According to a new employment outlook report, nearly 58,000 jobs will open annually across the United States in occupations involving food, agriculture, renewable natural resources, and environment over the next five years. The report was produced by Purdue University’s College of Agriculture with grant support from the U.S. Dept. of Agriculture’s National Institute of Food and Agriculture (USDA NIFA).
The jobs reflect a need for a highly skilled and trained workforce to support the food, agriculture, and national resources industries amid projections of a world population that is expected to grow from 7 billion people today to 9 billion by 2050, noted Sonny Ramaswamy, NIFA director. The report projects that 27% of the estimated 57,900 new job opportunities each year will be in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM areas), while 46% will be in management and business. Jobs in food and biomaterials production will comprise 15%, and 12% of the openings will be in education, communication, and governmental services.
While most employers prefer to hire graduates of food, agriculture, renewable natural resources and environment programs, graduates from these programs only fill about 60% of the expected annual openings. Even as enrollments in these programs increase and the job market becomes somewhat more competitive, good employment opportunities for the next five years are expected. In the STEM areas, the strongest markets of growth are for plant scientists, food scientists, sustainable biomaterials specialists, water resources scientists and engineers, precision agriculture specialists, and veterinarians.
