What do agribusiness employers see as the most important challenges for recruiting and keeping the best talent in the future?
At the opening of the AgCareers.com North American Ag HR Roundtable on Monday, Dr. Allan Gray, director of the Center for Food and Agricultural Business at Purdue, presented some new findings from a survey of agribusiness company CEOs on what they consider the most important internal and external factors impacting human resources in the industry, as well as what leadership competencies they expect to need in the future.
“From an external perspective, not a lot of surprises,” Gray says. “The economic environment we’re in and the uncertainty associated with that and what’s happening with farmers” were most important. On the internal side, Gray says he was surprised by the importance the CEOs placed on marketing functions. “I suspect that’s a reflection of the changing nature of their customer base as farmers are becoming more differentiated, larger and more sophisticated.”
Under leadership competency, the clear front runner is people leadership, but Gray was interested to see that the CEOs ranked thought leadership – strategic and innovation thinking – lowest. “It was a bit surprising to me because we think that thought leadership is going to be critically important in an environment with so much uncertainty and so much change taking place,” he said.
So far, Gray says 59 agribusiness CEOs have responded to the survey and they expect more yet. The purpose of the survey is to “measure the gaps between what we need in the industry” and what our current levels of leadership competency are, and then develop educational programs to fill that gap.
He also talked about the importance of partnerships between educational institutions and corporations, such as LEAP, an Executive Agribusiness Program at Purdue sponsored by Land O’ Lakes.
Find out more in my interview with Dr. Gray here: Dr. Allan Gray Interview
2011 AgCareers Ag HR Roundtable photo album.
When we talk about having the resources to feed the world in the future, most of the time we’re thinking land and water, but having adequate human resources is equally, if not more, important.
“Really the long term prospects for this industry are so bright, dealing with a growing population and increased need for food,” Dean Akridge said. “At the same time, it’s an industry that’s buffeted by tremendous change. So, this idea of how we manage for today, yet keep our eyes on tomorrow is really a fundamental issue as we prepare talent for the next generation.”
GROWMARK, Inc. announced today a $100,000 award to the University of Illinois initiative between the College of Agricultural, Consumer and Environmental Sciences (ACES) and the College of Media designed to address the growing need for effective communications in the fast-changing world of agriculture, food, feed, fiber, bio-energy and rural development.
There’s never been a better time for careers in agribusiness with a bigger variety of jobs that span the spectrum from production to promotion. 
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During this afternoon’s general session 
The Graduate Winner is Wai-Fun Leong – Universiti Putra Malaysia, Malaysia. She will receive a $10,000 scholarship.
“Innovation with Integrity” is the theme of the 20th anniversary of 
Part of the celebration will be the long-awaited unveiling of Leo the water organ. The 
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Russ is a board member of the ABEF and I visited with him at the recent Agri-Marketing Conference. He says he got involved because he was a student NAMA member and got hired right away into the job he still holds today. He sees the ABEF as a way to give something back for having such a rewarding career. He is a judge for the student NAMA marketing competition and that allows him an opportunity to see prospective new hires for not only his company but perhaps recommendations he can make to other agrimarketing professionals and clients.
The science scholarship students from Missouri colleges included: Jacob Cook, Southwest Baptist University; Jania Billups, Avila University; Rebecca Brehe, Central Methodist University; Gina Osburn, Culver Stockton College; A. J. Exner, Southwest Baptist University; Joshua Kling, Westminster College; Andrea Weed, William Woods University; Kristen Bailey, Central Methodist University; and Hannah Crain, Hannibal-LaGrange College. The professors who were able to attend were Dr. Bob Powell, Avila University; Dr. Perry Tompkins, Dean, Southwest Baptist University; Dr. Angela Bowzer, Westminster College and Dr. Katricia Pierson, William Woods University. 
Novus’ Senior Manager of Biology Research Jim Richards gave the students a glimpse into how Novus is using science to develop nutrition solutions to help feed a growing world population. “The thing that’s been been really interesting about being here is learning how I can apply my skills in cellular and molecular biology to very important problems in agriculture,” he said.
Research engineer Oriana Obiri-Ampomah told the students about growing up in Ghana and deciding to become a chemical engineer. “My vision has been to make a lasting impact on people’s lives and growing up in Africa, I know what it means for people to not necessarily have three square meals a day,” Oriana said. “So, to know that everyday the little work I do here will help change someone’s life is so important.”
The students learned about a non-traditional veterinarian job from Dr. Miguel Escobar, Global Director of Animal Utilization with the US Soybean Export Council, who appreciated the effort by Novus to expose science-minded college students to a variety of potential career paths. “I talked about what a veterinarian can do in his or her life,” he said. “It was a learning experience for me because it was the first time I thought about how I can help young people to go to the sciences in the future.”
The Novus “Science in Action” day also included a trip to the St. Louis Science Center, where the students heard from five staff members with a variety of different backgrounds in science and responsibilities at the center. 
Christopher Bell with the FFA Foundation said it was a good opportunity for the officers to visit an agricultural company that is making a difference in the world. “Novus has put a lot of emphasis on sustainability in agriculture and that’s becoming one of our big initiatives in the FFA is making sure that our 523,000 students are practicing sustainable agriculture,” he said. 
Shannon Norris of New Mexico, who serves as Western Region Vice President for FFA, is pursuing a career in agricultural communications and possibly a doctorate in ruminant nutrition so she was very interested in getting to know the people at Novus. “It’s interesting to see how the 
A partnership between 
Students from private colleges around Missouri are having a chance to check out what kinds of career opportunities await someone with a background in science and a passion for agriculture at the third “Science in Action: A Foundation for Dynamic Careers” sponsored by 
