Throughout agriculture, workforce development is a common area of concern, and this certainly includes animal agriculture. The needs are for unskilled and skilled laborers on and off the farm.
All of us are consumers of food and should be concerned about how and where our food is produced and how it is processed and handled until it reaches our homes.
Even though a lot of changes have and will continually occur in agriculture, the fundamental principles are similar at producing wholesome, safe food in an affordable and sustainable manner. There are several risks at present for the available workforce, including immigration reform, changes in labor laws within many states, competitive wages and benefits and a limited number of people interested in several areas of the job skills needed.
The situation. There is a shortage of people to hire in agricultural careers. The U.S. Department of Agriculture has estimated there will be 104,766 job openings annually during 2025-2030 in food, agriculture, renewable natural resources and the environment. It is estimated that the shortage of college graduates in these respective areas will result in 27.6% of these openings having to be filled by high school graduates and individuals in other fields of training not related to agriculture. The average age of workers within major agricultural fields continues to creep up; thus, many retirements are expected to occur within the next few years.
In order to combat this situation, there are a few opportunities we can pursue:
1. Encourage young people to pursue careers in agriculture, whether that includes production, animal, plant, food or environmental sciences, education, engineering, etc.
There are needs in all of these areas. Over many years of interacting with dairy farm families, I have heard expressions about workforce limitations in the dairy industry.
However as I listened further, often the family has discouraged their children from pursuing a career in agriculture. This is one of the reasons for our shortages. I’ve interacted with several college students who wanted to go back to the farm, but the family had made no plans to integrate them into the business. I’ve also heard the parents say that none of their children are interested in coming back to the farm for it to transition to the next generation, but we should be encouraging them to pursue a career in agriculture — so many opportunities exist as agriculture needs a broad field of expertise.
2. Provide more competitive wages and benefits.
In 2024, farm wages for hired labor was 40% lower than non-farm labor (production, non-supervisory roles). In 2025, the average wage rate for a livestock laborer in the corn belt (including Ohio) was $18.55/hour, slightly less than the $20.53/hour for field workers. On a positive note, these rates were slightly above the U.S. rates of $18.15 and $18.58/hour, respectively, and they have gradually increased in recent years.
3. Reduce turnover.
There are many aspects to take into account to reduce turnover, including recruitment, on-boarding, wages and benefits, good communication, etc. It has been well established that by the end of the first day on the job, an employee knows whether they are likely going to stay in the position they have just started. I had 34 students enrolled in Dairy Herd Management during the 2025 fall semester. When I asked them about this, they confirmed that in many of their jobs they knew by the end of the first day whether they had hopes of staying in the position very long. In further pursuit of their experiences in workplaces, they shared that the things that mattered the most were being respected and valued and having a feeling of making a difference — no surprise, of course. As supervisors, we need to establish these principles in the workplace.
From an educational perspective, my goals are to educate students about the latest science, practices and technology in dairy production; listen to their goals for a career and provide resources for them to achieve their goals; guide them in finding an internship that will provide experience in their career area and, where possible, be a resource for them in navigating life challenges at 19 to 23 years of age.
Many of the college students today have limited animal production experience outside of 4-H and FFA, but it is exciting to observe their interest grow as they learn about the opportunities.
It has been said, “it takes a community to raise a kid,” which is true, but sometimes it takes a big “community,” with many mentors along the way. There are often some myths that need to be debunked and some cheering to boost their confidence and encourage them to pursue their dreams.
