When some people hear the word “agriculture,” they envision cows and plows, but you can pursue many careers in the field, as Citrus County high school students learned.
The 2nd Annual Expanding Agriculture: Workforce Seminar opened with a motivating keynote from state Rep. J.J. Grow of Inverness and illustrated numerous agriculture-related career paths students can consider. Experts from the University of Florida Institute of Food and Agricultural Sciences (UF/IFAS), other colleges and private industry provided talks and learning opportunities throughout the day.
“Feeding people is really, really important,” said Grow, a UF College of Agricultural and Life Sciences alumnus who spoke to more than 150 students at the College of Central Florida Lecanto campus. “I have so much respect for farmers.”
But Grow emphasized that, in leadership positions, he ran agricultural businesses that provided support to the farmers as one of many examples he used to explain how students could pursue careers in agriculture without actually being a farmer.
Others included marketing, soil and water science, plant breeding, aquaculture and artificial intelligence.
“Agriculture is the No. 2 industry in Florida, behind tourism. It touches everything,” Grow said. “We all ate breakfast, right? That food comes from farms.”
As a farm-to-table example, America has 45 million acres of wheat. Some people love macaroni and cheese. Macaroni comes from wheat, Grow said.
His speech galvanized the students as they headed out for many hands-on sessions. They learned about artificial intelligence, aquaculture, plant breeding, cattle farming, the equine industry, pest control and much more.
Groups of students went to a session on aquaculture, presented by Eric Cassiano, associate Extension scientist at the UF/IFAS Tropical Aquaculture Lab in Ruskin. Cassiano told the students that aquaculture is a $170 million-a-year business in Florida.
“By putting aquaculture into schools, we’re able to educate about it as a food source,” he said. “The field of aquaculture is also expanding many avenues for career development.”
Students watched and listened as Stacy Strickland, the agricultural agent at UF/IFAS Extension Hernando County and Tavis Douglass, an associate professor of agribusiness at the College of Central Florida, told them about the importance of drones in agriculture.
“We’re able to get really awesome pictures from these,” Strickland said.
They flew the drones for the students. But Strickland and Douglass also told students they’ll need to study for various licensing exams to fly drones, and there are several licenses. It’s not something you can cram for, they said.
That theme permeated the sessions: Most speakers told the students they must work hard to make a career in agriculture. A panel discussion after lunch emphasized diligence during a roundtable discussion, to the point of taking business calls, even while on vacation. But in the end, it’s worth the effort, all presenters agreed.
“Agriculture really does need you,” Grow said. “Ultimately, it’s your decision.”
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ABOUT UF/IFAS
The mission of the University of Florida Institute of Food and Agricultural Sciences (UF/IFAS) is to develop knowledge relevant to agricultural, human and natural resources and to make that knowledge available to sustain and enhance the quality of human life. With more than a dozen research facilities, 67 county Extension offices, and award-winning students and faculty in the UF College of Agricultural and Life Sciences, UF/IFAS brings science-based solutions to the state’s agricultural and natural resources industries, and all Florida residents.
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