years and then went off to college studying electronics engineering. I got my BS degree and have been working in technology ever since. I had a chance to go back to farming two years after I graduated when Pa passed away, but decided to stay in tech.

Ag is big business, but there are also family farms. While it is hard to just go buy a farm and start farming, many farmers have a small "home place" and lease/rent/sharecrop the rest of the land they need.

 

[Sigarms]

If he is anything like your online persona which we see he will do well.

Children are like arrows fired in dense woods, you guide them for a while then they are out in the open, they might hit a branch and deflect.

I have to ask (and partially afraid) exactly what is your take on my online persona?

Very good analogy by the way.

The way I see it, you do your best and pray. My mother did that with me, and when I think about the **** I put her through, I KNEW she loved me.

Now my "artistic" boy has no clue what he wants to do unless it's sleep until 11:laughing:

To all - a sincere thanks for the feedback. My worst fear was that an agriculture degree was kind of like a liberal of arts degree, and I see that isn't the reality.

 

[CobyRupert]

Nobody has asked: Is he the type that will probably work for others (agri-business), or will he likely have his own business or farm?

Often you need a degree to get in the door of the first, but really only need an education for the second. There is a difference.

Given that a 4 year degree might cost $100,000 plus (but can be done cheaper), it's a classic argument as a parent: Is it better for you and your kid to invest that $100,000 to set up a business (or down payment on a farm, etc..) instead?