By Julie Tomascik
Editor

Looking for a college major and don’t know where to turn? Consider an agricultural career.

It’s a growing industry for college graduates, and there are an expected 57,900 job openings annually. There aren’t, however, enough qualified college graduates to fill those positions.

A recent report shows there are only about 35,400 graduates to fill those jobs, leaving 22,500 vacant.

That’s why the America’s Farmers Grow Ag Leaders program is partnering with farmers to identify and support future leaders and award $500,000 to students pursuing agricultural-related degrees in 2018.

The scholarships, which are administered by the National FFA Organization, are awarded in $1,500 increments.

“The program itself is the largest FFA-related scholarship program in the ag industry,” Brian Leake, community outreach manager for America’s Farmers Grow Ag Leaders, said in an interview with the Texas Farm Bureau Radio Network.

The scholarships aren’t limited to “traditional” agricultural-related fields like agronomy and farming.

“There’s a lot of different areas where there’s a need, especially since the industry is more and more technical—areas like communication, engineering, business, mathematics, data science, “ Leake said. “This scholarship helps support students who are looking to go into those fields as well.”

According to FFA, STEM-focused careers—which center on science, technology, engineering and math—will be among the top five in agriculture by the end of the decade. Those include food scientists, precision agricultural technologists, agricultural communicators, hydrologists and drone technologists.

Since the program began in 2014, it has awarded nearly $1.7 million in scholarships.

Grow Ag Leader scholarship applications are due Feb. 1.

To be eligible, students must be 23-years-old or younger and live in participating counties. Students must be currently enrolled or looking to enroll in trade schools, community colleges and four-year universities. Two farmer endorsements must be submitted with the scholarship application.

A complete list of program rules, eligibility requirements and information on the program is available at www.growagleaders.com.