EDITORIAL ADVISORY BOARD: Feeding the world one degree at a time

When considering a current hot topic in agriculture that I could address in this column, I only needed to look at what my fellow "aggies" were posting about on their Facebook pages.

So what currently has the attention of those in the agriculture community? Recently, Yahoo published an article titled "College Majors that are Useless." Three of the five majors the article were agriculture, animal science and horticulture. At my alma mater, Purdue University, all of those within the College of Agriculture.

After reading that article, one of my first thoughts was, "If they're going to talk bad of agriculture, they better not do it with a full mouth." Agriculture is the industry that feeds the world, and the world's population is growing. A recent AgCareers.com article cited research that indicates that our food production must double by 2050. The population is growing while farmland is diminishing, and degrees such as agriculture, animal science and horticulture will prepare students to develop strategies and establish practices to feed the world today and into the future.

In response to the Yahoo article, the deans of the agriculture programs at four Midwestern universities — Illinois, Iowa State, Ohio State and Purdue — issued an article of their own.

One interesting point contained in their response includes reference to a report by the Georgetown University Center on Education and Workforce, "which found agriculture and natural resources to be among the fields with the lowest unemployment rates — lower than business, engineering, law and several others."

Further, the universities' response reported on a U.S. Department of Agriculture report titled "Employment Opportunities for College Graduates in Food, Renewable Energy, and the Environment, 2010-2015." This USDA report projects that 53,500 graduates will be available for about 54,000 jobs annually in sectors related to agricultural and food systems, renewable energy and the environment.

Purdue University's College of Agriculture is Indiana's College of Agriculture. Purdue offers about 50 different agricultural degrees in the following academic departments: agricultural and biological engineering, agricultural economics, agronomy, animal sciences, biochemistry, botany and plant pathology, entomology, food science, forestry and natural resources, horticulture and landscape architecture, and youth development and agricultural education. Visit www.ag.purdue.edu to learn all about Purdue's many degree programs and the careers for which they prepare students.

Agriculture aside, is any college major really "useless?" Doesn't any course of study provide an individual with an expanded skill set that can be transferred to the working world? Whether through general coursework, degree-specific coursework or the life skills learned, don't all college graduates gain useful knowledge throughout their college experience?

Joan Grott is an extension educator in the Porter County office of Purdue University's Cooperative Extension Service. The opinions are the writer's.