COLLEGE STATION, Texas — Across Texas classrooms, the heightened demand for agriculture professors is making it hard for schools like Texas A&M, to fill positions.
In 2020, a bulk of agriculture professors retired, creating a 17.5 percent loss according to a National Agricultural Education Supply and Demand Study.
Agriculture professor at A&M, Dr. Gary Briers shared how the demand isn't a new thing. Nevertheless, over the years the amount of professors in the industry has the curiosity among A&M students growing.
“It’s been an ongoing kind of thing that there’s been demand. 40, 45 years ago when I taught Ag, there were about 1200 Ag teachers, and now they’re about 2500 in the state," he said.
An area that's the fastest-growing is the suburban program. Mainly, because students who didn't grow up in an agriculture background, gravitate toward the field.
"There are lots and lots of kids that don’t come from a quote-un-quote agriculture background who want to study and want to learn more about agriculture, so they flock to these courses," he said. “Often time their parents, and even increasingly their grandparents, they were agriculturists but now these grandchildren, they don’t know agriculture but they wanna learn it.”
This is what fuels those students to be in agriculture, amidst a nationwide teacher shortage A&M is working to fill. An agriculture grad student, Maureen Victoria explained how vigorous the field can be and why the positions are hard to fill, despite the demand.
“Schools and school districts now are looking for what drives your passion for this field and it’s more so a lifestyle, that’s what people need to understand. Teaching ag is for sure a lifestyle because you’re gonna work," Maureen said.
Maureen said that means working at least 72 hours in various parts of agriculture such as mechanics, livestock, and more. COVID-19 made filling these positions a train wreck Briers said.
With Texas A&M having the most agriculture teachers in the state, they prepare students with student-teacher training.
When they depart from the university they will be ready to work and serve in the field of agriculture, which will fill the high demand for agriculture professors.
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