“Ag is sexy.” That is at the core of the message California Secretary of Agriculture Karen Ross said the state’s agricultural industry needs to convey to youth to attract more of them to the business and the high-tech educational disciplines necessary to train them in emerging farm technology.
Ross was at Imperial Valley College last week as a speaker at Western Growers’ AgTech Workforce Summit. The event included panel discussions on topics such as industry issues and skill identification, education and workforce development strategies, and leadership strategies.
The event was the second of four being held at rural community colleges in different areas of the state. About 70 persons, mostly local farmers, were in attendance.
Ross told them not only to encourage students to pursue studies, but “to bring a friend.” She described agriculture as one of the more “inclusive” and innovative segments of California’s economy.
“To rise to the occasion of feeding a global population of 10 billion people in the next 30 years with fewer resources and labor, we need to start investing in preparing tomorrow’s agricultural workforce today,” Ross previously explained in a press release. “Education starts in the classroom, and that’s where agriculture prominently needs to be. As the development of technology rapidly accelerates, initiatives such as AgTechX Ed lays the foundation for new tech-based education training platforms that will build an adequately trained workforce.”
Western Growers Center for Innovation and Technology Director Dennis Donohue said the four AgTech summits are intended to “set the table in purposeful way” in identifying the ag industry’s workforce needs.
Western Growers recently received a $750,000 Specialty Crop Block Grant, administered by CDFA, to develop and implement a curriculum to provide California college students with best-in-class ag tech training. Donohue said the monies will be used for curriculum development and teacher training.