农业教育的未来
米切尔理工学院的学生卡特·罗伯逊, Jay风暴, Hunter Janish and Jacob Dold learn about the capabilities of an infrared drone for tracking crop progress throughout the growing season.
作者:Peg Zenk
在过去两年中，这种大流行对美国造成了重大破坏.S. 劳动力. It’s not a new challenge — most ag businesses have been dealing with a dwindling pool of potential employees for more than a decade — 但 the pandemic seems to have compounded the problem.
农村人口减少是一个主要因素, 但 it has become even more challenging to fill jobs that demand long hours and can involve work with higher risk and liability than the average desk job, 阿曼达·杰克逊说, CHS的人才获取专家. “I’ve worked as a recruiter for 20 years and the last two years have definitely been the most challenging.”
对很多合作社来说, 灌装作业岗位, 比如卡车司机和涂布工, 是最困难的, 她说. “But it can also be a challenge to fill sales and precision ag jobs because those roles require very specific skill sets.”
Finding solutions has required a more proactive approach to recruiting and some out-of-the-box thinking. Here are a few examples of how ag organizations are finding and training the employees they need.
建立达科他实习
马克·范·戴克(Mark 范戴克)是总部位于南卡罗来纳州米切尔的CHS农艺销售经理.D., staying 完整的y staffed at the cooperative’s nine 澳门皇冠赌场平台 locations around southeastern South Dakota can be a challenge. Early recruiting of college students for internships is one of the most effective strategies he and other cooperative managers have implemented.
“我们正在努力为高需求的工作创造毕业生和潜在雇员的渠道, 包括农艺操作和销售,他说. “寻找实习生的竞争变得非常激烈. 每年秋天, 我们会参加本州和邻近州的大学招聘会, 我们发现大约三分之一的学生已经有暑期实习机会,他说. “When you identify good candidates at a fair, you usually need to make them an offer within days.”
几年前, the cooperative began participating in a statewide program that helps match students to potential careers even earlier — in high school. The Build Dakota scholarship fund was created in South Dakota in 2015 with philanthropic donations and legislative funds to address the state’s workforce shortage by training and retaining highly skilled workers.
The scholarships cover half the cost of tuition for certain two-year programs that fill positions of greatest need in the state, 而赞助企业支付另一半. 最初, 唯一合格的农业项目是精准农业技术, 但, 从2023年开始, 澳门皇冠赌场平台和农业生产将符合条件, 太. 范戴克, who serves on boards for Mitchell Technical College and the South Dakota Agri-Business Association, 为最新的增加进行了游说.
问题? High school seniors need to commit to working at the sponsoring business as interns during two years of college and 完整的-time for three years after graduation.
“第一年，我们对参加比赛有点紧张, 因为它需要为每个学生预付半年的学费,范·戴克回忆道, “但 we’ve seen good results and feel it’s a reasonable investment for the co-op to get motivated employees who we can help train. 我们赞助了4名2022年班的学生，但希望有10名.”
他指出林赛·伯格是这个项目的成功案例之一. 美国的埃默里.D., 本地人在养牛的农场长大, 玉米和大豆, 她的父亲从事农艺生意. “我最初想成为一名教师,她说。, 但在跟随一位澳门皇冠赌场平台家并参观了沃特敦的湖区技术学院之后, S.D.于是，我决定报名参加那里的精准农业项目.”
签署一份为期五年的合作社皇冠hga010安卓二维码书有点令人生畏, 伯格承认, “但我是一个计划者, so getting a 完整的 ride for tuition and having a guaranteed job at the end was a great deal.”
在CHS农民联盟完成她的春季和夏季大学实习后, 伯格于2020年5月开始在合作社全职工作, beginning as an 澳门皇冠赌场平台 trainee and then moving into a permanent sales position a few months later when a long-time employee retired.
“Lindsey is a very driven person who has exceeded her goals every year and is always willing to do extra things around here, 只是为了学习更多，帮助别人,范·戴克说. “对我们来说，林赛是一个摇滚明星.”
农艺销售方面的实际工作经验
Another South Dakota cooperative has taken advantage of the Build Dakota program to entice promising young people to get practical work experience in agriculture and within the cooperative system. 总部设在布兰登的CHS零售业务则更进一步, 种子经理鲍勃·古德说, 谁还负责实习生招聘.
“We’ve added a layer to our 完整的-time positions called 澳门皇冠赌场平台 sales trainee (AST) for new employees who don’t have as much experience in sales,他说. “An employee will typically work in that position six to 18 months to get 完整的y up to speed and then move into a sales position. 这使我们能够为我们希望发展业务的领域培训新员工, 以及建立一个强大的板凳.”
他指出，并不是所有的ast都是刚从大学毕业的. “One current AST is closer to middle age and is getting into agriculture after working in another industry. This program allows him to work with one of our top sellers and begin building relationships.”
Sales Agronomist Jackson Kerr worked his way through the Build Dakota program as an intern at the cooperative, 然后在2022年1月担任目前的职位之前，在AST工作了6个月. “通过我的实习和实习时间, 我在合作社的很多领域都做过工作, 从侦察田地和与农民一起工作到处理谷物,科尔说。. “我真的很享受这种多样性，并期待着继续增长我们的销售额.”
开发城市学校
Creating more awareness of agricultural careers and CHS is why Goodroad contacted administrators at the Career and Technical Education Academy working with Sioux Falls, S.D.地区高中. “去年，学院启动了一个农业项目，我希望我们都能参与进来.”
作为新节目的独家赞助商, CHS gets naming rights and commits to class time that allows CHS employees to share their expertise and in-field experience with students. “我们将能够促进澳门皇冠赌场平台和我们所有业务部门的机会, 包括皇冠hga010安卓二维码和粮食,古德说. “我们正在成为课程中真实世界的一部分.”
Ag teacher and FFA advisor Andrew Jensen says he is grateful for the support and excited to tap into the resources the cooperative offers as he grows the program, 现在是第一年. “我们大多数学生对农业知之甚少. I’m looking forward to taking them on tours of local agri-businesses and having more guest speakers. 今年秋天，我们正在做一个合作农场安全报告. 我们也开始了一个新的FFA章节, 我很感谢CHS基金会是全国FFA的赞助商,詹森指出. “财政支持很棒, 但 they’re also here in person to provide students with the practical advice they need to have successful careers. 我们的项目是为教育提供实际操作的部分.”
请查看 完整的 C杂志 随着这篇文章和更多.
相关故事: