Taking Stock: Ag teachers are creating our industry's leaders

Growing up in small towns or in even the city, their high school agricultural teachers gave them the first taste of the incredible and diverse industry.

Even for some students who had grown up on the land, they had the practical knowledge but were yet to learn the theory behind it.

For me, I grew up in town, although I had grandparents with Merinos and Brahmans, I was too young to understand either industry. The start of my knowledge began as I hit high school and started an agriculture program.

The majority of schools nowadays have agriculture in their curriculum and some students are lucky enough to have livestock at the school for a more hands on learning experience.

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I went to St John's College in Dubbo, a school that was known as one of the elites in the show steer ring, taking out grand champion titles at almost every Royal show in the country. That was my first real taste of the industry I am so passionate about.

I think when you are involved in programs that are so interactive, it is taken for granted. Some schools can only dream of having a farm with chickens, rabbits, sheep, cattle, and pigs etc.

For those schools that are fortunate enough to attend shows and exhibit livestock, the ag teacher has so many more roles than just a teacher.

They are the chef, the leader, the parent, the 'pack horse', the taxi driver, and the shoulder to cry on when students are home sick.

So many people take on the agriculture teacher career because they are passionate about the industry and teaching students about the various aspects and sectors within.

One prime example is Orange Anglican Grammar Schools agriculture teacher, Sarah Eyb. She came from a non-agricultural background and found the passion for agriculture in high school.

"Without people like that [agriculture teachers], I wouldn't have come in and I can think of all the kids I have pushed into degrees in ag and careers in ag that wouldn't have done that," she said.

"They are sort of kids that wouldn't have gone into ag if they hadn't been exposed to ag at school.

A lot of people who grew up on farms, were not wanting to go back because they are only seeing the traditional view of agriculture.

"They think ag is just playing with cows and driving a tractor, until they get to high school."

Many people don't realise how diverse the career options are in agriculture. Yes, farming is definitely a big part of agriculture but there are careers like rural accountants, environmental and sustainability officers, engineers, laboratory technicians, rural journalism, territory sales, real estate agents, and so much more.

After speaking with countless livestock agents for our Behind the Gavel series, it was very interesting to hear just how many of them had grown up in the city or a small town but had no exposure to livestock until they went to high school.

Now look at them all, they are the leaders of the industry, and experts in their field. A lot of them have their old ag teachers to thank.

Realistically, for those who successfully complete a tertiary agriculture degree, there is a massive field of options for their career path.

For every one agricultural graduate, there are about four jobs available and particularly in the agribusiness sector, about 46 per cent of people are based in cities.

Even for people who would like to go into ag teaching, it is not as simple as you would think.

It requires an agriculture bachelors degree, whether it be science or business based, and then a bachelors or masters in teaching.

I guess a question we should all ask ourselves is "would I be doing what I am today if I didn't have a good agriculture teacher in high school?"