"College majors that are useless" screams the headline on Yahoo news. The article contains a list of degrees that you don't need to bother with, no jobs in those fields, don't even go there. Move along, move along.....
Three of the five dead end, awful, bad, and pointless careers listed are agriculture related. In fact the number one worst degree to pursue, according to the pundit who wrote the screed, is agriculture in general (this from a guy, who, according to his Facebook page studied film and TV at UCLA).
It's no secret that the number of folks actually farming has declined a lot over the years....partly I suppose because of increased efficiency in most aspects of food production, and partly because fewer and fewer people want to work that hard at such a challenging profession.
However, a point seemed to have been missed by the author as he bandied about Department of Labor statistics on how many jobs were projected in each field.
Agriculture is all about producing food and fiber. The population of the planet is growing by leaps and bounds. I suspect that all those new babies that are projected to arrive on earth in the next few decades will arrive here kicking and screaming for their first meal and wanting to be warm. I imagine they will continue to want to eat until their tenure on the planet comes to an end. Most of them will wear clothes. At least some of those clothes will probably be made from natural fibers.
Just who does the author figure is going to feed ad clothe all those new folks? (Not to mention the ones who are already here and eating and putting on shirts and pants on a regular basis?)
And then there is the no jobs myth.
Currently agricultural exports contribute one of the few positives to America's balance of trade. Here is a quote from a recent Farm Side, "Secretary of Agriculture Tom Vilsack even mentioned this at the American Farm Bureau annual meeting in Hawaii, “Last year, American agricultural exports amounted to $137.4 billion, which led to a $42 billion farm trade surplus, and direct support for more than 1 million American jobs.”
Hmmm, a million American jobs directly supported by agriculture. Plus countless millions the world over, fed and clothed by American agriculture....with many more millions soon to be born, hungry and naked.......are those degrees really all that useless?
I don't think so, but then two of my three kids have ag degrees and are working in good jobs, which they got straight out of college....maybe that skewed my opinion a little.
****Here are some even better numbers.
****And here is someone who actually knows what he is talking about, as opposed to the author above.
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9 comments:
I think a lot of people consider ag to be for the "dumb kids" and overlook the increasingly sophisticated way we farm these days. They also forget ag degrees are not just for farmers.
Yeah, most of them idiots sure want us to just import all our food from other counties, like we do so much of our other things that we now buy. That would sure be handy in a war, wouldn't it? Exactly why we have a "cheap food policy" in this country. Those who control the food, control the people. Evidently some of those people who are so bright have not read not studied history!
Encouraging words. Thanks.
But...but...what's behind the doors at the supermarkets? Isn't that where food comes from?
Definitely go into film making, kids.
The author of that nonsense has probably never witnessed the look in a heifers eyes when she is trying to understand what her body is going through during calving, or felt and smelled the pungent and desirable smell of unwrapped silage on a cool Fall day, or walked on the edge of a piece of property where pastures meet woodlands and witness the beauty that surrounds them, where Fall leaves in all their colors stick to your boots and pant legs like kitten kisses. No the author probably can not fathom the depth and desire of one like myself who would love to go back to the farm to become alive and whole again.
Our three daughters graduated with ag or related degrees(foods/nutrition with an ag communications minor) and all had jobs: Extension Educator, USDA Foreign Agriculture Service, Wheat and Barley research. None of them were on farm jobs but support for those of us who are and those non-farm jobs that depend on the products we produce. In Washington State those ag related jobs make up 20% of the labor force! So go ahead and support those kids who want to major in agriculture and its many categories. Okay, thanks for letting me get up on my soap box.
Hilltop Farmwife
MMM, so true! They forget nutritionists, food science, and so many, many other jobs that rely on ag degrees
JB, and the history they do learn has been edited heavily.
WW, I sure hate to see it when the ag schools cut ag courses!
Jan, you betcha. I didn't pick on the guy's grammar or anything because folks in glass houses and all, but dang it, he had a lot of nerve!
Anon, what a beautiful sentiment! Besides the perfectly acceptable and good paying jobs available in ag, there is a lifestyle satisfaction that is unrivaled in many other fields
Hilltop Farm Wife, hop on that soap box any time you want to! I couldn't agree more. All three of our kids have degrees from an area ag school. they all are gainfully employed and two of them have really respectable jobs in and out of the dairy industry
One of the best-looking and sharpest kids in the class above me was in Ag.
He inhabited a mysterious world of which a townie like me knew little.
Interestingly, my husband, who was from a completely different community, ended up with him in the honors dorm at OSU.
I'm always proud of the fact that my husband farmed as a kid. I know he wouldn't be the man he is today without that experience.
I agree with Jinglebob..he said a huge truth there.
Linda
http://coloradofarmlife.wordpress.com
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