Last week, an article appearing on the "Yahoo! Education" website written by Terence Loose described the pursuit of degrees in agriculture and animal science among the most useless endeavors college students can undertake. Citing Laurence Shatkin, Ph.D., a "career information expert, author and interactive system developer" (whatever that all means), who claims there is less need for agriculture managers now that farms have become more efficient, Loose said: "If your idea of a good day is getting up with the sun and working till it sets as an agriculture manager, [then] a degree in agriculture might be your calling."
Excuse me, but I think the author and his source must be suffering from myopia and naivete. Forget about the manufacture and import/export of capital and non-durable goods, clothing and everyday items and luxury object. They're still important drivers of global economics. But eating is the business of the day. And it is getting bigger as the world population tops seven billion people. Growing middle classes from all corners of the planet are demanding a higher quality diet with more protein.
Global sales of processed food reached $4.1 trillion last year, with Americans consuming about $1.5 trillion worth of that total. Those who produce and process food are the new Masters of the Universe. That title no longer belongs to the world's manufacturing titans, financiers and mergers/acquisitions guys anymore.
The expertise farmers and ranchers have in crop science, animal health, satellite mapping and positioning for precision farming, sustainability, climate, the environment and risk management is just as important as the managerial skills and financial savvy international executives pick up at business schools. Even more so. While Wall Street and the commodity exchanges are primarily interested in bushels per acre and their price, farmers have to deal with what it takes to attain those yields, make it happen and pay for it all, while rolling the dice with Mother Nature.
Food is the biggest business in the world, and farmers and ranchers are the OEMs, (original equipment manufacturers) of the industry. In the next 35 years alone (about the career span of a college graduate), the world's farmers will have to produce more food than mankind did in the last 10,000 years to keep up with demand. Anybody still think an agriculture degree is useless?
Excuse me, but I think the author and his source must be suffering from myopia and naivete. Forget about the manufacture and import/export of capital and non-durable goods, clothing and everyday items and luxury object. They're still important drivers of global economics. But eating is the business of the day. And it is getting bigger as the world population tops seven billion people. Growing middle classes from all corners of the planet are demanding a higher quality diet with more protein.
Global sales of processed food reached $4.1 trillion last year, with Americans consuming about $1.5 trillion worth of that total. Those who produce and process food are the new Masters of the Universe. That title no longer belongs to the world's manufacturing titans, financiers and mergers/acquisitions guys anymore.
The expertise farmers and ranchers have in crop science, animal health, satellite mapping and positioning for precision farming, sustainability, climate, the environment and risk management is just as important as the managerial skills and financial savvy international executives pick up at business schools. Even more so. While Wall Street and the commodity exchanges are primarily interested in bushels per acre and their price, farmers have to deal with what it takes to attain those yields, make it happen and pay for it all, while rolling the dice with Mother Nature.
Food is the biggest business in the world, and farmers and ranchers are the OEMs, (original equipment manufacturers) of the industry. In the next 35 years alone (about the career span of a college graduate), the world's farmers will have to produce more food than mankind did in the last 10,000 years to keep up with demand. Anybody still think an agriculture degree is useless?
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