I feel like this is turning into arguments from statements that are taken out of context, hence me saying this is a conversation better served around a campfire than a forum.
For the record: I have nothing against getting a degree if all you want to do is farm. If you want to work on the support side of ag, absolutely go get a degree, it's almost impossible to have a career without one. I'm not advocating farmers keeping their kids on the farm and never experiencing another way of life, viewpoint, or some sort of education. I believe those kids should have something in their back pocket to fall back on if they come back to the farm and hate it. If my son wants to follow me into spraying, first he'll have either a degree, A&P certification, or welding certification. Even then a buddy and I have agreed we'll do some sort of worker exchange program with our sons, so they can see how different operations are run. Ag flying is very boring if everything is going right, someone using it to chase an adrenaline high will be sorely disappointed and get out quickly. I think one of the worst things we can do as parents is keep our kids under our wing their entire formative years, they need to experience life and the mistakes that go with it.
However, if you have no background in farming, no family in farming, no path to farming, I believe you are better off becoming a farmhand and learning the business and building off that, than you are spending $100k+ on a bachelors in ag then figuring out how to get into farming. Watching the area I work, those with degrees don't have anymore success than those without. The willingness to take a large financial risk that puts them ahead plays far more into success than degree vs no degree.
For the record: I have nothing against getting a degree if all you want to do is farm. If you want to work on the support side of ag, absolutely go get a degree, it's almost impossible to have a career without one. I'm not advocating farmers keeping their kids on the farm and never experiencing another way of life, viewpoint, or some sort of education. I believe those kids should have something in their back pocket to fall back on if they come back to the farm and hate it. If my son wants to follow me into spraying, first he'll have either a degree, A&P certification, or welding certification. Even then a buddy and I have agreed we'll do some sort of worker exchange program with our sons, so they can see how different operations are run. Ag flying is very boring if everything is going right, someone using it to chase an adrenaline high will be sorely disappointed and get out quickly. I think one of the worst things we can do as parents is keep our kids under our wing their entire formative years, they need to experience life and the mistakes that go with it.
However, if you have no background in farming, no family in farming, no path to farming, I believe you are better off becoming a farmhand and learning the business and building off that, than you are spending $100k+ on a bachelors in ag then figuring out how to get into farming. Watching the area I work, those with degrees don't have anymore success than those without. The willingness to take a large financial risk that puts them ahead plays far more into success than degree vs no degree.