According to AgCentric Executive Director Keith Olander, fewer graduating high school students are entering 4-year university agriculture programs. “Some of this I think goes back to just not having a lot of students coming directly from the farm, so they’re just not exposed to the possibility of those careers.” Olander also cites competition of available jobs for graduating high schoolers. Two-year programs are seeing a steady to slightly higher enrollment rate in areas of technology and environment. Programs for agronomy and ag business are seeing declines. “We have all this interest at the high school level, but we do not always convert that to a post-secondary program.” According to Olander, agriculture needs to showcase the benefits of working in the industry to make high school interest translate to lifelong careers. Listen to the full interview with Keith Olander here.
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