The World Needs STEM: Ag STEM Careers

By Danielle Tucker, 2017 AgCareers.com Marketing Intern

You probably haven’t seen anyone out handpicking corn with a husking knife or a peg strapped to the palm of their hands. Why not? Because science, technology, engineering and mathematics have helped change agriculture. These fields are what are known as STEM careers.

Farmers cannot feed the world alone. If we solely rely on the diminishing number of farmers to meet the demand of food, there won’t be enough to go around. Pursuing a STEM degree will open a countless number of doors for you.

What opportunities are there?

If you are wondering what kinds of opportunities there are, the designated STEM degree list has over 400 degree programs listed. If you were to glance over the list, you would find most of them relate to agriculture in more ways than you may realize. You can match these degrees to hundreds of job opportunities that exist within agriculture. Students pursuing degrees in STEM are carving new tools to find solutions to feeding the drastically rising demand for food.

How are we advancing in agriculture?

Matching the demand for food means increased efforts to improve efficiency, yields, equipment design, genetics and more. Below is a list of just a few examples of the efforts from STEM careers that will help us feed the increasing population.

• Technology – Internet of things (IoT), Artificial Intelligence (AI) and Big Data are entering agriculture with a promising solution to meet food demands. These devices could stretch beyond the limits of what large-scale machinery could ever reach. Smart farming is becoming more common, with drones and sensors leading the way to better results.

• Genetics – Scientists are improving genetics of both plants or animals which has allowed farmers to improve the traits of each following generation of offspring. Desired traits allow high-performance crops and animals.

• Byproducts – Sustainable solutions that better serve the environment and our future are being discovered and put to work in agriculture. Utilization of byproducts can allow farmers to maximize the use of their resources. Research is currently being conducted to better understand what byproducts could mean for the future and how they can deliver a better product for our environment.

• Vertical Farming – There’s only so much land to go around and vertical farming is a potential solution to result in higher production power per square meter. Whether this can or can’t produce a viable system for farming, what’s important is that urban areas are getting involved with agriculture.

Make a Difference

There are many career profiles that directly connect between STEM and Agriculture.

Here are a few of them:

• Science – Environmental Scientist and Specialist, Animal Geneticist, Plant Geneticist
• Technology – Information Technology(IT) Programmer, IT App Developer, IT Software Developer
• Engineering – Electrical Engineer, Design Engineer, Mechanical Engineer
• Mathematics – Accountant, Financial Analyst, Climate Change Analyst

There’s more to farming than driving tractors and milking cows. We need farmers, but what we desperately need is solutions to the challenges and threats the industry faces. There are countless STEM careers you can take to help make a difference for our future.

Look for more STEM careers from the AgCareers.com Career Profiles that link to current job openings in those fields.