A new initiative seeks to create programs and partnerships to attract different segments of the population into agricultural and science careers in an effort to diversify the ag workforce.

Support from the federal and private sector aims to increase opportunities in education, research and outreach as part of America the Bountiful, an initiative of the White House Office of Science and Technology Policy (OSTP) and Rural Council.

According to the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA), there’s a growing demand for a skilled, diverse workforce in a rapidly evolving agricultural landscape.

“The face of American agriculture is changing,” Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack said in a news release. “Nearly 10 percent of U.S. jobs related to agriculture and the increasingly complex nature of production requires more training and education in science, technology, engineering and mathematics—the STEM fields—to stay competitive and meet the needs of a growing world for food, fuel and fiber.”

The program is designed to narrow the gap between available ag jobs and available ag graduates.

“A report by USDA’s National Institute of Food and Agriculture and Purdue University projects that over 22,000 jobs in agriculture-related fields may go unfilled every year through at least 2020. This is a great opportunity for smart, young people to start careers in a field that addresses some of the world’s most pressing challenges,” Vilsack said.

A number of new programs to encourage opportunities for a more diverse workforce were also unveiled as part of last week’s announcement. More than $382,000 will be invested through National Institute of Food and Agriculture’s (NIFA) Women and Minorities in Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics Fields Program. Four institutions will share the investment.

Last week’s announcement included commitments by the National Science Foundation (NSF) and more than 70 state, nonprofit and private sector businesses to help expand and diversify agricultural educational resources, according to USDA.

USDA’s commitments to the initiative include:

  • USDA’s National Institute of Food and Agriculture will continue investing in graduate and post-graduate fellowships for food and agriculture research and agriculture curriculum development.
  • The U.S. Forest Service (FS), in collaboration with the Americas for Conservation and the Arts, a Latina-founded and operated non-profit organization, and the Green Amigos Latino Legacy, expand the Woodsy Owl Conservation Corps to promote public awareness of opportunities for conservation and land stewardship through educational programming and service learning efforts, focusing primarily on underserved, urban youth with a strong emphasis on Latino youth.
  • USDA’s Economic Research Service (ERS) will continue to invest in the Ag Econ Scholars program that introduces talented Master’s and PhD students to careers in applied agricultural economics through hands-on learning opportunities at USDA in commodity market analysis, agricultural finance and other applied fields of economics.
  • USDA’s Agriculture Research Service (ARS), in October, will launch a new Student and Outreach Database to identify the number of students and post-doctoral fellows training at and visiting any of ARS’s over 90 agriculture research facilities.
  • The USDA Science Council will coordinate with the National Science Foundation (NSF) to create opportunities for NSF-funded PhD students at USDA research facilities through a new Graduate Research Internships Program