We’ve heard it all before.
“Farming is stuck in the dark ages! Farmers don’t use technology!”
“You can’t make money farming! It’s an unskilled workforce!”
“Farming is a boys club!”
The reality to most commonly held beliefs about farmers and agriculture is that they’re simply not true. Farmers use more technology than most other professionals – need we say more than self-driving tractors? Because of this rise in technology use, demand for skilled workers is rising. In the US alone, “jobs in food and agriculture outnumber degrees granted in those fields nearly two to one. Of those job opportunities, 27 percent are in science, technology, engineering or math” (Washington Post).
While farming is unequivocally a tough business both physically and mentally, farming can certainly be a lucrative endeavour. In the US, “[f]rom 2011 to 2018, farming had an average net income margin of 20%” (Forbes).
A lot has changed to the agricultural workforce. The amount of young Australians under 35 in agriculture is on the rise, as is the amount of women working in the field. The amount of women working in agriculture is growing; accounting for 30% of the workforce in 2016 and 32% in 2018. Women also account for 55% of University students studying Agricultural Science.
These aren’t the only reasons to consider agriculture. There are many factors that go in to organising a career, but this list of the top 9 reasons to work in agriculture is worth reading before dismissing agriculture.
