I recently read an article about the need for highly skilled workers with four-year degrees to supply the ag industry in Michigan. I was astounded we are in a shortage for these kinds of jobs; I knew that vocational ag teachers were in high demand, but not supply chain managers or grain market analysts and the like.

One industry specialist, Larry Zink from Michigan State University, put it this way: “The ag and food industry is not a sexy industry. So it’s not a place that people typically look for employment that are not from the rural sectors. And the rural population is getting smaller.”

I beg to differ with Larry. I’m not so sure the rural kids are looking for sexy, but they may be looking for approval for what they should be studying. I’m wondering if farm parents are discouraging their children from going into the ag field. At the very least, we aren’t very encouraging.

And, maybe we are justified when we look at the struggles the dairy industry has faced in the last few years, or the strain the pork industry has been under with being forced to change production methods.

I contend there are many parents out there who don’t want their kids to struggle the way they have had to in the ag industry. Many farming parents want their kids to seek jobs off the farm or outside of ag, thinking they will reach greater success. So while kids want to stay in an industry they love, they are wandering off to other parts of the career world and finding little satisfaction, knowing all they really want to do is take over the family farm or have a farm of their own.

In a recent conversation with my son, he told me of a girl he met at Michigan State. Raised in the suburbs of Detroit, she found her way to MSU. Not such an odd place for a kid from the suburbs, right?

Not knowing anything about the dairy industry or even that there was such an industry, this gal stumbled around and discovered a new world and fell in love instantly. You guessed it – the dairy industry! And now she’s an animal science major.

You may be thinking she’s a pre-vet major, right? Nope. She doesn’t want to be a vet; she actually wants to earn a degree in the agricultural industry and find a career there. So now we have city kids knocking on the door of the ag world right alongside their country cousins.

The point is, if there is a shortage of educated people in our industry then it’s time we “talk it up.” It’s time to be positive about the job outlook. For heaven’s sake, why wouldn’t we, when we are the second-largest industry in Michigan, let alone the surrounding states?

Let’s remember, hope springs eternal and if agriculture is what our kids were designed to do, then I say let them do it. Whatever area they settle into, enthusiastically support them and their endeavors. Let’s welcome them back to the farm or into the industry with open arms and trust the future of agriculture will be left in capable hands.

The views and opinions expressed in this column are those of the author and not necessarily those of Farm World. Readers with questions or comments for Melissa Hart may write to her in care of this publication.