Lack of Ag Teachers Crisis

According to the Minnesota Public School Directory, there are 2,637 public schools in Minnesota and according to the Minnesota FFA Association Chapter Directory, in the 2013-2014 school years there are only 238 teachers/FFA Advisors that are teaching at 191 different schools. That means that only 13.8 percent of Minnesota public schools have an Ag education class. The problem is that there are fewer and fewer people to teach students about agriculture. There is a lack of Ag teachers. Today, I am going to talk about the importance of teaching agriculture, why the lack of Ag teachers is a problem, and what can be done to change this.

Why Ag teachers are important:

• Ag teachers provide students with a great variety of knowledge and experiences.  In an Interview with Natasha Mortenson (a Minnesota Ag teacher) on March 17^th, 2014,  about what the role of an Ag teacher is, she said, “Ag teachers have the ability of to offer many diverse topics in Agricultural Education for students 8-12 depending on their interests.   Students are introduced to a variety of topics to broaden their understanding of all Areas of Agriculture, Food, Natural Resources, Ag Mechanics, and Technology. Students are taught through as many hands on opportunities as can be offered and are tied to the community in all possible ways. There are many opportunities for leadership development for 8^th -12^th grade students  through the school and community. Students develop lifelong skills through opportunities in the classroom and the FFA organization.” According to the Teach Ag website, there are fourteen different classes that an Ag teacher can teach- Animal Science, Welding, Horticulture, and Food Chemistry are just to name a few. With the world population doubling by 2050, we need to continue spreading the word about the importance of Agriculture so we can sustain ourselves as a nation.
• Ag teachers can change the lives of students as well as inspire and equip them through FFA. There would be no such thing as FFA if it weren’t for Ag teachers. Ag teachers are the ones who set up the FFA program in the schools. They are the ones who work with the students and encourage them to find a career in agriculture. They help develop students into leaders.

Why the number of Ag teachers is declining:

•  Ag Businesses are hiring college graduates with a degree in Ag Education to work for them because of their knowledgeable background in a variety of Agricultural areas.  The graduates accepting these Ag Business offers can work fewer hours but still receive a bigger salary. According to the Teach Ag website in an article What is the Average starting salary for an Ag teacher?, Ag teachers make an average of $42,000 a year. While according to DegreeDirectory.org, Ag business workers make an average of $59,250 a year.
• Ag teachers are getting older and are retiring. According to a survey done by the Teach Ag organization, in Region 3, which includes North and South Dakota, Nebraska, Wisconsin, Iowa, and Minnesota, seventy-one Ag teachers will retire in the next three years. With this many Ag teachers retiring, and with no one to fill their spots, the number of Ag teachers will decline greatly. There are schools desiring to add Ag programs, but with the lack of instructors, they are having a hard time finding who will lead them into a future of Ag Education. Programs like FFA encourage students to find an Ag related job in their specific area of expertise. However, we can’t have FFA programs without Ag teachers. In another survey by Teach Ag in 2015, in Region 3, fifty-eight Ag teachers left the program and twenty-four programs are operating with a teacher not licensed to teach agriculture.
• There is a decline in the number of Ag teachers is that there are not very many colleges that offer a degree in Ag Education. In Minnesota, there is only one, which is the U of M. In Region 3, there are only eight Universities at which you can attain this degree.

Ways to encourage prospective Ag teachers:

• Colleges and Universities should give out more scholarships and grants for Ag teachers.  As well as start funding to provide more available classes to get an Agricultural Education degree.
• We can raise awareness about the loss of Ag teachers through giving public speeches and making posters and putting them up in local businesses as well as posting about the importance of agriculture educators on social media. My cousin, who lives in Columbus, Ohio, did not know of any agricultural programs while in high school and she graduated in a class of five hundred people. She has a degree in elementary education but when I asked her about “Ag education” she asked me what “Ag” meant. We need to get funding and grants from local businesses to pay Ag teachers more so that people like my cousin and others are aware of what Ag means.

In conclusion, Ag teachers are highly marketable professionals that have many options for career choices. We need to promote and encourage the hiring of Ag teachers as well as continue to applaud them for the thankless job that they do.