Hispanics are the nation’s fastest growing minority group, and the population is very young. Hispanic students in Texas and across the country are right now considering possible career paths.
There are opportunities in agriculture, but many Hispanic youth are either unaware of those broader opportunities or their perception of agricultural work is negative.
The recent 6th annual Latinos in Agriculture Leaders Conference aimed to change that.
The Oct. 28-30 national conference in Grapevine paired more than 30 agricultural companies, government agencies and universities from more than 20 states with students from across the country. This year’s conference featured its first-ever high school track to go along with its traditional college programs.
Texas Farm Bureau (TFB) is a supporting sponsor of the conference.
“The goals of the conference are to help introduce the young people into agriculture and also to help build a network for the young professionals who are up and coming. It also allows the opportunity for professionals to look for new talent for their organizations,” said Dr. Edward Romero, co-founder and organizer of the conference, in an interview with the TFB Radio Network.
Romero said agriculture hasn’t always been an attractive field for Latinos.
“Oftentimes, the Hispanic community looks at agriculture from a standpoint of long hours, stoop labor, low wages and dead-end career paths. So, obviously, we’re trying to help fight that negative perception,” he said. “Hispanics need to be engaged in all levels of agriculture. They need to look at positions of leadership.”
Aaron Alejandro is the executive director of the Texas FFA Foundation and a member of the conference’s planning committee. He told the TFB Radio Network that we should start planting seeds and growing the future that we want.
“I believe the Latinos in Agriculture Leaders Conference is an opportunity to plant those seeds of innovation, dialogue, best practices and to empower folks to think big. We’ve got some big challenges ahead, and it’s going to take big ideas, bright minds and enthusiasm to tackle them,” Alejandro said.
Organizers want conference students to look at agriculture from a broad perspective so that they hopefully consider agriculture as a viable career path.