AgWired

The agriculture industry would probably agree that they are a noble profession. But many on the outside don’t see it that way, especially students getting ready to emerge from college and have started their job search. Yet according to Dr. Scott Vernon, a professor in the Agricultural Education and Communication Department at Cal Poly State University in San Luis Obispo, California, the image of agriculture held by outsiders must change if the shortage of skilled candidates is going to be reversed.

Dr. Vernon spoke at AgCareers.com Ag & Food HR Roundtable, the largest event to date. He is the founder of “I Love Farmers, They Feed My Soul” movement, whose mission is to bring agriculture to youth living in urban areas. The industry, says Vernon, needs to begin engaging kids when they are young and continue the outreach through middle school, high school and into college. Kids who participate in these types of programs when they are young get hooked on ag and head to college to study in areas that will allow them to have a challenging and fun career in the industry.

Dr. Vernon says we need to show students the diversity within the industry. “We need to help them understand how they can take their talent or skill or love and passion and find a place in agriculture that we can use that talent, love and passion.” He also notes that in college, he finds that students are coming into the industry via their love of food, environment and business.

He said that while ag is a global industry and very complex, when you get down to it, it’s a people business. It’s all about people and the things they value and the connection to family. Dr. Vernon said that from an HR perspective, they need to understand how to tap into a student’s value system. He stresses if the industry “sells the sizzle,” they will come.

Listen to my interview with Dr. Scott Vernon here: Why Ag is a Noble Profession

Visit the AgCareers.com Ag & Food HR Roundtable photo album.

Ever since Justin Timberlake sang about bringing sexy back, it appears that sexy is making its way back to a lot of things – including, says Rod Hamilton, agriculture. Although he admits that the cheek and tongue comment gets people’s attention and that’s not necessarily the image in which he believes ag should brand itself, he is serious that one reason kids and college students aren’t working toward careers in ag is because they don’t think its a cool industry. But it is.

Rod Hamilton joked about not being sure why he was asked to speak to the over 200 attendees at AgCareers.com Ag & Food HR Roundtable but it only took a few comments for everyone to realize, why in fact, he was perfect. Rod didn’t begin life on a farm. He was sent to a farm to “grow up” and before he knew it he landed a job at Christensen Farms (a pork producer) based in Minnesota. Now the communications manager, he has seen several things: an industry that is not delivering a consistent message nor doing a good job of telling positive stories about itself and a shortage of up and coming talent. He noted that HR managers need to widen their pool of candidates and begin recruiting kids at a younger age to get them excited about agriculture.

Rod is also interesting because he sees an industry that needs more involvement in politics, so to fill the void he became a politician. He is now serving his fifth term in the Minnesota House of Representatives, and he is a member of the Agriculture Committee and served as Minority Lead, Vice Chair and Chair of the Committee. In this role, he has worked with educators throughout the state from elementary school through college as well as members of Minnesota communities who are passionate about where their food comes from, to ensure ag education stays in the classroom. And fortunately for the ag industry, he is just ramping up his career.

I couldn’t help but become excited about the field during his presentation and as the first day came to a close, I realized that if HR managers could bottle his passion for the industry and for kids and sprinkle it on students around the country, there would no longer be a shortage of amazing talent entering the agribusiness industry. But until then, he gave HR managers some great advice on recruiting and retaining talent to the ag industry.

Listen to my interview with Rod Hamilton here: Rod Hamilton Brings Sexy Back to Ag

Visit the AgCareers.com Ag & Food HR Roundtable photo album.

AgCareers.com Ag & Food HR Roundtable (@AgCareers / #AgRT) kicked off in Johnston, Iowa today, the home of global agricultural powerhouse and event host, DuPont Pioneer. Each year the event has grown larger and its no wonder why. With an urgent need for new talent to join the agricultural industry, there is no better event in the country for HR managers to network about job recruiting, hiring and retention tips.

The first session kicked off with some remarks from AgCareers.com President Eric Spell (who BTW- I am in a Twitter competition with) who discussed some recent trends, gave some project updates and announced some new and exciting projects. In addition, he announced the preliminary results of AgCareers.com AGRIBUSINESS HR REVIEW. This year more than 60 agribusiness companies participated with information about emerging industry trends and developments regarding Salary Reviews, HR Management Practices, Management Performance Schemes, Benefits and Salary Packaging, Recruitment Practice, Retirement Trends, and Branding Practices.

A few key discoveries according to Spell: more than 1 million agribusiness veterans are expected to retire in the next three or so years. This during the same time that there is a severe shortage of students who are graduating and taking jobs in the agribusiness field. The two hottest career fields in agriculture over the next few years: plant sciences or agronomy.

AgCareers.com has thousands of jobs on its site at any given time also has job posts for thousands of internships. Spell said the most high-profile internships for 2014 will be filled by Thanksgiving and encourages students, and employers to begin the search now.

But maybe one of the coolest programs AgCareers has, and it happens to be new, is its AgWarriors program which aims at helping connect veterans and employers. Interestingly, Spell said that more than 40 percent of the jobs needed in Ag don’t require ag backgrounds and with the unique skill sets these veterans bring to the workforce, they will be in high-demand to fill positions over coming years.

I’ve barely touched on the great information that was shared during the opening session today. You can listen to my interview with Eric Spell here: Interview with Eric Spell

Visit the AgCareers.com Ag & Food HR Roundtable photo album.