Michigan Agriculture in the Classroom

Be Agriculture Careers

Think Ag

Start your career!

From science and technology to communications and everything in between, agriculture has a career for you!

Odds are in your favor

It's estimated there are 54,400 agriculture-related job openings annually for individuals with four-year and higher college degrees. This doesn't count the high demand for skilled trade professionals.

Yet only 55 percent of these job openings are expected to be filled by graduates who earned degrees from colleges of agriculture, life sciences, natural resources and veterinary medicine.

What's it mean?

There are not enough agriculturally trained and educated individuals to meet the needs and demands of today's employers.

Help students Be Agriculture

Use this how-to guide to incorporate agricultural careers as guest speakers, career panelists, in a career fair or as a field trip option. Check out these resources as hand-out or prize options for your career fair.

Watch our Be Agriculture Virtual Career Panels!

Check out our series of Be Agriculture Career Panels. Each panel will spend 45 minutes focusing on a specific sector of agriculture, food and natural resources-based careers. This moderated panel will answer questions about daily work, education/training background and provide advice on preparation to work in the specific career focus. Students watching the webinar may use the chat feature to ask the panelists questions.

Use this guided questions document to engage students while listening to the career panel. Make sure to check out related links in the video description as well.

Be Business Minded

Are you a natural leader? Do you enjoy coordinating people, finances and activities to make sure plans run smoothly? Careers in this pathway connect the business world with agriculture by determining how to effectively use resources for profit.

Be the Caregiver

If you enjoy working with and caring for animals of all sizes, consider an animal science path. You can help increase proficiency in the ways farmers breed, feed and treat animals.

Be Scientific

Unleash your inner scientist! Professionals in this field often have a strong interest in biology, chemistry or physics. Careers in this field use scientific technologies to help farmers raise plants and animals fore effectively.

Be the Process

From the recipe to the packaging to the nutrients it provides our bodies, be a part of the food chain! Battle single use plastics, help people maintain healthy diets, or be the connection between farm and table.

Be Constructive

Be constructive by using technical, hands-on skills to repair, lead and oversee projects in agriculture. Work with farm machinery, agricultural buildings, greenhouses or wind turbines in this continuously growing career segment.

Be Grounded

Be grounded in a career that allows you to care for the land, advise farmers and landowners, and maintain pristine sports turf. Use your hands-on skills and technical insight to build a career in this segment.

Be Resourceful

Leave the Earth better than you found it while you explore a career in this track. Locate and prevent potential threats to our natural resources and environment.

Be the Change

Are you interested in helping to shape the future of the agricultural industry? Engage with citizens of all ages to help them understand the importance of the agricultural industry at the local, national and international levels.

Be the Story

Be the story in a career pathway that helps to creatively communicate the message of agriculture. Create videos, graphics, social media posts and stories to help captivate consumer and agricultural audiences, alike.

Think agriculture and get a competitive advantage

Consider one of more than 250 careers across agriculture's diverse job sectors.

Watch more videos from our "Think Agriculture" Ag Careers Video Series on YouTube.

Agriculture Communications

From Web design to advertising and broadcasting, agriculture communications offers a variety of professions almost as diverse as the agriculture industry itself.

Agriculture Education

Do you get satisfaction from helping people understand how and why agriculture works the way it does? If connecting the dots appeals to you, a career in agriculture education probably suits you.

Agribusiness

If you're looking for a career field that offers opportunities across all sectors of agriculture consider agribusiness. Ranging from fruit and soybeans to tractors and commodity markets, agribusiness careers span the diversity of the agriculture industry.

Livestock

The livestock industry offers opportunities to work directly with many species of animals or to work with organizations affiliated with the care, processing, training and promotion of each species.

Technical Systems

Careers involving technical systems keep agriculture running. Technology is ever increasing on and off the farm, and professionals are needed to bring the latest innovations to harvesting, livestock care, processing and packaging.

Food Science

Food science careers bring the farm to the table. If you have an appetite for technology and the processes involved in turning raw products into consumable foods, the food science industry has lots to offer.

Natural Resources

As the Great Lakes State with more than 3,000 miles of shoreline and more than 19.3 million acres of forested land, Michigan has a need for professionals in the natural resources industry.

Processing & Packaging

Ever wonder how crackers keep from breaking while in transit from a bakery to grocery store, or how they stay fresh until you open the package? Processing and packaging professionals do! Once agricultural commodities leave the farm, it's their job to get products in consumers' hands.

Plant Science

From seed sales to crop scouting and processing, there are plenty of job possibilities for a career in plant science. You might be surprised to learn that plant science also includes ornamental landscaping and turfgrass and athletic field management.