“Support Your Local Ag Teacher”
by Chris Reinhardt, feedlot specialist
At a conference for ag leaders recently the topic of human resources was addressed and discussed. I’ve been involved in, and have instigated, many of these types of discussions, and there is usually no shortage of opinions on the topic. Unfortunately, most ag businessmen have a very good handle on what the problem is—a shortage of good people—but few have tangible, feasible solutions.
At this particular meeting, however, an idea was suggested that made a great deal of sense. Our future ag business leaders are, today, sitting in class in high school, trying to decide what they’re going to do with their life. What if we gave them the answer?
One of the attendees at the conference went on at length about the vibrancy of his local high school vo-ag program in general, and the advisor in particular. But he went on to lament that many communities are not in the same situation, and that, due to a decline in funding and a rise in community apathy, the ability of many local vo-ag instructors to attract students to ag careers has waned.
Like any business, teaching and mentoring programs will take on the personality of those leading the program. In sports, an intense head coach will foment intensity from the entire coaching staff; practices will be taut and energetic; players will give 110% at practice or they will be invited to spend their free time elsewhere. Likewise, if the vo-ag instructor has an outflowing of passion for (a) agriculture and (b) the successful futures of their students, that passion will be felt and absorbed by their seeking and willing students.
It’s up to the local ag community to communicate with local ag teachers what the career opportunities are in modern agriculture. Kids need and want direction; young people sometimes don’t know what they don’t know. We have the knowledge of our own businesses to pass on to ag students what we want, need, and are willing to pay for, in terms of quality future employees.
As Mark Twain once quipped, “Everybody complains about the weather, but nobody ever seems to do anything about it.” Well, we have a growing shortage of good, young people coming into agriculture, but we can do something about it: Support Your Local Ag Teacher.