As I walk the halls of campus a sad thought comes to my mind. Where are all of the students? Recently the very steady decline in the percentage of ISU students choosing agriculture as their field of study has come to my attention.

The average student would feel that this is more of a blessing than a hardship, mostly because of the lack of professors to teach the classes. One less kid means more room and attention for everyone else in the ag college.

However, as agriculture declines we lose interest in agricultural issues. The fewer the people involved the smaller the interest there is in the field of agriculture.

This small interest can be attributed to the constant thinning of the number of farmers still around. Obviously agriculture will always be around in one form or another, otherwise consumers would be hungry. Nonetheless, the family farm is quickly being eradicated from the face of agriculture. Corporate farming has become the only way to produce agricultural goods efficiently enough for the consumer.

This corporate farming has created a different breed of agriculture student. Really it is not the loss of the interest in agriculture — it is a different perspective on agriculture.

Just as breeds of animals change to accommodate their surroundings, so do the students in the ag college. Whatever the industry needs is what the new graduates will provide.

Sales seem to be the new and important job, as the industry sees constant buyouts, mergers and overall constant change. Every student watches to see what jobs would be available when they graduate and feels somewhat apprehensive with the inconsistency of the agriculture industry. What will happen next? Will we ever feel secure with our jobs?

The “fast flight” from the agriculture industry is somewhat disturbing, but really it is just an accommodation for how the industry is changing. I don’t mean to speak lightly of the reduction in the amount of interest in agriculture; we all know how I feel about small farm eradication.

I do, however, feel that being a stick in the mud can sometimes do more harm than help. I have been struck by the realization that as the way business is conducted changes, so does the way that agriculture business works.

It may not be a comfortable thought, because we like to think that ag business is so much different than every other kind of business. However, we may have to admit that they are more similar than we would like to admit.

As a child I was adamant that I was going to come home and do exactly what my dad does — farm. But growing up showed me that life doesn’t always work out the way that you plan it to when you are nine years old.

Sometimes it saddens me to think that someday my children may never know what agriculture was like when I was a kid.

Experiencing a harvest, weaning calves, a variety of things. I know it bothers my dad that I have never experienced what he did as a kid growing up on a farm. Living in the past won’t give you the future and as much as we would like to stay right where are, we cannot.

Life will change and agriculture with it. The new project for most agriculture students is to find a way to fit and stay in the industry. The apprehension of a no-guarantees industry is frightening.

This “fast flight” attitude also is a little unnerving, sort of like missing the bus. However, change is not all bad and sometimes it is for the better. Having a positive attitude about the way that the agriculture industry is changing is the most important tool for a successful career in agriculture.

Danelle

Zellmer

is a junior in public service and administration in

agriculture from Atlantic.