I had the opportunity recently to take part in the Illinois
Agricultural Legislative Day, which brings more than 1,000 FFA members to the
state capitol in Springfield to meet with our state senators and
representatives. Students fill and deliver baskets with various items provided
by state commodity groups and show the importance of agriculture to our state’s
economy.
I knew agriculture was a big contributor to jobs in
Illinois, but the latest information provided said more than 25 percent of the
Illinois workforce is directly or indirectly related to agriculture - more than
one out of every four people in the state! That easily makes agriculture our
largest employer, and a sector that continues to grow. Nationwide, more than 23
million jobs are involved in some facet of agriculture, 17 percent of the
civilian workforce.
As young people today are beginning to make decisions about
their future, agriculture is definitely a field (no pun intended!) that should
be considered.
Careers in agriculture are widely varied. Beyond the
traditional view of agriculture as strictly crop or livestock farming,
opportunities exist in finance, communications, law, government, sales,
technology, and more. A knowledge of modern agriculture can translate into
almost any career discipline.
Agriculture is one of the fastest-changing industries today,
embracing cutting-edge technologies in the pursuit of sustainable food, fiber,
and fuel production. High school students today will very likely be employed in
careers after college that don’t even exist at the present time!
One of my favorite quotations reads: “Once in your life, you
will need a doctor, a lawyer, a policeman, and a preacher. But every day, three
times, a day, you need a farmer.” I would add that you also need all of the people
who support the farmers in myriad ways. Agriculture is vitally important to
each and every one of us, and for a young person looking for a stable,
interesting, and fulfilling career, choosing agriculture is the way to go!
