At the grocery store, this young generation has the ability to influence how we sell and produce our product – or any agricultural product.
What about our millennials in agriculture; what do we know about them? They tend to often get grouped with all millennials, but the difference is that they are the ones working to produce, manage, sell or market agricultural and food products.
Colle & McVoy, a marketing firm based in Des Moines, Iowa, completed a study to learn more about agricultural millennials. This research tells us why this generation has chosen to be part of the agricultural workforce.
The study consisted of a survey of more than 500 people in 34 states and also included face-to-face interviews with the next generation of farmers and students. The study concluded there are 21 million millennials working in agriculture.
Viewpoints from ag millennials
1. Booming present and looming future
- Excitement in the millennial generation led 20 percent of them to choose a career in agriculture even though they did not have an upbringing in agriculture, and they did this because they see agriculture as always growing and stable.
An 18- to 24-year-old male from Indiana said, “Knowing you will always have a job feeding the world” is why he wants to be involved in agriculture. This generation has been connected to technology from the time they were born, unlike their parents, yet they also strive for the world of working in agriculture where the lifestyle can include technology-free experiences.
- This young generation witnessed the great recession in 2008, which influenced their decisions, such as staying in school longer, being more cautious when they entered the workforce and more conservative with their finances.
During most of their lifetime, agriculture has experienced positive times, but the overall recession made them more hesitant to make purchases of land and property and convinced them saving is important.
The downside of this for agriculture is that 48 percent of the survey respondents are discouraged from owning their own farm someday due to the high cost of entry. What does this mean for the future of agriculture?
2. Challenges that will create opportunities
- Most millennials were inspired to enter into agriculture to feed the world, but they are aware of the challenges presented to them as a result, including the misperceptions by the rest of the “millennial” group not involved in agriculture and other generations. In fact, 42 percent of the respondents were attracted to ag because of their passion to feed the world.
“I am very passionate about the agriculture field. Most people don’t realize that agriculture affects them three or more times every day. I decided I wanted to go into the field so I could be an advocate as well as work with others who share my passion,” said a young woman interviewed from Kentucky (18 to 24 years old).
- The influence of women in the agricultural millennial generation is ever-growing. In the U.S., one-third of the farms have a woman in a key decision-making role, and 53 percent of biological, agricultural and environmental sciences degrees are earned by women. The future of agriculture will see more men and women working side by side or women in levels of management than ever in history.
- The social picture also framed these millennials as they chose agricultural careers. In the study, 89 percent of the millennials expressed a stronger likelihood to purchase from companies that supported solutions to specific social issues.
A female ag marketer, 31 years old and interviewed from Minnesota, said, “There’s so much misinformation out there people think that the conversation starts and stops at GMOs. No one outside of ag gets the whole picture.”
Millennials in today’s agricultural industry are educated and passionate about agriculture. They have a great opportunity to share their passion with other millennials not involved in agriculture and share true-to-life stories.
They are the future leaders and decision-makers of the industry, which today is the livelihood of many families reading this column.
We need to continue to empower this young generation to advocate for agriculture. As a current leader in your county, state or region, take the time to get to know this younger generation who has chosen agriculture as a career.
Ask them to ride along with you to a community or livestock association meeting and learn about their viewpoint as an ag millennial. 
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B. Lynn Gordon
- Teaching Learning and Leadership
- College of Agricultural and Biological Sciences
- and College of Education South Dakota State University
- Email B. Lynn Gordon
