Young Nebraska ag leaders say more youth would be interested in agriculture if they knew more about it

LINCOLN, NE — Nearly 57 percent of students who participated in a random survey during this year’s state FFA Convention said they would like to be involved in agriculture as a professional career, and a larger number of those surveyed said even more young people would be interested in agriculture if they only knew more about it. Some 150 FFA students participated in the random survey conducted by the Alliance for the Future of Agriculture in Nebraska (A-FAN).

“With Nebraska’s economic and social well-being so dependent upon agriculture and agribusiness, it’s great to know many of Nebraska’s youth look positively on agriculture and many of tomorrow’s leaders are indicating a desire to make agriculture a career choice,” said Roger Berry, A-FAN Field Director.

Of those that identified agriculture as a preferred career choice, some 55 percent said they wanted to be engaged in agribusiness or other agriculture related fields, while just less than half (44 percent) said they wanted to be engaged in production agriculture as a farmer or rancher. The findings are a slight reversal from a survey conduced by A-FAN a year ago, when just more than half of the students interested in agriculture named production agriculture as their top choice.

This year’s survey also asked students what they thought would make more young people interested in farming as a career. Just more than 40 percent of respondents said that hands on experience and a better understanding of agricultural would help boost young people’s interest in farming. The second most common answer, at 19 percent, was “more money,” while “Involvement in FFA” and “Don’t Know” rounded out the top responses at eight percent, respectively.

“The fact that so many students felt hands on experience and a better understanding of agriculture would be an enticement for young people to choose farming as a career demonstrates they understand the reality that the general public is becoming generations removed from production agriculture and fewer people, particularly young people, are having the opportunity to connect with farming the way prior generations did,” Berry said. “More importantly, it shows that young people still believe agriculture can be a rewarding career choice and that A-FAN and others in agriculture need to continue to help people connect with agriculture through positive hands-on experiences for both students and the communities where they live.”

A-FAN is a non-profit agriculture promotion, education and producer assistance organization.