Agricultural Education and the FFA Is For You

Scientist and researchers predict that the world population will peak some time near the year 2050. The population will be over nine billion as compared to today’s world population of over seven billion. Who will feed these people? A better question might be; who will produce, process, distribute, research, and market the food and fiber it takes to support a world population of eleven billion people?

Opportunities for a career in agriculture exist around every corner and will always remain the most important industry of any country. Thus a question has been asked, “Why should I enroll in an Agriculture Education class?” The answer is really simple when you consider the many different career options available in the world of agriculture.

Many changes are occurring in agriculture today. There are fewer and fewer full-time farmers and the industry is becoming more and more specialized. Many times the public perceives the agriculturist as a producer of food with little need for technical know- how. Consequently, agriculture is not viewed as a glamorous occupation. Thus, many parents quickly suggest that anyone could be a farmer…an occupation to be tolerated as a necessary end of society, but not one to be sought after for a career.

We live in a country with the largest, most progressive agriculture system in the world, yet many children and adults believe that milk and eggs come from cartons in the grocery store. Twenty-one percent of all jobs are relate to the food and fiber industry. Thirty percent of all jobs outside metropolitan areas are in the agriculture sector.

The primary objective of Agriculture Education is to prepare students for jobs in an agriculture career. The Vocational Education Act of 1963 and the Vocational Education Amendment of 1968 expanded the definition and emphasis of agricultural from solely production agriculture to also include agriculture supplies and services, agricultural mechanics, agricultural products, agricultural resources, forestry, horticulture, and other agricultural occupations.

Since agricultural is such a large employer of our nation’s population, parents need to take a look at what a course in Agricultural Education has to offer their children. After all, what other courses makes use of reading, writing, math, chemistry, science, physics, business, home economics, art, music, develops leadership skills, and offers students many hands-on experience?

If your son or daughter is not enrolled in an Agricultural Education class for the coming school year, contact your local Agriculture Education instructors, Rusty Allgier, Laura Bittle, or Mike Graham for more information.