In a previous blog, I wrote about a crisis in agricultural academics. Key points from that article regarding graduate student training follow.

●          Fields of study that are important to soybean production (actually production of all crops) are agronomy, plant breeding and genetics, weed science, plant pathology, nematology, entomology, and soil science. A predicted, forthcoming, compelling gap in the agricultural sector is the lack of newly-trained professional agriculturalists in the above research and/or teaching areas.

●          Future professionals in the above disciplines can only be trained at colleges and universities. Private sector agricultural enterprises do not train scientists. Rather, they employ the trained professionals coming from academia. The Universities’ training of these future academicians and scientists, therefore, is the lifeblood of both the public and private agricultural teaching and research sectors.

●          Graduate students who complete their degrees in a field of agricultural science eventually become the future scientists, teachers, and extension specialists who will in turn train new scientists and specialists in agricultural fields and conduct research to solve production problems and develop new technologies for agriculture.

The above points lead to the following conclusion.

The Agricultural Industry should encourage and support the entry of recent Agricultural Science graduates into post-Baccalaureate education and training programs in Agricultural Colleges at our land-grant universities.

The MSPB supports the training of future researchers and agricultural specialists by providing monies to fund research projects that have a budget category for a graduate research assistantship. This is the best, most direct way to encourage and promote this endeavor.

However, this is only part of the solution. Somehow, we must see that those students who are interested in graduate education in agricultural science programs become aware of the opportunities in those programs and gain access to positions that are available to them.

So, if you are reading this article, and you have a son or daughter who is interested in a post-graduate agricultural degree, or if you have a neighbor or friend who has a son or daughter with this interest, please have them contact me at the below email address. I will gladly get them in contact with the scientists and specialists who are in need of graduate students to fill positions to assist in the conduct of research and extension projects that are funded by the MSPB.

Composed by Larry G. Heatherly, Jan. 2013, larryheatherly@bellsouth.net