FFA CEO: The Ag World Stretches Beyond The Farm
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As a subscriber you can listen to articles at work, in the car, or while you work out. Subscribe NowThe chief executive officer of the Indianapolis-based National FFA says events like AgriNovus Indiana’s 2016 Indiana Agbiosciences Innovation Summit can be used to showcase agriculture careers not connected to what’s traditionally considered farming. Mark Poeschl says there are around 75,000 jobs in Indiana alone involving agriculture or agriscience and some 25,000 new professionals are needed to fill jobs in ag at the national level each year. The event brought together big names in the public, private, nonprofit and academic communities and focused on using data and measuring factors that influence ag success.
In an interview with Inside INdiana Business, Poeschl said employers working with the next generation of ag worker face challenges and opportunities.
"We have an opportunity in Indiana to not only grow among what are called our core agriculture students, but also young people that may not have thought about careers in agriculture. Those that are in IT, or marketing, or sales, or even just general business management that maybe haven’t thought about what opportunities there are in agriculture," Poechl said, adding that ag or agriscience professions make up around 3 percent of Indiana’s work force.
The 2016 Indiana Agbiosciences Innovation Summit was a presentation of AgriNovus Indiana.