The future looks bright for College of Agriculture graduates, according to a Ag Career Services report.

The report stated 98.6 percent of recent graduates in the College of Agriculture are employed or currently seeking further education.

Out of 591 graduates, 590 responses from 2000-2001 bachelor degree recipients were received, which outlined employment status and other information.

“Last year we started to feel the crunch of the economy, so I was very encouraged,” said Mike Gaul, director of career placement at Agriculture Career Services.

The report said 64 percent of the graduates stayed in Iowa. Gaul said the state’s agricultural ties may help keep students in the area.

“Our students are lucky in that regard,” Gaul said.

Gaul said he was pleased and surprised by the statistics given the economic situation. However, he expects to see the economic pinch in next year’s report.

“The number of students coming into agriculture is certainly not growing by leaps and bounds,” Gaul said.

Nancy Grudens-Schuck, assistant professor of agricultural education and studies, said she wasn’t surprised by the results.

“Iowa, to me, looks pretty good. It’s worse elsewhere,” Schuck said.

Schuck said agriculture graduates from Iowa State may have the upper hand on other students.

“I think that Iowa State agriculture programs are, when you put them all together, enabling students to have a consistent and comprehensive education in agriculture,” Schuck said. “Few schools can pull that off.”

Schuck said students may be staying in Iowa for a variety of reasons including nervousness with the job market, instability in the world and safety at home.

Mary Wiedenhoeft, associate professor of agronomy, said she wasn’t surprised by the results but expects those to change given the current economic situation.

“The graduating seniors are a little nervous,” she said.

Wiedenhoeft said the industry and jobs here hold a lot of appeal keeping graduates in Iowa.

“Agriculture is still a very big business in Iowa,” Wiedenhoeft said. “We have some major companies.”

Despite the large percentage of survey respondents who have remained in Iowa, keeping students in the area is a problem.

“I’ve talked to recruiters and asked them what their biggest problem is and it’s geography,” Gaul said. “Students are looking at positions outside the state of Iowa.”

Schuck said the data could be misleading.

“We can’t make too much of the data,” Schuck said. “We can’t use this data to wish away a very serious kind of farm crisis.”

Wiedenhoeft said people may have differing opinions on what agriculture means, and that could impact how they look at survey results.

“When you say, `agriculture isn’t making money’, you have to define agriculture,” Wiedenhoeft said.

“A lot of our students are going into ag industries; the farmers aren’t making money.”