Definition
In
spite of the increased urbanization of the US, there are millions of acres of
land remaining in the agro economy. As an individual with a Master’s Degree or
PhD in Agro Research, there are many opportunities to work as a researcher,
project manager or project supervisor in fields related to how we use things we
grow in order to make use of them in unique and interesting ways. Some examples are antibiotics, vaccines, abiotic stress resistance, plant
and animal breeding, pest and pesticide resistant crops, and industrial fibers.
There are opportunities in Academia, Governmental Agencies, Corporations that
use grown products for fuel and in the Food and Beverage industry. Some of these opportunities involve a great
deal of field research and application; others are based in laboratories across
the world. Your purpose in the field of
Agro Business is to maximize the usage and variability of the products we
develop and grow.
Large Agro Research Employers
to Consider
Other
Career Paths
o
Cornell University
o
Iowa State University in Ames
o
North Carolina State University
o
Pennsylvania State University in University
Park, PA
o
Purdue University
o
Texas A&M University at College Station
o
University of California at Davis
o
University of Florida
o
University of Illinois in Urbana and
Champaign
o
University of Nebraska in Lincoln
o
University of Washington
o
University of Wisconsin
o
Virginia Tech
o
Washington University
Any
one of these colleges and universities has opportunities for
academically-inclined postgraduates interested in basic research in agriculture
and agro-based processes.
What will your Career Path
be Like?
In
the corporate field, you may begin as a researcher in the R&D department of
the company. From there you can advance
to become a project manager or project supervisor in any one of the Research
and Development Departments of your company.
There are also jobs in sales of products created by the agro business
company you work for. If you work in
biofuel industries, you can be offered a job in production management or in
research and development.
Your
focus may be on biofuels, antibiotics, vaccines, crop enhancement, animal
foods, the production of commercial products from agricultural products or some
similar line of study.
About
2 million of the 20 million people employed in the Agro businesses work on a
farm. The remainder works in
laboratories with travel to the field to test different products on crops or
animals. You can work as a supervisor or
manager in Agribusiness Management, Agricultural Communications, Natural
Resources Communications, Parks and Recreation, Packaging, Horticulture, Food
Science, Fisheries and Wildlife, and Forestry.
As
a postgraduate, you would most likely have a job in management unless you like
research and want to do basic research.
To pursue basic research, you can stay in academia, take a government
job, or work for one of the largest businesses. If you work for a corporation,
you may manage a plant or a research laboratory that is studying your area of
interest.
According
to the American Farm Bureau, Food Scientists and Food Engineers are among jobs
in greatest demand currently and in the next several years. There will be about 57,000 jobs opened per
year to manage the 58,000 graduates. A
total of 32 percent of these openings will be in food science, food engineering
and related job specialties.
Finding Jobs in Agro
Business
You
can find jobs in Agro Business by applying to one of the major companies listed
above or applying to an agriculturally-based University or College. Agriculturalcareers.com
is a good portal for Agro Research positions.
You can also apply to firms specializing in Biodiesel and Bioethanol, if
those are of interest to you. There is a
job board at AgCareers.com
in which you can search for a job in Agro Business.
Positions in Agro Research
By
the time you graduate with a postgraduate degree in agriculture and related
sciences, you will have the bench skills to do basic research in Agro Science.
You have a management skill set to offer, and you have good communication and
writing skills. Your management skills
may be enhanced by taking some management courses for postgraduates at the University
you attend. Research needs strategy, so you should be able to come up with
ideas for experimentation, including how to design and implement a scientific
research project.
Should
you choose a career path in the corporate world, you may be hired directly as a
project manager or project supervisor. You might also be hired as a salesperson
or sales manager. You would oversee a
project or a group of people with the goal of increasing sales or improving
processes in the field or in the manufacturing division.
In
academia, you may receive a research position in which you will work in a
laboratory or in the field for a university. You could have a job position as a
field research assistant or a field research officer.
Opportunities
for travel vary, but you can expect that a career in Agro Business will have
you out in the fields in many cases, doing field site evaluations. Wages are along the lines of any PhD
scientist and can start as high as $50-$60,000 with room to increase your wages
rather rapidly.
This
career has a combination of bench science and field science that covers large
aspects of animal, plant and food science.
New developments in genetic engineering have created new niches for
those individuals interested in being on the cutting edge of Agro
Business.