Careers in Agriculture
Updated: September 4, 2020
What would you like to do when you grow up? Would you like to be a veterinarian and save animals' lives, or maybe a biologist and study rare plants in the mountains? What about a meteorologist who studies the climate and weather, or maybe a biochemist that works with strange chemicals?
Wow! Did you even know such interesting careers existed? Would you believe it if I said that all of these careers are related to agriculture, and that there are a zillion more agricultural careers that are just as exciting? Well, it's true. Agriculture lies at the base of all life and so no matter how you look at it, all of these careers support Montana's number one industry, agriculture!
What does agriculture include? Livestock, weather, crops, food, machinery, clothes, education, wildlife, science, business, technology, and many more aspects of living. Each of these categories relies on one another in order to successfully maintain our way of life. Agriculture is like a chair. Think of the world as the seat of the chair, and each one of these categories as a leg of the chair. What if one of the legs breaks, what will happen to the chair? The other legs can't maintain the extra weight and the chair finally falls off balance and then eventually falls down, right? Just like agriculture.
The veterinarian heals the rancher's sick sheep. When the sheep are healthy, the farmer shears (cuts) the wool off the sheep and sells the wool to a factory. The factory makes yarn out of the wool then sells the yarn to a clothing designer. The clothing designer makes a sweater out of the yarn and then sells the sweater to a department store. The department store then turns around and sells the sweater to you! You see, every area of agriculture has a purpose, and each area relies on the next to successfully complete its own job. What if the veterinarian didn't exist? What would happen to the rancher, the wool factory, the clothing factory, and the department store? They would all be out of a job, and you wouldn't be wearing a new warm sweater!
- Advertising analyst - Create newspaper, magazine, tv, and radio advertisements.
- Agri-bank consultant - Work in a bank, with money and people.
- Agri-chemicals inspector - Inspect farm chemicals.
- Agri-engineer - Design various agriculture products.
- Journalist - Write articles for agriculture publications, radio, or television.
- Agronomist - Work with crops and range conditions.
- Bacteriologist - Study and try to cure plant and animal diseases in a laboratory.
- Biochemist - Work with chemicals and other resources in a laboratory.
- Biophysicist - Work with physical properties.
- Botanist - Work with plants.
- Chef - Cook agricultural products for people to eat.
- Clothes designer - Design and make clothing from agriculture products or for agriculture use.
- Conservationist - Work to conserve the earth's natural resources.
- Economist - Working with supply and demand issues.
- Entomologist - Study and classify bugs.
- Extension Agent - Help farmers/ranchers and the public with ag related issues.
- Farmer - Grow food for the world.
- Florist - Arrange and deliver flower bouquets.
- Forester - Study the forests and related issues.
- Grain feed and seed sales - Purchase and sell grain feed and seed.
- Homemaker - Take care of a household.
- Livestock sales, science - Work with livestock.
- Marketing specialist - Promote and sell agriculture products and programs.
- Machinery sales, mechanic - Selling and repairing agriculture machinery.
- Meteorologist - Study the weather.
- Nutritionist - Study the body and nutrition.
- Veterinarian - Doctor sick animals.
- Agriculture education - Teacher.
- Wildlife conservationist - Study wildlife.
So, you see, whether you like science, people, business, technology, animals, farming, or nature, agriculture has a
Updated: September 4, 2020