The agricultural field offers many exciting career opportunities, and employment opportunities in agribusiness keep increasing daily due to growing scales of farming operations and industrial changes. For anyone interested in pursuing agriculture but wondering if there is more to it than just farming, here are the best careers you can consider in agriculture:
Food Scientists
Choosing to become a food scientist is a good career choice for an agriculture major. Research in food science paves the way for innovative nutritional breakthroughs and food products for consumption.
Food scientists study the bacteriological, physical, and chemical components of food and its ingredients to ensure its safety for consumption. They are responsible for regulating the manufacturing processes, quality control of edibles to ensure they conform to government and industry standards. The average median annual salary for food scientists is $74,130.
Agricultural Administrator
One of the top best careers in agriculture today is an agricultural administrator. This professional worker manages all the activities involved in the smooth running of an agricultural establishment, such as staff supervision, equipment purchase, agriculture recruiting, maintaining the bookkeeping system, planning and organizing business activities, and product maintenance.
The median annual salary for agricultural administrators is $66,360.
Commercial Horticulturist
Another excellent career option is becoming a commercial horticulturist. Being a commercial horticulturist is much more than cultivating flowers alone. You will be involved in seeing the entire production process.
It also involves professional skills and experience in growing highly marketable fruits, flowers, vegetables, and decorative plants. Forestry experts, landscape designers, and florists manage farmers’ retargets to produce and sell flowers and plants. Horticulturists earn an average salary of $69,074 annually.
Agricultural Engineers
Agriculture engineers are technologically inclined agriculturists that design system machines and equipment for agricultural manufacturing processes and solving related field issues. They are responsible for building innovative machines to carry out lots of agricultural fields like horticulture, fish farming, forestry, shedding, environmental planning, land farming, and more.
Persons in this career field apply principles of mechanical, computer, environmental and electrical engineering to seek solutions and improve farming methods. According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, agricultural engineers earn up to $80,720 as median annual salary, and this field is expected to continue to grow in the future.
Veterinarian
There will always be a demand for veterinarians as long as animals exist. The need for veterinarians is not just for keeping and maintaining healthy livestock. They are the only doctors who recognize how animals’ health is connected to humanity and environmental health.
Their presence on the farm plays a pertinent role in diagnosing, investigating, and addressing the health needs of all species of animals. Veterinarians earn an annual median salary of $95,460.
Wildlife Conservationist
This career involves creating means to utilize land without harming the environment by carrying out research, data collection and sampling soil and water for contaminants to ensure a safe habitat for all.
As a wildlife conservationist, you are helping humanity to conserve and manage soil and forest retargets efficiently. The median annual salary for a wildlife conservationist is $79,490.
Agricultural Economist
Agricultural economists use farm data analysis, land survey, and farm research to manage the decisions involved in analyzing economic data to determine consumers’ buying decisions, trending agricultural products, and reviewing government economic policies that affect agriculture.
To be successful in this career path, you must have a strong knowledge base of mathematics coupled with skills essential for interpreting and presenting data analysis efficiently. An agricultural economist makes an average salary of $93,064 annually.
Conclusion
All careers in agriculture are worthy pursuits. However, these are some of the best careers in the field. Remember, the thrill in pursuing a career in agriculture isn’t just for career growth and financial rewards. It also offers great fulfillment knowing that you are doing something that all living things.