Agriculture continues to grow as Georgia’s No. 1 industry, with an annual economic impact of more than $74 billion and 411,500 employees. Keeping the state supplied with future employees is a tremendous task.
Austin Overton, left, looks on as Trey Davis, farm manager, explains mechanical operations at the ABAC farm. (Photo by Pat Gallagher)
In 2014, Governor Nathan Deal launched the High Demand Career Initiative (HDCI) to examine ways Georgia will maintain its status as a leader in the global marketplace. The HDCI report outlined future workforce trends in various industries including agriculture and food sector. The report highlighted the need for skilled employees, such as welders, scientists, agribusiness experts, and those with four-year degrees in agricultural subjects.
In an earlier report by the Joint House and Senate Study Committee, the Georgia General Assembly called for a stronger agricultural education program throughout the state’s public school systems. This report further acknowledged a shortage of vocational 
agricultural teachers and the need to increase certified agriculture teachers to meet the demand.
According to Georgia Department of Education, the annual demand for agricultural education teachers could triple over the next five to ten years.
The clarion call has been issued. However, the question remains: How does Georgia get more students interested in agriculture-related jobs and pursue a technical or four-year degree to meet current and future demands?
According to John “Chip” Bridges, agriculture education program manager with the Georgia Department of Education, the key is to get middle and high school students interested in agriculture.
The challenge? Supplying Georgia’s middle and high schools with enough qualified agricultural education teachers to meet current and future demands.
Currently, there are more than 68,000 students enrolled in 310 middle and high school agricultural education programs across the state, and programs are growing.
The responsibility to educate and encourage future agricultural professions currently rests on the shoulders of 441 agricultural education teachers throughout Georgia.
“Everything related to STEM can be found in agricultural education. When you consider the math that is involved, forestry, ag mechanics, geometry, and technology that is used in precision farming, such as drones, there is no greater course of STEM study than agriculture.” — John “Chip” Bridges
“We are averaging the need for 40 to 50 ag teachers each year, this includes teachers for new programs and replacing those who retire,” said Bridges. “I do not see this number changing in the near future. Actually, our projections are going up.”
During the past five years, there has been a 14 percent increase in agricultural education programs and a 10 percent increase in the number of agricultural teachers hired.
“Ag education is very popular, and many schools are adding programs at both the middle and high school levels,” said Bridges. “The requests from schools to add agriculture programs are coming on a daily basis.”
Bridges attributes the national focus on increasing STEM (science, technology, engineering, and mathematics) courses as a leading reason for the interest in agricultural education.
“Everything related to STEM can be found in agricultural education,” Bridges explained. “When you consider the math that is involved, forestry, ag mechanics, geometry, and technology that is used in precision farming, such as drones, there is no greater course of STEM study than agriculture.”
Bridges said increasing the number of agricultural teachers and programs at the middle and high school levels will help build a strong agricultural workforce for the future.
“Our ag teachers do so much…they spend a lot of time and energy teaching classes and helping with ag projects,” Bridges said. “It requires a lot of dedication and hard work.”
According to the Georgia Agricultural Education Recruitment and Retention report, during the past five years, there were 196 new agriculture teachers hired in Georgia (average 39 per year), with 83 graduates from University of Georgia (UGA) and six graduates from Fort Valley State University (FVSU). The remaining hires were from institutions outside of Georgia, industry transition, and other educators.
“If you look at surrounding states, Kentucky has eight ag teacher education programs, and Tennessee has five,” said Bridges. “Adding another institution that can produce ag teachers is critical, especially with the growth we are seeing in Georgia. I believe Abraham Baldwin Agricultural College (ABAC) is in a great position to help meet the demand for more qualified agriculture teachers and will do an excellent job in preparing them for success.”
ABAC Moves Forward in Agriculture Education
Dr. Jerry Baker, dean of ABAC School of Agriculture and Natural Resources, is joined by ABAC students, left to right, Allie Williams, Madison Lynn, Zach Postin, and Wayne Manning. (Photo by Pat Gallagher)
Dr. David Bridges, president of ABAC, has known for many years that Georgia would need more agricultural education teachers to meet the industry’s workforce demands.
In 2016, President Bridges felt it was time to add agricultural education to ABAC’s current bachelor’s degree offerings in agriculture, environmental horticulture, natural resource management, biology, business and economic development, nursing, and rural studies.
With approval from the Board of Regents of the University System of Georgia, ABAC has started the process to establish a Bachelor of Science in agricultural education, with plans to accept students to the program during the 2017-2018 academic year.
“The State of Georgia has had a deficit of vocational agriculture teachers for 30 years,” said President Bridges. “Thanks to the positive vote from the Board of Regents, we are now in a unique position to provide a solution to that problem.”
Dr. Jerry Baker, dean of the School of Agriculture and Natural Resources at ABAC, said that the primary goal of the degree is “achieve and maintain a level of graduate production and job placement to contribute to the sustainability of agricultural education programs in Georgia’s middle and high schools.”
Providing more opportunities for middle and high school students to have exposure to agriculture and the career possibilities will help Georgia meet its agricultural workforce demands.
“I think it is incredibly important for ag programs in the middle schools,” Baker said. “We need to begin the process of changing the perception as to what agriculture is and its importance. It does not matter what career path the student takes; agriculture is going to play a critical role in their future.”
According to Baker, ABAC has approximately 100 students who have expressed an interest in pursuing an agricultural education major.
“We recognized that we had students that were coming to ABAC with the intention of staying two years and then transferring to UGA or FVSU where they could receive an ag education degree,” Baker said. “We also found that a growing number wanted to stay at ABAC and in some instances would change their major from ag education to another agriculture major like agribusiness or livestock production or any number of ABAC’s other four-year degrees.”
“We need to begin the process of changing the perception as to what agriculture is and its importance. It does not matter what career path the student takes; agriculture is going to play a critical role in their future.”–Dr. Jerry Baker
Baker said that ABAC is an affordable option for many students, and its national reputation in agricultural programs is a draw.
“Attending ABAC is more affordable to some,” Baker explained. “By being able to provide an affordable program in ag education, I think we will keep those students who would either transfer or change their major.”
ABAC has been providing bachelor’s degree in agriculture for more than 10 years, so the addition of a bachelor’s in agriculture education is part of a natural progression.
“With ABAC providing another option, it is a win-win for the state and the entire agricultural industry,” Baker said. “This is exciting for several reasons—first, not just the need for agriculture teachers in Georgia but surrounding states.”
Baker explained that the importance of agricultural teachers in middle and high schools goes beyond workforce development.
“If students take ag education in middle or high school, they might go into many diverse fields,” Baker said. “Also, students enrolled in an agricultural course are learning leadership skills, public speaking, and parliamentary procedures.”
Baker estimates that the first students in ABAC’s agricultural education program will begin fall 2017.
“Once the Board of Regents gave ABAC approval in October of last year, we began working toward approval from the Georgia Professional Standards Commission (GPSC),” Baker said. “Every college that has an education program has to apply to the GPSC. Because this will be ABAC’s first teacher preparation program, we have some hurdles to get through including completing a comprehensive list of pre-conditions.”
Baker and his team are in the process of developing the policies and procedures to meet the GPSC pre-conditions and prepare for a site visit this summer.
“Students are not eligible for admission into the agricultural education program until their junior year,” Baker said. “This is the standard at any school. We cannot begin to recruit until approval from the GPSC.”
The addition of agricultural education to ABAC’s current bachelor’s degree programs will continue to strengthen the college’s impact throughout Georgia and Southeastern United States.
ABAC’s fall 2016 enrollment of more than 3,400 students represents a three-year increase, including a 35 percent increase in students from Florida, Alabama, and South Carolina.
“ABAC’s existing degrees in agriculture and ag-related fields provide a strong infrastructure on which to build a premier agricultural education program to help provide needed professionals in an important area of the state’s workforce.”–President David Bridges
The jump in students from neighboring states has been boosted thanks to a University System of Georgia policy that allows certain colleges to waive out-of-state tuition for students from bordering states.
“As Georgia’s Agricultural State College, our focus is on programs in agriculture and natural resource management that prepare students for careers in Georgia’s leading industry, which has always been agriculture,” said President Bridges. “ABAC’s existing degrees in agriculture and ag-related fields provide a strong infrastructure on which to build a premier agricultural education program to help provide needed professionals in an important area of the state’s workforce.”
The agricultural education major aligns itself with ABAC’s vision and mission and will be a win-win for the students and Georgia’s agricultural industry.
“We are moving forward at a fairly rapid pace. We have put together an experienced team to help us meet all the pre-conditions required by the Georgia PSC,” Baker said. “I think we have put together a team that is focused on getting this completed.”