Purdue News

September 17, 1999 Consumers dictating what's hot and what's not WEST LAFAYETTE, Ind. – Consumer demands, technology and societal changes are creating the career opportunities in agriculture, and the Purdue University School of Agriculture is hosting a statewide videoconference to tell high school students about the jobs they might be doing in 2005. "Students have diverse career opportunities available to them in agriculture, food and natural resources," said Victor Lechtenberg, dean of agriculture. "As biotechnology and computer technology converge with agriculture, our students are contemplating careers nobody even dreamed of five years ago. Heightened consumer interest in food and fiber products also is driving our job market." The ag-career videoconference, "A Students'-Eye View of Life @Purdue," can be viewed Sunday, Sept. 26, at 2 p.m. EST at 26 sites around Indiana. Food science and engineering, horticulture and landscape architecture, high school agriculture teaching, golf course management, information technology, food distribution, forest products marketing, and outdoor recreation management are just a few areas in which the job market is strong, according to Allan Goecker, assistant dean and associate director of academic programs in Purdue's Ag School. Employment opportunities are weaker for feed, seed, agrichemical and farm machinery sales reps, government agricultural agency representatives, farmers and farm managers, credit representatives, and others who provide products and services to farmers. Goecker said consumers are driving the shift in the agricultural job market from the supply end of the spectrum to the demand end. There are fewer farm service jobs because the number of farms has decreased. Also playing a part is consolidation of businesses, such as agrichemical and seed companies and cooperatives, that provide goods and services in the food system, he said. "But we have a number of new businesses, too," Goecker said. Looking to the future, statistics indicate a doubling of the world's population in the next 50 years, which will nearly halve the land area available for food and fiber production. "With two times as many people in half as much area, we'll need a three- to fourfold increase in productivity to feed, clothe and house people in the manner expected today," he said. "There will be important careers available in agriculture, food and natural resources to solve these problems. There's a whole range of occupations, and we need bright young minds to sort out the problems and find the solutions." Students and their parents can learn more about agricultural careers, college life and Purdue during the one-hour videoconference. Six current School of Agriculture students from a mix of majors host the first half-hour of the videoconference, which is pre-taped. Topics they'll discuss include financial aid, residence halls, the classroom experience, placement and counseling. During the last half-hour, these students will answer questions live via an 800 number. "They've been there. They know what new students want to know," Lechtenberg said. Every site will have an Ag School faculty or staff member, a current ag student and an Extension educator to talk to prospective students and their parents. Some sites also will have alums present. Two topics prospective students and their parents might be interested in are scholarships heading into Purdue and starting salaries heading out. According to Lechtenberg, more than $500,000 in scholarships was given to ag students last year. Scholarships are awarded for academic achievement, leadership, extracurricular activities and financial need. "Starting salaries for undergrads have been increasing," Goecker said. "Preliminary data from May 1999 show the average annual starting salary of a Purdue ag grad was over $30,000, about a 1 percent increase over May 1998 grads. The highest starting salary was in agribusiness at $52,000." Reservations are recommended for those who plan to attend the teleconference; for registration information, call (888) EXT-INFO. The following list of teleconference sites (all are Purdue Extension offices unless otherwise listed) is organized alphabetically by county and lists the contact person, followed by the teleconference site. Allen – Roger Moll, (219) 481-6826; IPFW, 4001 Crescent Ave., Fort Wayne Bartholomew – Jon Cain, (812) 379-1665; 1971 State St., Columbus Clark – Dave Trotter, (812) 256-4591; Suite 1, Clark County Agriculture Building, 9608 State Road 62, Charlestown Delaware – Harold Brown, (765) 747-7732; Room 202, Ivy Tech, 4301 S. Cowan Road, Muncie Dubois – Jean Critchlow, (812) 482-1782; Vincennes University, 850 College Ave., Jasper Floyd – Daphne Heiny, (812) 948-5470; Indiana University Southeast, Room 236, Knobview Hall, 4201 Grant Line Road, New Albany Franklin – Karen Absher, (765) 647-3511; Franklin County High School, One Wildcat Lane, Brookville Hendricks – Gary Emsweller, (317) 462-1113; 955 E. Main St., Danville Howard – Bob McCormick, (765) 456-2313; Suite 105, Howard County Government Building, 120 E. Mulberry, Brownstown Jasper – Sharon Blasky, (219) 726-4707; 122 N. Cullen, Rensselaer Knox – Jerry Nelson, (812) 882-3509; Room 167, Learning Resource Center, Vincennes University, 1002 N. First St., Vincennes Lake – Stan Sims, (219) 755-3240; Lake County Government Center, 2293 N. Main St., Crown Point Marion – Nancy Scott, (317) 253-0871; Suite 118, 9245 N. Meridian St., Indianapolis Marshall – Ralph Booker, (219) 935-8545; 304 Marshall County Building, 112 W. Jefferson, Plymouth Monroe – Charles Felkner, (812) 333-3575; Health Services Building, 119 W. Seventh St., Bloomington Orange – Andy Boston, (812) 723-7107; Suite 4, County Office Building, 205 E. Main St., Paoli Ripley – Dave Osborne, (812) 689-6511; 525 W. Beech St., Osgood St. Joseph – Phil Sutton, (219) 235-9604; Penn High School, 55900 Bittersweet Road, Mishawaka Steuben – Angie Thorp, (219) 668-1000 Ext. 1400; Suite 1 A, Steuben Community Center, 317 S. Wayne St., Angola Switzerland – Peg Ehlers, (812) 427-3152; Switzerland County Library, 205 Ferry St., Switzerland Tippecanoe – Scott Rumble, (765) 474-0999; 3150 Sagamore Parkway S., Lafayette Tipton – Jim Wolfe, (765) 675-2694; Courthouse, 101 W. Jefferson St., Tipton Vanderburgh – Larry Caplan, (812) 435-5287; University of Southern Indiana, 8600 University Blvd., Evansville Vigo – Diane Stoufer, (812) 462-3371; 275 Ohio St., Terre Haute Warren – Kelly Pearson, (765) 762-3231; 7 Railroad St., Williamsport Wayne – Deb Sercy, (765) 973-9281; Room 125-127, Ivy Tech State College, 2325 Chester Blvd., Richmond Sources: Christy DeNault, (765) 494-9505; sd@agad.purdue.edu Allan Goecker, (765) 494-8473; adg@agad.purdue.edu Writer: Andrea McCann, (765) 494-8406; mccann@aes.purdue.edu Purdue News Service: (765) 494-2096; purduenews@purdue.edu To the Purdue News and Photos Page