Agriculture Careers

About Agriculture Field:

The agriculture sector has a wide range of scope. It is a very vast industry which incorporates farmers, ranchers and scientists. They all develop modern and improved foods and business practices to keep the agriculture field running. There are different aspects of the agricultural sector which work towards increasing the production in a way to feed the population of a country and the world. Associated industries like transportation, fertilizers and pesticides manufacturing, food processing and preserving industries provide necessary infrastructure to make it happen.

When we go through the figures, we come to know how massive the agriculture industry is! In the year 2008, corn was planted in about 35 million hectares while about 25 million hectares of land was devoted for wheat production, and in 30 million hectares of land there were soybeans. About 100,000 cattle and 400,000 hogs were killed daily to give food to the protein-ravenous people. Agriculture industry does not just deal with food. Other agricultural products or byproducts include cotton, wool, ornamental tobacco, plants, lumber and different fruits and grains as well. The agriculture industry is a massive industry which is 1 percent of the U.S. GDP.

Even though the agriculture field contributes significantly in the economic growth, it is very unpredictable as well as unprofitable at times. Especially for soybeans, corn and wheat, profit margins are very low. So such crops are mostly cultivated by big, industrial farms. Small farmers mostly cultivate fruits and vegetables in their farms. Farmers can have good returns in terms of small land, but the investment in plants, soil grounding and the labor cost are more.