AgScape enthused about U of G’s OAC job report

Sep 15, 2017

There’s four jobs for every OAC graduate, the report says

By Diego Flammini
News Reporter
Farms.com

An Ontario-based organization dedicated to promoting agricultural education is happy about the findings of a recent a University of Guelph report.

Planning for Tomorrow 2.0, commissioned by the Ontario Agricultural College (OAC), says there are four jobs for every OAC grad. That number is up from the 2012 figure of three jobs per grad.

And having those hard, tangible numbers is beneficial, says Colleen Smith, executive director of AgScape.

“There’s always been multiple jobs for every grad, so I really enjoy when OAC comes out with an update,” she told Farms.com today. “There’s nothing like facts and figures to back up our stand (that agriculture education is important).”

The survey of 123 Ontario ag employers unearthed a number of statistics, including:

44 per cent of food employers and 56 per cent of agricultural employers project a general increase in the average number of new hires over the next five years.
77 per cent of food employers and 79 per cent of agricultural employers prefer the formal training of food and agriculture graduates.
50 per cent of food employers and 57 per cent of agricultural employers say more than half of their employees require or have post-secondary education.
51 per cent of food employers and 67 per cent of agricultural employers report difficulties finding recruits.

Agriculture in Canada employs one out of every eight people, according to Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada.

But some Canadians may be surprised by that number because they’re not aware of the variety of opportunities in the sector, Smith said.

“I think one of the core issues is that many don’t think of the diversity of the sector as a whole,” she said. “They don’t think of the broader spectrum of agriculture and focus on their specific niches.”

And those who feel the move towards automation and robotics in agriculture is detrimental to job creation may be mistaken, Smith added.

“We heard that (sentiment) 20 years ago when people said computers will allow us to work four days a week,” she said. “Technology does not cut jobs but it diverts skills to where you need technicians and maintenance people and forward-thinking scientists.”

Video: Evolution of Beef Cattle Farming

The Clear Conversations podcast took to the road for a special episode recorded in Nashville during CattleCon, bringing listeners straight into the heart of the cattle industry. Host Tracy Sellers welcomed rancher Steve Wooten of Beatty Canyon Ranch in Colorado for a wide-ranging discussion that blended family history and sustainability, particularly as it relates to the future of beef production.

Sustainability emerged as a central theme of the conversation, a word that Wooten acknowledges can mean very different things depending on who you ask. For him, sustainability starts with the soil. Healthy soil produces healthy grass, which supports efficient cattle capable of producing year after year with minimal external inputs. It’s an approach that equally considers vegetation, animal efficiency, and long-term profitability.

That philosophy aligned naturally with Wooten’s involvement in the U.S. Roundtable for Sustainable Beef, where he served as a representative for the Colorado Cattlemen’s Association. The roundtable brings together the entire beef supply chain—from producers to retailers—along with universities, NGOs, and allied industries. Its goal is not regulation, Wooten emphasized, but collaboration, shared learning, and continuous improvement.