As U.S. agriculture and food companies struggle to attract enough workers, Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack hopes a Northwest Indiana farm and tourist attraction can help.
Vilsack traveled Wednesday to Fair Oaks Farms — the nation’s largest agritourism attraction — to preview the farm’s newest exhibit, the “WinField Crop Adventure.”
The first reaction of young people who go through the exhibit will be, “Geez, I didn’t know that,” he said.
Then they’ll want to learn more.
“And the third reaction is, `I want to be that,’ ” Vilsack predicted. “`I want to be the scientist, the farmer. … I want to figure out the new economy that is displayed here.’”
A study funded by the National Institute of Food and Agriculture and released by Purdue University in 2010 estimated 54,400 jobs would be created annually in agriculture, food and renewable resources over the next five years. But only about 29,300 students were expected to earn degrees in traditional agriculture and life-science related fields each year. Other workers would have to be drawn from fields such as biological sciences or businesses where students would have an array of choices.
The agriculture industry hopes Fair Oaks Farm will make the choice of agriculture more attractive.
Copyright © 2024 www.jconline.com