Farm News

Farmers on ‘Most Endangered’ List

Will farmers go the way of the dinosaur? Not likely – someone has to grow the food, after all. But that didn’t stop job hunting website CareerCast from declaring the profession one of the biggest “disappearing jobs in America.”

“Technology has streamlined the farming process, making it easier for fewer farmers to accomplish more work,” notes CareerCast.

The website’s list of “most endangered jobs” was calculated mostly by expected decline through 2022. Per USDA, the number of U.S. farms declined by 400,000 between 1982 and 2012, and CareerCast estimates an additional 19% decline by 2022.

Farmers join other careers on the list that are being negatively affected by technological and economic trends.

Earlier in 2015, CareerCast ranked farming 180 out of 200 career types. While the profession scores relatively high in “work environment,” the website penalized it for moderate stress and a negative hiring outlook.

Farming is not universally derided as a career choice, however. Most notably, Time magazine declared farming “the best job of the 21st Century.” And according to a recent study from USDA and Purdue University, when looking at the entire agriculture industry, there is a shortage of 22,500 ag grads compared with the industry's needs.

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