STEM Food and Ag Council Releases Report on Graduates

The STEM Food and Ag Council released its inaugural report last week on the state of supply of and demand for agriculture-related STEM graduates. The report says feeding a rapidly growing population the greatest challenge facing our nation and calls for a strategy to APLU contributed data to this report.

Major findings of the report include:

• From January to August 2014, the food and agriculture industries hired nearly 34,000 people per month.
• A quarter of current food and agriculture professionals are age 55 or older, meaning that workforce attrition will create additional opportunities for young professionals to advance in their careers.
• A 4.9 percent aggregate growth in STEM employment opportunities in advanced agriculture fields is projected over the next five years, adding 33,100 new positions.

The report is aimed at attracting more millennials to agriculture-related STEM fields. It highlights six ag disciplines and examines the demand for those fields in the labor market.