Occupational assistance programmes : contributions from the world of work. 9781422228951, 9781422228869, 9781422289310

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For many high school graduates, college is a way to get ahead, but going to college is not the only way for young adults to succeed. Many people choose to enter the workforce after high school to start earning money and gaining experience right away. These motivated young workers can have rewarding jobs without ever having to earn a 4-year college degree. If you’re interested in working on a farm and don’t know that you want to—or can—go to college, a career in agriculture might be for you. Young people need only a high school diploma or equivalent to start work in farming, and they can eventually earn more than $50,000 a year. In Farming, Ranching, and Agriculture, you’ll learn how to start a career in farming and what you need to succeed in the field. Find out about the prospects for agriculture careers in the future, how much farm workers can make each year, and whether your path to success includes a career in farming.

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Farming, Ranching, and Agriculture

Earning $50,000–$100,000 with a High School Diploma or Less Announcer Car Mechanic Chef Cosmetologist DJ Dog Groomer Energizing Energy Markets: Clean Coal, Shale, Oil, Wind, and Solar Farming, Ranching, and Agriculture Masseur & Massage Therapist Personal Assistant Presenting Yourself: Business Manners, Personality, and Etiquette Referee The Arts: Dance, Music, Theater, and Fine Art Truck Driver

Earning $50,000–$100,000 with a High School Diploma or Less

Farming, Ranching, and Agriculture Connor Syrewicz

Mason Crest

Mason Crest 450 Parkway Drive, Suite D Broomall, PA 19008 www.masoncrest.com Copyright © 2014 by Mason Crest, an imprint of National Highlights, Inc. All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, taping or any information storage and retrieval system, without permission from the publisher. Printed in the United States of America. First printing 987654321 Series ISBN: 978-1-4222-2886-9 ISBN: 978-1-4222-2895-1 ebook ISBN: 978-1-4222-8931-0 Cataloging-in-Publication Data on file with the Library of Congress. Produced by Vestal Creative Services. www.vestalcreative.com

Contents 1. Careers Without College 7 2. What Do Farmers and Ranchers Do? 19 3. How Can I Become a Farmer or Rancher? 31 4. How Much Can I Make? 43 5. Looking to the Future 51 Find Out More 60 Bibliography 61 Index 63 About the Author & Picture Credits 64 Introduction 7 1. Careers Without College 7 2. What Do Umps and Referees Do? 7 3. How Can I Become a Sports Official? 7 4. How Much Can I Make? 7 5. What’s the Future of Sports Officials? 7 Find Out More 7 Bibliography 7 Index 7 About the Author and the Consultant 7

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Careers Without College

ood and water are our most important resources. An abundant food source and a stable supply of water are the two most important ingredients for all life. Many of us, however, do not stop and think about where our food comes from. Food is defined as any substance that is consumed in order to provide our bodies with nutritional support. Almost all food that humans eat comes from plants or animals. However, most people in America do not raise and harvest crops nor do they raise any animals besides their pets. Some people have gardens, but very few of these people would know how to live on the food from their garden if they were no longer able to buy food from a supermarket or a restaurant.

Cranberries are grown throughout the northern part of the United States. Southeastern Massachusetts is home to more than 14,000 acres of cranberry bogs. These bogs are the workplaces of nearly 400 cranberry-growing families.

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The people responsible for growing the plants and raising the animals that eventually become food and other products are known as the “agriculture industry.” Whether you realize it or not, these men and women have had a huge impact on your life! The vast majority of the two million men and women in agriculture today are working in careers that do not require a college education— famers, ranchers, agricultural managers, and agricultural workers—and over half of these people earn on average over $50,000 a year!

Careers in Agriculture

“While this is beginning to change,” says James McBride, “very few farmers and ranchers are college educated.” James is a former agricultural manager who has owned his own farm for only five years, a very short amount of time considering half of all farmers in America are above the age of fifty-five, and that the average age of farm owners in America is fifty-six. “If you have no experience with farming and ranching,” he says, “there are a lot of skills that you will need to be able to learn—and learning these skills today can be difficult. Whether you acquire these skills from experience or from college, there is no agricultural career that does not require hard work and a lot of knowledge.” A farmer is someone who grows crops and raises livestock in order to sell these resources as food or “raw materials”—the basic material from which a product is manufactured or made. A rancher is very similar to a farmer, however a rancher exclusively raises grazing livestock, such as cattle or sheep, for meat or wool. According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, about 80 percent of farmers and ranchers own their own farms; however, on large farms or those that are corporately owned, some owners do not participate in all

Careers Without College

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An agricultural engineer from the U.S. Natural Resources Conservation Service meets with a dairy farmer in Pennsylvania to discuss the construction of a manure storage tank.

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the daily activities required to maintain crops and livestock. The men and women hired to take care of these activities are known as agricultural managers and agricultural workers. As James mentioned, very few jobs in agriculture require a college education, but some of them do. These kinds of jobs include agricultural engineers and scientists. These kinds of careers, however, account for less than 5 percent of the agriculture industry, and they are still paid salaries very similar to those of farmers, ranchers, and agricultural managers.

Looking at the Words Genetics is the study of how living things pass on traits to their offspring. A knowledge base refers to the information a person has to do his or her job. When it comes to applying for jobs, being competitive means having skills that match other people applying for the same work.

The College Question

“More and more farmers and agricultural managers,” James says, “are going to college for agriculture.” According to James, for young people who are interested in a farming career, the question of whether or not to go to college has become more and more difficult. Agriculture has become increasingly complex— for example, plant and animal breeding today involves complicated sciences such as plant genetics—and a wider knowledge base is required to remain competitive. “This means,” James says, “that for someone without any experience, acquiring the skills needed for farming today is harder than ever. Many people do not

Careers Without College

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This young woman in Hawaii will have the chance to learn all about tomato farming from her father.

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Farming, Ranching, and Agriculture

want to start at the bottom as a farmhand or an agricultural Looking at the Words worker. They see a college degree in agriculture as a way to Organic refers to farming that avoid this.” does not use any chemicals to This is part of the reason grow food. that James went to a four-year college for agriculture, even though he dropped out after his second year. “When I was in high school,” James says, “I knew I wanted to work in farming but I didn’t know the best way to get into the industry.” James’s mother was a gardener and, according to James, he was taught from an early age the importance of being able to grow your own food. “In the summers,” he says, “I worked as a farmhand at a local organic farm. I loved everything about it: working with my hands, tending to the animals, and plowing the fields. Seeing the crops I grow was one of the best feelings I’ve ever had.” While working in the summer was a great way to begin to learn about the agriculture industry, James at first chose to go to college for many reasons. “My parents offered to pay my college tuition so I wouldn’t have had too much debt to worry about afterwards.” Although James was lucky, student debt is an issue that affects many college gradates. CNN reported that the average student, in 2012, graduated college nearly $27,000 dollars in debt. These debts take about ten years after graduation to pay off! “When I was in high school,” James says, “a lot of my friends were going to college. I wanted to go too but for many of the wrong reasons. I wanted the college lifestyle, but I wasn’t all that interested in going to classes. Don’t get me wrong, I like learning but education wasn’t a priority for me. The kind of learning that I like is being able to see what you are talking about firsthand. There is a big difference between being told

Careers Without College

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Some children grow up in families where farming is a way of life.

something works in a classroom and seeing something work on a farm. If you are paying attention, experience can be one of the best educations you can get.” James is right. No matter what career you want to pursue, firsthand experience of a job can be one of the most important factors for an employer deciding whether or not to hire you. Depending on what career

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you choose, experience can be more important than a college Looking at the Words education in the industry. This is part of the reason why, acPeople who are candidates for cording to CNN, half of all cola position are people who have lege graduates are either unable applied for the job and may be to find a job or end up finding a hired. job for which they didn’t even need a college degree. Passions are strong emotions. Not everyone will be lucky enough to have a farm near his or her home where she can explore this industry firsthand. But James did what any person facing a decision should do; he explored his options. “One of the best things I ever did was take time to learn about the industry. When I made the decision to drop out of college, I didn’t feel like there was anything that I was missing. I knew that because of my experience I could get a job—and that with a job, learning all I needed to know would be only a matter of time.” James began his career as a farmhand for a large, family-owned farm in California. While most candidates need about five years of experience in the agriculture industry in order to be considered for a job in agricultural management, James was promoted to this position after only three years. “I was promoted so quickly,” James says, “because I worked hard and learned as much about farming as I could while I was working.” No matter what career you decide on, success will be difficult if you aren’t willing to learn. Taking the time to explore interests, passions, or hobbies can lead to a lot of valuable skills. Perhaps the most important skill any young person can develop is learning itself.

Careers Without College

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This Florida farmer grows grape vines, corn, and vegetable crops on his 17-acre farm. His livelihood does not depend on a college education.

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“Learning can be very difficult,” James says, “especially if you are trying to learn something that you do not care for or enjoy. But no matter what career you are in, there will be certain responsibilities that you do not like but Looking at the Words have to do. Learning how to learn means being flexible. It If you are flexible, you are willmeans trying your best whething to change your mind or learn er you like what you are doing something new. or not.” Should you go to college? That’s an important question. To help you find the answer, first answer these questions: “What do I love to do? What are my hobbies? What do I have a passion for? What are my options? Do I need to go to college to get the skills that I need to be successful?”

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C ha p t e r 2

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What Do Farmers and Ranchers Do?

armers and ranchers use plots of land to produce food, dairy products, and raw materials for other industries. That sounds fairly simple, but modern farming is a complex industry. Not only do farms come in many different sizes, but farms also produce many different products (not just food!). This means that many different careers are available to someone interested in the farming industry.

Some Statistics According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics and the Environmental Protection Agency, families own almost 90 percent of the nearly two million farms in America. However, less than 50,000 of these farms produce more than 50 percent of all agricultural sales!

Farming

“Farming” refers to the production of food and other products by growing and raising either crops or livestock. Crops are plants like fruits and vegetables, while livestock refers to animals like cattle. While both crops and livestock can be produced on a farm, a ranch is a large piece of land used only to raise livestock. The term “ranch” has come to refer to any farm that raises any kind of livestock, although traditionally, ranching meant raising livestock that “graze”—a type of feeding where animals eat widely available plants such as grass on large tracts of land. “There isn’t a huge difference between crop production and ranching,” says Christian Valencia, an owner of a large farm and ranch in Texas, the state with the most ranches in the United States. “Most farms do both. For example, many ranches that end up only selling animal products, also grow crops in order to save money feeding their animals, and many farms that only sell crops or produce, end up selling their crops to ranches as animal feed.” In fact, 56 percent of all crops grown in America are fed to the animals raised as livestock. “Even though so many places do both, the methods used to grow crops,” Christian says, “are very different from those used to raise livestock.”

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According to Christian, during the busy months of the year, his farm can have over a hundred employees. A large portion of these employees, known as agricultural workers, only work part of the year and are responsible for operating machinery and doing physical labor under the supervision of an agricultural manager. Because agricultural work is only available during particular seasons, agricultural workers may only make up to $30,000 a year. Nevertheless, agricultural work can be a great way to learn the farming industry and get the experience and knowledge needed to be employed in betterpaying agricultural careers—or eventually own a farm. The Bureau of Labor Statistics lists five of the careers that an experienced agricultural worker can get: • Agricultural managers take care of the day-to-day operation of one or more farms, ranches, nurseries, timber tracts, greenhouses, or other agricultural establishments for corporations, farmers, or owners who do not live and work on their farm or ranch. • Crop farmers and managers—those who grow grain, fruits and vegetables, and other crops—are responsible for all steps of plant growth. After a harvest, they make sure that the crops are properly packaged and stored. • Livestock, dairy, and poultry farmers, ranchers, and managers feed and care for animals. They keep livestock in barns, pens, and other well-maintained farm buildings. These workers also oversee breeding and marketing. • Horticultural specialty farmers and managers oversee the production of fruits, vegetables, flowers, and plants (including turf) used for landscaping. They also grow grapes, berries, and nuts used in making wine. • Aquaculture farmers and managers raise fish and shellfish in ponds, floating net pens, raceways, or recirculation systems. They

What Do Farmers and Ranchers Do?

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Corn is grown on more than 400,000 farms across the United States. stock, feed, protect, and maintain aquatic life used for food and for recreational fishing. These are the basic careers needed for different farms and ranches.

Crop Production

The types of crops most commonly grown in the United States are corn, soybeans, hay, wheat, and cotton. “Producing crops,” Christian says, “involves three main stages: preparation and planting, care and cultiva-

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tion, and harvesting and storage.” Depending on the climate, these three stages can take anywhere from eight to eleven months to complete, although depending on the crop that you are growing, the phases can often overlap. The preparation and planting phase is the process where soil is cultivated and prepared for planting. Preparation usually involves some form of “tillage”—breaking up hard soil in order for plant roots to grow more easily and more quickly. Tilling a field requires a tool known as a plow. Up until the twentieth century, tillage involved a plow pulled by an ox or a horse, but since the early 1900s, tractors have been pulling most farmers’ plows.

Less People, More Food At one time, most of the world’s population were farmers. In 1790, about 90 percent of the entire American population, for example, was involved directly or indirectly in agriculture. Given new technology, however, and more efficient farming practices, this number quickly changed. By 1940, only 18 percent of the American population was needed to grow all of the food the country needed. The average farmer then grew enough food for nineteen other people beside himself—enough that America could start selling its excess food to other countries! Today, only 2 percent of the American population is involved directly or indirectly in agriculture. According to Thank a Farmer, in 2006 the average American farmer grew enough food to feed 144 other people!

What Do Farmers and Ranchers Do?

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These young soybean plants are growing in the midst of wheat stubble. Soybeans and wheat are two of America’s main crops.

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Farming, Ranching, and Agriculture

“The best time to till a Looking at the Words field,” Christian says, “is right before planting in order to preNutrients are substances plants vent soil erosion.” Soil eroand other living things need to sion is one of the main envigrow, and which they cannot ronmental concerns related to make themselves. soil preparation. Since most farms and ranches are located on wide and usually flat land, breaking up and loosening soil means that more soil can be very easily moved by the wind. The layer of soil that is most quickly eroded is known as “top soil.” This soil is nutrient rich and very important for the success of a crop. Depending on the region, most crops are planted during the spring and late summer months, between the beginning of April and the end of June. In today’s era of mechanized farming, two large pieces of equipment are used to plant, depending on what kind of seed a farmer is planting. Drills open a small hole in the soil and drop a controlled amount of seed into the hole. Planters open a seed trench, drop seeds into the seed trench one at a time, and gently cover the seed with soil. “The cultivation phase,” Christian continues, “involves caring for the plants once they have been planted. This means managing the nutrients that are available to the plants, controlling pests such as weeds and insects that can harm crop growth, and watering the plants as they grow.” Plant nutrients and pests are, in most cases, managed by the spreading of chemicals. Fertilizers, including manure, are spread over the farmland to replace nutrients in the soil used up by growing plants. When applied in proper quantities and at appropriate times, fertilizer can significantly increase the amount of crops harvested at the end of the season. Pests are controlled using pesticides, chemicals that are specially designed to kill insects, weeds, and mold, as well as other pests.

What Do Farmers and Ranchers Do?

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A farmer in Arizona sprays pesticides on his lettuce crop to kill insects.

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Farming, Ranching, and Agriculture

A tool known as a sprayer spreads these chemicals. The sprayer is either pulled by or mounted on a tractor. This tool may also be used to water the crops as they grow; however, most farms have very complex pipe systems, known as “irrigation,” to move water through fields quickly and easily. “Once all of these phases have been completed,” Christian says, “the last stage of the process is to remove the crops from the fields so that some of them can be sold and others can be stored for the months ahead.” According to Christian, the types of tools used to harvest vary from crop to crop. Field crops are harvested by machine, while fruits and other small crops are typically harvested by hand.

Livestock Production

A ranch is a large facility dedicated to the production of livestock for milk, fiber, or meat. The people that work on them are known as “ranchers.” According to Christian, a single individual or a family typically owns a ranch, which is usually supported by a large staff that may include family members who work on the ranch. The process of producing livestock is similar to that of producing crops: breeding the animals, caring for them as they grow, and either slaughtering the animals for meat or collecting products—milk, eggs, or wool, for example—that the animals produce. “Breeding livestock,” Christian says, “means making the animals have offspring.” In other words, they give birth to new livestock. A rancher decides which animals to raise—chickens, cattle, or sheep, for example—and then makes decisions about which animals to breed. “A rancher,” Christian continues, must be able to tell which animals are superior and which will produce the best offspring.” Doing this requires knowledge about breeding practices and, in certain cases, “genetics”—a

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These cattle are grazing on ranchland in New Mexico. The rancher must be careful that they do not overgraze the grass, since without the grass, the soil would erode. branch of science that studies how specific traits are passed from parent to offspring. In addition to breeding stock, a rancher can also buy stock. Some ranchers focus on buying young stock and raising it. Once the livestock has been born, they must be cared for. “Caring for animals can be very difficult,” Christian explains, “You have to know a lot about the ordinary growth of the animals themselves, how much and what kinds of feed to give the young animals, and how to house them.” Certain kinds of livestock, like cattle and sheep, feed by grazing, which requires a large amount of land. Allowing animals to graze involves moving or “herding” the animals out of a housing unit—large buildings that protect the animals from weather and cold—and onto the ranchland. Once the animals are on the ranchland, they are allowed to feed freely; however, even this phase must be monitored by a rancher to make sure the animals do not overgraze, which can result in soil erosion. Many ranchers grow hay and grain on their ranches to support their

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livestock’s nutritional needs, and to avoid buying feed during the winter months when grazing can be very difficult if not impossible. The rancher is also involved in the herd’s health, keeping animals healthy and seeking veterinary care when it is appropriate. Once the animals have grown into adults, cows are milked, chicken’s eggs are collected, sheep’s wool is shaved, and some of the animals are “slaughtered” or killed in order to produce meat. “Some ranchers slaughter their own animals,” Christian says, “and sell the meat themselves in order to make more money per animal. But this can be a very complicated process and involves a large investment of money to buy all of the necessary equipment. Most ranchers sell the animals to a ‘slaughterhouse’ in order to avoid this process.”

What Do We Get from Farms and Ranches? While agriculture is thought of mainly as the industry that produces our food, the raw materials for many other products come from plant and animal products that are grown by the agriculture industry. Crops that are grown in this country, for example, are present in many products such as biofuel, a kind of car and truck fuel made mostly from corn products; penicillin, a very common kind of antibiotics medication; alcoholic beverages; and glue. Livestock, on the other hand, is used to make products such as glue; photo film; shampoo; instrument strings; make-up; medicine; fabric softener; linoleum, a kind of tile floor covering, and explosives!

What Do Farmers and Ranchers Do?

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C ha p t e r 3

How Can I Become a Farmer or Rancher?

“O

ne of the best things about farming,” says Chris Peterson, a crop manager for nearly twenty-three years, “is the number of different jobs available. It’s hard work and not everyone will like it—but if you like working with your hands, working with animals, or operating heavy machinery, there is probably a career in agriculture you’d enjoy.” Chris is the head of crop production at a farm that produces both crops and livestock. According to Chris, most people who work in agriculture are detail oriented and work well in teams. “We need to pay attention to

If you want a job working on a ranch, you’ll need to be able to work well with others. Riding the range and herding cattle is a team activity.

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details,” Chris says, “because Looking at the Words one small mistake in any of the production phases can lead to A lifestyle that is communal a huge loss of crops at the end includes resources that are of the season. We also need to shared by everyone living in be able to understand weather the community. forecasts for the coming season to plan the best ways to plant Something that is tedious is our crops. Since the weather tiring and dull. is always changing, so are the ways we cultivate the crops after they are planted.” Being able to be a team player is one of the ways that all details are taken into account. “There is so much that goes into farming,” Chris says, “that no one person can know it all. You have to be willing to work with a team to make the best decisions you can and be able to communicate these decisions to your workers and other members of the team. You can make all of the decisions that you want, but if you can’t work as a team player and communicate what your team needs to do, then any decisions that you make will be useless.”

Is Agriculture Right for Me?

“Not everyone is cut out for working in agriculture,” Chris says. “Being a farmer is really more of a lifestyle than a career. During certain months, you start working when the sun rises and finish when it sets. Most farmers live on the farm where they work and some people don’t like the lifestyle. It’s pretty communal.” Farm work can be extremely rewarding, but it also can be tedious, exhausting, and frustrating. It’s hard physical work and, in some cases, it can even be dangerous. Crop production involves operating heavy

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A rancher’s life depends on the weather. Too much or too little rain can cause both plants and animals to suffer. These sheep in New Mexico had to be brought emergency water supplies during a period of severe drought.

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machinery, and if you work on a large farm, the machinery can be massive. Operating that kind of machinery has risks. According to Chris, ranchers have it the worst, though. Trying to move a herd of hundreds of cattle can be really difficult and if the animals get scared for any reason, they can stampede. Some people couldn’t be paid enough to do that kind of work! Chris’s advice: Young people interested in agriculture need to ask themselves, “Is working in agriculture right for me?” “A great way to answer this question,” Chris says, “is by examining your strengths.” He continues: “When I was a kid, I dreamed of the open range, riding horses, the smell of soil, growing tomatoes as big as your head. I really thought that agriculture would be the life of a cowboy. The truth is that you need to be very patient. You need to constantly compromise with factors like weather and disease that are outside your control, and you have to refuse to get frustrated if you have a bad season. You need to be willing to work with very powerful chemicals. Don’t get me wrong, I love the lifestyle of a farmer but I have the personality for it. I got lucky. If I was to go back and do it all over again, I wouldn’t change a thing. But I know a lot of people who want to get into this industry and haven’t considered all the things they will need to do. They think it looks pretty from the outside—but they don’t know what it’s like to live the life on the inside.”

What all Farmers and Ranchers Need

Whether you are raising cattle or growing corn, most agricultural jobs require a certain amount of physical labor. The Bureau of Labor Statistics lists some other skills as well that are important to these kinds of careers:

How Can I Become a Farmer or Rancher?

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Modern-day farmers must be able to operate various kinds of large machinery, such as this lettuce harvester.

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• Analytical skills. Farmers, ranchers, and other agricultural managers must monitor and assess the quality of their land or livestock. These tasks require precision and accuracy. • Critical-thinking skills. Farmers, ranchers, and other agricultural managers make tough decisions through sound reasoning and judgment. They determine how to improve their harvest and must react appropriately to weather conditions. • Interpersonal skills. Farmers, ranchers, and other agricultural managers supervise laborers and other workers, so effective communication is critical. • Machine-operation skills. Farmers, ranchers, and other agricultural managers must be able to operate complex machinery and occasionally do routine maintenance. Farmers need a diverse set of skills in order to be competitive and successful. “Above all else,” Chris says, “whether you Looking at the Words decide to go to college or not, being able to learn on the job is Something that is diverse has a the most important skill, espelot of variety. cially if you want to make good money.” Farm owners make the most money out of all farmers but opening your own farm means that you need to know every bit of the process of producing crops or livestock. The faster you can learn, the faster you’ll be ready to own your own farm!

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More and more young people are becoming interested in agriculture as a career. Enrollment in agricultural schools across the country increased almost 22 percent from 2005 to 2008, according to the U.S. Department of Agriculture.

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Becoming an Farmer

A young person interested in agriculture has many ways to begin to prepare early. Some high schools offer courses in machine work and others even specialize in agricultural work. At these high schools, you can begin to learn practical skills while taking classes toward graduating high school. A vocational school, also known as a technical school, is also a great alternative to college for people interested in becoming agricultural managers. Vocational schools offer training in a specific set of skills for a specific industry. They are much cheaper than a college education and usually much shorter, generally between six months and two years, depending on what kind of skills you are learning. “Unfortunately, vocational schools that offer training in agriculture,” Chris says, “are few and far between.” But seeking out additional training from community colleges can be a great asset to farmers. Taking classes on genetics, for example, can be very useful for a rancher involved in animal breeding. The most important part of becoming a farmer, however, is experience. “It’ll be hard to get hired as anything but a seasonal worker,” Chris says, “if you don’t have any experience working on a farm. If you didn’t grow up on a farm, and you don’t have farmers in your family, the best way to get experience is to apply for an apprenticeship.” Apprentices usually have very little prior experience but are hired by a farm in order to be taught while they work. Apprenticeships in agriculture usually last for one growing season and sometimes involve classes at local community colleges. Getting a job on a farm can be easy, especially during the busy season. According to Chris, at the end of the growing season and during harvests, farmers usually need all the help that they can get. While this

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Farms need extra workers at harvest time, so this is a good time to get some experience. Be prepared to work hard, though. Watermelons are heavier than you might think! Harvesting most any crop, even ones smaller than watermelons, involves lots of bending and lifting.

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kind of work doesn’t pay very well and is only seasonal, it can be one of the best ways to begin in the agriculture business. A farmer will notice a hard worker and if you work hard enough, the farm owner may ask you to stay for the rest of year. Even if they don’t, a few seasons of experience as an agricultural worker should be enough to start applying to jobs as agricultural or crop managers. All it takes is the willingness to work hard—and get your hands dirty!

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C ha p t e r 4

How Much Can I Make?

“A

nyone in the farming business will tell you,” says Angela Stevens, an agricultural manager who has worked on her family’s farm for her entire life, “in order to be a farmer, you have to love the lifestyle.” As Chris explained in chapter 3, a career in agriculture is challenging—and for some people, no amount of money could compensate for the long days, difficult physical labor, and exhaustion. Another situation a farmer faces is that most

The owner of a large dairy farm like this will most likely have a sizeably income. Livestock, equipment, and the advanced technology shown in this image are all expensive, though, so it’s not easy to get started.

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farms are located in rural parts of the country, often far away from cities or even towns. If you crave the excitement of city life, farming is definitely not for you! But, a life in agriculture also means playing a vital role in the daily life of almost every American, helping to feed not only a nation but the entire world. You may not get rich or live a sophisticated city life—but the work can be fulfilling and satisfying.

High-Level Earnings

According to Angela, most full-time positions in the farming industry pay very well; however, “if you want to make really good money,” Angela says, “you need to own your own farm.” Of all the careers in the agriculture industry, farm owners make the most money, on average, but farm owners also take the biggest risk. Most other agricultural careers earn a yearly salary, which workers can be sure won’t change very much. Men and women working in these careers know they will be paid a fair salary for the work they do every day. If a farm owner cannot pay his or her employees for their time, then a farm goes out of business, and those employees will be eligible for unemployment insurance. Farm owners’ income, on the other hand, depends on the size of their harvests at the end of a planting season. There is no guarantee they will make any money at all for all their hard work! What’s more, saving up enough money to open even a small farm can be very difficult. Livestock, land, and equipment need to be purchased; a farmhouse and other employee living quarters need to be on the land. Unless you inherit a farm from your parents or other family members, if you want to own a farm, you’ll probably need to get some loans from the bank or find people willing to invest (in other words, give a certain

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amount of money up front in order to make a certain portion of the farm’s future profits). “If your farm gets large enough,” Angela says, “most farm owners hire agricultural managers and crop managers to supervise daily work. These farm owners are in charge of administrative duties like ordering supplies for the farm; managing the different teams of farmers, ranchers, and workers; repairing and maintaining the tractors and other heavy machinery; and supervising planting and breeding decisions.” “My grandfather,” Angela says, “bought our farm when he was a young man. He started out with only a few employees and had to do a lot of the daily work himself. My grandmother ran the business side of the farm—filing taxes, supervising the other employees, and selling the crops and livestock. Even when the farm started to expand and my grandmother hired more workers, my grandfather was out in the fields every day. When my father was old enough, he took over running the farm. By this time my grandfather couldn’t do as much as he used to but even today he is still doing chores and repairing machinery. He was never one for office work.” Angela is very similar to her grandfather. “ I don’t think I could ever handle any of that administrative stuff,” she says. After Angela worked full-time on the farm for a few years, she bought a piece of the farm. She still earns a salary, but now she also gets a percentage of the profits that the farm earns each year. Many farms operate this way; rather than being owned by a Looking at the Words single person, they are owned by a family. Administrative has to do with “When I bought into the how a business or other organizafarm,” Angela says, “I could tion is run. have become an administrator on the farm or even stopped

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working all together. I wouldn’t have had my salary, but the money that I make in profits from the farm is probably enough to support myself on. But I like the work.” Angela is the head of the farm’s livestock. She supervises a small team of people that feeds them, breeds them, and collects milk and eggs to be sold. She also handles any veterinary work that needs to be done. “We could have hired someone to take care of all of this work,” Angela continues, “but I don’t think that I could ever give it up. Working with animals every day is exciting. I still take our cattle out to graze and there is nothing like a beautiful morning on the ranchland, herding a few hundred cattle through the grass. It is a part of my job that I don’t think I will ever want to give up. I will probably be like my grandfather— nearly eighty years old and still waking up in the morning to feed the chickens.” Between Angela’s salary and the profits that she makes as part owner of her family’s farm, Angela makes usually around $100,000 a year. She’s doing well.

Average Salaries

“As a family farmer,” Angela says, “I own part of our ranch and make a certain portion of the profits our farm makes. But how much I actually make depends on a few different things. Food prices go up and down for many different reasons. This means how much you can sell you crops for will change all the time.” Farming can be a very risky business. In 2012, for example, a severe drought devastated a large portion of the corn and soybean crops in the Midwest. Farmers harvested very few crops. They had to raise prices on the crops they were able to produce in order to try to make enough money to keep their farms open. This kind of drought can affect the

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entire agriculture industry. A small harvest means that feed for livestock will also be more expensive—and when the feed for livestock is more expensive, the price of meat can go up significantly as well. “We weren’t affected too badly,” Angela says, “but it was a good reminder of just how risky this business can be.” Because of these kinds of risks, the U.S. government pays (“subsidizes”) farmers, so that no matter the kind of harvest that they have, they are assured to be paid a certain amount of money for all their hard work. “The government subsidies,” Angela says, “can be a huge help, because it is usually enough so we can pay all of our employees, no matter what kind of harvest we have. But it is not money that we can just keep for ourselves. When we have a really bad season like 2012, most farmers just want to make enough to keep the farm open and to not lay off any of their hands. They usually take very small salaries during these years, just enough to eat and live on, and little more than that.” Considering all the risk and added responsibility that comes with owning a farm, it is easy to understand why many farmers decide not to become farm owners. “If it wasn’t for my family already owning the farm,” Angela says, “I don’t think I would have ever bought a farm myself. I would hate the stress of owning my own farm if I had to carry it all on my own.” Not owning a farm, however, doesn’t mean that you won’t still be able to make great money as a farmer. According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, agricultural managers with positions similar to that of Angela’s make, on average, a little over $60,000 a year! Angela is luckier than most. She was born into a family and a career that she loves. She was able to purchase a piece of a farm and get both the great salary of a farm owner and the exciting work of an agricultural manager. There are few people as lucky as her. Most people in this country live in urban and suburban areas—highly populated areas located in or close to larger towns and cities—where

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there are very few farms. Most young people interested in farming will have little, if any, prior experience with farm work, and it is likely that most people in these areas do not live close enough to a farm to begin to work part-time or as an apprentice in order to start to get experience. That’s why most people new to agriculture will need to move to where the work is. Starting out, they won’t be able to make as much money. According the Bureau of Labor Statistics, eventually, many people in farming can make $60,000 a year, and you do not need a college education to make this kind of money. Most employers, however, expect at least five years of experience in agricultural work before they will consider hiring someone as an agricultural, crop, or ranch manager. This means working either full-time or seasonally on a farm as a farmhand or agricultural worker, jobs that only pay between $18,000 and $29,000 a year. However, since this is seasonal work, some agricultural workers work other jobs during the rest of the year to earn more money. You might think that the stress of moving to get a start in farming for such a small salary might not be worth it to you. Keep in mind, though, that most people who go to college also travel in order to get there, and they graduate, after four years, with on average $27,000 of debt. On the other hand, the salary of an agricultural worker or an agricultural apprentice may be small, but men and women in these positions are paid to work, learn, and get experience. An agricultural worker with an average seasonal salary of $18,000 will have already made $72,000 after four years of work and will be only a year away from having all the experience that she needs to start applying to higher-paying positions. Compare that to a college graduate who enters his first job with thousands of dollars of debt!

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C ha p t e r 5

A

Looking to the Future

ccording the Bureau of Labor Statistics, employment for farmers and ranchers is set to remain relatively stable between 2010 and 2020, but while there will be very few jobs lost during this period, compared to all other industries, there will also be very little growth. While he hopes that the next few years will be a relatively stable period for farmers, Julián Loya, a crop manager who recently applied to a local bank for a loan to open his own farm, also says, “The

Roylene Rides at the Door-Waln (right) grew up on a ranch. Now she uses the skills she learned to work with other ranchers in Montana, giving them conservation advice through her job with the National Resources Conservation Service.

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future of farming is always difficult to predict. Last year’s drought made us all remember that.” Julián is speaking from experience. CNN reported that nearly 80 percent of all farms in America were affected in some way by the 2012 drought, and Julián was one of the many people who were laid off as a result. “The farm that I worked on,” Julián says, “had a few difficult years before the drought. Difficult years happen but you need to pick yourself up, keep working, and hope that next year will be better. After a few bad years, though, one very bad one is enough to put any farm out of business.” This many poor seasons in a row happens only rarely, though. In general, the number of farms and farmers is going to remain stable in the years ahead, but it can be hard to guarantee this kind of stability for any particular farm that is not prepared to weather a few bad seasons.

Job Security, Advancement, Skills

For people already in the industry, stability can be a good thing. Stability in an industry means that most farmers will not have to worry about losing their jobs. Knowing you have a secure position at your place of employment and knowing that you won’t be laid off for unexpected reasons is called “job security.” While job security won’t guarantee a raise or a promotion, it will at least guarantee a job. For people new to agriculture or looking to advance, on the other hand, this stability will make getting jobs as agricultural managers and even agricultural workers somewhat difficult, unless you’re willing to move to another area of the country where more work is available.

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Government loans and grants not only train new farmers, but they also help keep farmers in business when times are tough. Here, a worker is sorting the harvest from a 719-acre pecan farm in Texas. The U.S. government funded irrigation that watered the farm’s 4,380 pecan trees, keeping them alive and bearing nuts during a recent severe drought.

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Julián is one of these people who is willing to move in order to advance. Most people would be discouraged seeing a farm that they worked for go out of business in only a few years. Julián, on the other hand, sees it as an opportunity to advance in the industry and to do something that he has always wanted to do: open his own farm. Julián has spent the six months after he was laid off living on his savings and taking courses at a local community college in agricultural business administration. “It is strange,” Julián says, “I thought that I would learn a lot from those classes but after so many years in the industry, I think that I already learned everything I needed to know.” Julián took the classes in order to show the bank that he was prepared for everything that it takes to own and run a farm, and increase his chances of the bank approving him for a loan. While Julián is still waiting to hear from the bank about his loan request, he isn’t worried. “If the bank doesn’t give me a loan, I am going to try another bank and begin to seek investors. I know a lot about agriculture, the business of agriculture, and about being a good leader. ” According to Julián, there are many programs offered by the government meant to help get people involved in agricultural careers. Some of these programs consist of cheap loans, while others actually give certain candidates a grant—money gifted from an organization or government in order to encourage certain industries. There are grants and loans available for a young person interested in a new career in agriculture or for people like Julián who would like to buy land to open their own farms.

Conclusion

The people interviewed in this book are intelligent, driven, and passionate about what they are doing. They all had the willingness to adventure

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Do You Have a Passion? There’s a lot of talk about passion these days: “Find your passion… Pursue your passion… Do what you love…” Passion, it turns out, lives in all sorts of places. And while finding your passion is an elusive pursuit, there is only one real formula: try things. Try things and see how they fit. Try jobs and find out what you like—and just as important, find out what you don’t like. The most important thing is: don’t feel overwhelmed if you don’t have a passion. Don’t feel like there’s something wrong with you. And then ask yourself: What is something I enjoy doing? What is something I’ve done already that had aspects to it I liked? Passion can come later. Right now, just find something you enjoy. That’s a starting point. Maybe it’ll become that thing you can do for hours and it feels like only a few minutes have gone by. But don’t put that pressure on yourself. Start small. “Our work is to discover our work and then with all our heart to give ourselves to it.” —Buddha

Adapted from the essay “The Truth About Finding Your Passion” by Colin Ryan. More of his work can be found at his website: http://astanduplife.com.

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and learn, even if learning didn’t mean sitting in a classroom. Ask them all, and they will tell you that, more than the amount of education they have, it is some combination of passion, drive, and the ability to learn that makes them successful. More important, success to them doesn’t only mean the amount of money they earned. It means doing a job they’re excited about doing; it means learning all they can about the farming world; it means defining their own standards of success. For many people, college is the perfect choice and an important learning experience. Not only can it open the doors to many careers, but it is also often the first experience that many young people have at living away from home without the safety and security of their parents. This is an important and often necessary learning experience in life. Unfortunately, many students go to college with no idea what they are interested in nor any idea of what they would like to do with their lives. In some cases, young people feel pressured by their peers or their parents into going to college without any idea of what this choice means. Many students leave college still with no idea of what they want from a career. And because of the staggering debt that many students have to acquire just to go to college, they may be in a far worse financial position than before. Many people choose to go to college in the hopes that just by going, they will make considerably more money than those people who decide not to go. Money is important; often, it’s one of the most important factors a person considers when deciding on a career. Often times, however, a compromise between the amount of money you can make and doing what you love to do is the best career decision a person can make. What does success mean to you? Does it mean the amount of money you make? Or does it mean spending the majority of your time doing something you enjoy, something you find fulfilling? There are no right

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A worker from the USDA inspects a field of canola, which will be used to make canola oil. As any farmer will tell you, there are few things as satisfying as growing a healthy crop that will be used to feed the world!

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answers to these questions. The important thing is to be certain of what your answers are. Going to college may be your best option. Or another road might lead you to success. Either way, consider every option and be open to all possibilities. And most of all, be willing to learn and work hard, no matter where life takes you!

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Find Out More In Books Bailey, Gerry. Farming for the Future (Planet SOS). New York: Gareth Stevens Publishing, 2011. Goodman, Polly. Food, Farming, and the Future (Earth Alert!) New York: Gareth Stevens Publishing, 2011. Martin, Claudia. Farming (Working Animals). New York: Library Journal, 2010.

On the Internet Future Farmers of America www.ffa.org YEA! Youth Education in Agriculture ifbyea.yolasite.com Youth in Agriculture www.osha.gov/SLTC/youth/agriculture

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Bibliography ONETOnLine. “Farm and Ranch Managers.” http://www.onetonline. org/link/summary/11-9013.02 (accessed March 14, 2013). ONETOnLine. “Farmworkers, Farm, Ranch, and Aquacultural Animals.” http://www.onetonline.org/link/summary/45-2093.00 (accessed March 14, 2013). U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics. “Farmer.” http://www.bls.gov/k12/nature03.htm (accessed March 13, 2013). U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics. “Farmers, Ranchers, and Other Agricultural Managers.” http://www.bls.gov/ooh/management/farmers-ranchers-and-other-agricultural-managers.htm (accessed March 13, 2013). U.S. Environmental Protection Agency. “Beef Production.” http://www. epa.gov/agriculture/ag101/beef.html (accessed March 13, 2013). U.S. Environmental Protection Agency. “Crop Production.” http://www. epa.gov/agriculture/ag101/printcrop.html (accessed March 13, 2013).

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U.S. Environmental Protection Agency. “Demographics.” http://www.epa.gov/agriculture/ag101/demographics.html (accessed March 15, 2013). wiseGeek.com. “What Does a Rancher Do?” http://www.wisegeek.com/ what-does-a-rancher-do.htm (accessed March 16, 2013).

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Index agricultural manager 9, 21, 43, 48 agricultural worker 21, 41, 49 apprentice 49

farmhand 13, 15, 49

biofuel 29 Bureau of Labor Statistics 9, 20– 21, 35, 48–49, 51

livestock 9, 11, 20–21, 27–29, 31, 37, 44–48

cattle 9, 20, 27–28, 32, 35, 47 CNN 13, 15, 53 corn 16, 22, 29, 35, 47 crops 7, 9, 11, 13, 16, 20–22, 24– 25, 27, 29, 31, 33, 37, 46–47 Department of Agriculture 38 Environmental Protection Agency 20

genetics 11, 27, 39

penicillin 29 pesticides 25–26 rancher 5, 9, 27–29, 31, 33–35, 37, 39, 41 rural 45 sheep 9, 27–29, 34 soybean 24, 47 USDA 58

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About the Author Connor Syrewicz is a writer and editor from Binghamton, New York. He was raised on Long Island, has a degree in English, and spends most of his time writing and facilitating other creative projects. His interests include art and philosophy, which he actively incorporates into his writing.

Picture Credits

Dreamstime: Banner: Dmccale; p.6: Sandra Cunningham; p. 8: Chris Boswell; p. 32: Rinus Baak; p. 38: Iakov Filimonov; p. 42: Berna Namoglu; p. 44: Branex; p. 50: Cupertino USDA: pp. 10, 52, 58: Bob Nichols; pp. 12, 14, 30: Scott Bauer; p. 16: Bob Nichols; p. 18: Tim McCabe; p. 22: Lynn Betts, pp. 24, 28: NRCS; pp. 26, 34, 26: Jeff Vanuga, p. 54: Lance Cheung

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