A couple of months ago there was a thread/discussion on tech jobs in Ag; pretty sure it was on OB. The conversation included career examples and the idea that kids who haven't had much, or any, exposure to agriculture could still be in demand to those Ag companies.

Does anyone recall that thread, and if so, would you link it, please? I've tried to search for TA for it using a combination of "tech," "Agriculture," and "job," but have had no luck.

Maybe this one:

https://texags.com/forums/18/topics/2955065

Hydraulic or several companies in Iowa do work in the Ag field with no experience required.

Thanks...I don't think that was the thread, but it's still helpful.

I have a junior in HS that's doesn't know what he wants to study in college. I remembered that thread and thought it'd be helpful to him.

Found it. It was the Wildorado thread on Politics, specifically these comments from fightingfarmer09:

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Exposing students to biotechnology, business and marketing in the agriculture industry.

I did a work event for our molecular researchers this year and was amazed they had worked in the lab creating most of our products and many of them had NEVER been in the field. Biotechnology and computer programming will make the biggest impact on agricultural production in the next 20 years. But no one tells students that you can work in agriculture with this career path. Roughly 75% of the Ag workforce is not in the field. Empower kids to realize they can be involved in agriculture without being in the sticks.

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And this one from tsuag10

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I tell this to my sophomore all the time. He has a nice interest in tech and programming but really loves working the animals we have. He especially has a knack for poultry judging. I am constantly looking for avenues he can take to marry the two together.

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https://jbssa.com/our-business/
https://www.cargill.com/meat-poultry
https://www.tysonfoods.com/innovation

With the right degree and an internship or two during his undergrad, any of the big 3 protein companies would love to have a tech savvy person with a background in agriculture.
Also, he can be a member of the A&M Poultry Judging or Meats Judging team without necessarily being a Poultry or Animal Science major. Kids from Ag Econ or Mays are on the team a lot. The job placement rate after being on a judging team and doing an internship would be almost 100%.

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According to Bloomberg, farming and brains don't mix. So tech probably isn't needed in ag.

https://www.foxnews.com/politics/bloomberg-implied-farming-is-easy-in-2016-comments

Has your son looked at the Ag Engineering program?

I agree w fightingfarmer - tech abounds in Ag. The "tech" in ag quite possibly is outsourced by the equipment manufacturers (my example) - but have no solid data to support the thought. What I know is every piece of my current equipment has a screen recording and displaying just about anything you would need to know about the operation.

If your son is "tech" (and I am assuming this means good at and liking computer things), ag tech could be a good place to be tech but have the opportunity to interact w dumb ag folks (Bloomberg) in the field compared to say, gamers in Cupertino.

How exactly one gets into ag tech is an interesting Q - sorry I cannot offer more solid data....other than it is everywhere.

Gonna watchlist this. Have a bit to go but currently working on ENGR degree with emphasis on robotics and automation. I don't know much about AG to be honest but I respect the hell out of it and wouldn't mind learning some options.

I am more than happy to help out with questions or contacts that may help. I truly believe the full integration of technology into agriculture will be industry altering event. It is an exciting time to be building your foundation and education to be a part of that.

Interesting tech jobs that I interact with:
We have a head lab technician that handles all genotype analysis for breeding.

Field managers than work with all of the precision plot planters and are responsible for everything in the field and equipment.

There are Imagery specialists that work with drones, satellites and statistics to build algorithms to help with in field management. We also use this information for phenotype selections.

So many other things going on it's hard to isolate. The best advice I got and will share with you, focus less on the tools (drones, GMOs, precision Ag, etc) and more on the way those tools are used in the process.

I work in Ag Technology. My degree was Agricultural Systems Management through the AGEN dept.

I work in the irrigation industry and the tech involved is evolving daily. To the point that we can find a plugged sprinkler nozzle in a field. We have also got some stuff working to find a bug on a plant in a field. That's pretty significant savings if you only have to apply chemicals in affected areas.

The Ag Tech world will continue to expand as the population increases and farm land is removed from production for development.

Oh and Eff Mike Bloomberg

Thank you, all. This is very helpful.

Sometimes it feels like he's going through high school rudderless, overwhelmed with academies, AP, dual credit, blah blah blah. Having specific career examples like this will help a lot.

jtp01 said:

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I work in Ag Technology. My degree was Agricultural Systems Management through the AGEN dept.

I work in the irrigation industry and the tech involved is evolving daily. To the point that we can find a plugged sprinkler nozzle in a field. We have also got some stuff working to find a bug on a plant in a field. That's pretty significant savings if you only have to apply chemicals in affected areas.

The Ag Tech world will continue to expand as the population increases and farm land is removed from production for development.

Oh and Eff Mike Bloomberg

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My son was Ag Systems Mgmt also. Also came out with a Minor in Business. I tried to steer him to water utilities and management. He ended up working offshore in O&G. Now works as Financial Analyst (auditor) for O&G joint ventures.

I think the Ag Systems Mgmt degree is highly underrated.

I believe it is vastly underrated. I have classmates who run banks, some started their own businesses, I was in the construction industry for over a decade, and some went on and got their AGEN degree. And that is just in my group of close friends.

Tech can bring some significant value to producers. I have one case from last year where we added an ADDITIONAL $316/ac on a circle of a very high value crop. All for an investment of $850/yr. that farm will now be adding our service to every circle they plant this year. We simply deliver the data to the producer with a recommendation and they can make the call.

The tech is very important for me, I farm and run cattle in addition to my day job which has me traveling ALOT. tech allows me to operate certain components of our operation from anywhere in the world.