|
|
Elite Veteran
Posts: 838
  
Location: Georgia | I would like some advise or information regarding these professions or any agriculture related profession... I went to college and obtained a Medical Office Admin degree and I've been working in a family practice office for 4 years now. Granted I love my job and love working in the medical field, however, recently I have been drawn more to the agricultural side of things. My husband is a high school agriculture teacher so maybe that has an influence as well, but I don't want to go the teaching route.
I was raised on a large farm which included cattle, poultry, swine, horses, and vegetables and I've also grown up rodeoing and riding horses. I would love to find a profession where I can utilize my love for agriculture and rodeo. Whether it be product endorsement, animal nutrition, or anything agriculture related. I hope there are some of you here that have experience with this that can potentially lead me in the right direction or give some insight.
|
|
| |
|
Sideways Riding Expert
Posts: 11371
 
Location: ND--it snows, it floods, it snows, it floods | There are a few of us that work in the ag. sector in different areas. I am a sales agronomist with a company and make very good $$ and I love my job. The downside is that I do not get summers off until late since I pretty much work 7 days a week for planting and spraying and am at the beck and call of the farmers. However, I get out in the fields, visit farmers, walk fields ect. If I was you I would look at going back to school for Ag. Business and go from there. You could go animal or agronomy side then. Another area to look at is crop marketing. |
|
| |
|
Elite Veteran
Posts: 838
Location: Georgia | docschic - 2014-04-30 1:54 PM
There are a few of us that work in the ag. sector in different areas. I am a sales agronomist with a company and make very good $$ and I love my job. The downside is that I do not get summers off until late since I pretty much work 7 days a week for planting and spraying and am at the beck and call of the farmers. However, I get out in the fields, visit farmers, walk fields ect. If I was you I would look at going back to school for Ag. Business and go from there. You could go animal or agronomy side then. Another area to look at is crop marketing.
I would love field work, however the only down side of where I live is the lack of crops we have in this area. 3 hours South of here is a different story, but unfortunately we can't relocate right now... Thank you for your advice. I will start looking to see if there are some courses offered online to get an agriculture business degree. I don't want to quit my job without having a plan b. I want to make sure I'm prepared. |
|
| |
|
 Elite Veteran
Posts: 814
Location: California | I work in the rice industry. I work at a very large rice mill and we export A LOT of rice. I'm in the marketing and logistics field. I absolutely LOVE my job!
I live in the middle of rice country and always felt that my place was in the ag industry. I didn't have any previous experience working in the rice industry when I got this job, but I fell into it and am very greatful for it. Maybe think about going to school for ag business and minor in marketing. In order to sell product, you will need some sort of knowledge in the marketing realm. |
|
| |
|
Elite Veteran
Posts: 838
Location: Georgia | GoBuddyGo - 2014-04-30 2:39 PM
I work in the rice industry. I work at a very large rice mill and we export A LOT of rice. I'm in the marketing and logistics field. I absolutely LOVE my job!
I live in the middle of rice country and always felt that my place was in the ag industry. I didn't have any previous experience working in the rice industry when I got this job, but I fell into it and am very greatful for it. Maybe think about going to school for ag business and minor in marketing. In order to sell product, you will need some sort of knowledge in the marketing realm.
That sounds interesting! I will definitely look into restarting classes for ag business. Hopefully I can find classes that are offered online. Thank you for the information! |
|
| |
|
Extreme Veteran
Posts: 316
| Another idea is agricultural lending. You'd need a business or accounting background, but it's a fun industry to be in. |
|
| |
|
Elite Veteran
Posts: 838
Location: Georgia | GWR - 2014-04-30 3:08 PM
Another idea is agricultural lending. You'd need a business or accounting background, but it's a fun industry to be in.
Is there a demand for that? We have a local company called Georgia Ag Farm Credit. Could that be the type of lending you're talking about? |
|
| |
|
Extreme Veteran
Posts: 316
| Yes I would say there is a demand for it depending on the area you are in. A lot of times a smaller bank will do ag lending, but you also do commecial lending (lines of credit and term loans for other businesses or commercial real estate loans). I would stay away from personal banking stuff...personally I would rather work with business owners, etc. then people walking in off the street wanting a car loan. There are really good places to work for in that field. For example Rabo AgriFinance is awesome. They pay really well and have great benefits. But in any ag area there will be some kind of need for it. I have a bachelor's degree in accounting, but with my ag background and then the experience I have gained in ag lending I've opened a lot of different opportunities for myself. I can go do corporate accounting for a farm or ag lending along with all the other industries just having an accounting degree gives me. I currently am an accountant for an agronomy division. I kind of miss the customer ineraction I got being invovled with ag lending, though. In ag lending a lot of times you will start out as an analyst (basically someone who does the financial analysis of a borrower and the underwriting of the loan) and then you can work into a lender role. Google or go to indeed.com and look up relationship analyst, credit analyst, or relationship manager. It should bring up open jobs in those job titles. That way you could read the job description and see what the requirements of the job are. |
|
| |
|
Elite Veteran
Posts: 838
Location: Georgia | GWR - 2014-05-01 3:55 PM
Yes I would say there is a demand for it depending on the area you are in. A lot of times a smaller bank will do ag lending, but you also do commecial lending (lines of credit and term loans for other businesses or commercial real estate loans). I would stay away from personal banking stuff...personally I would rather work with business owners, etc. then people walking in off the street wanting a car loan. There are really good places to work for in that field. For example Rabo AgriFinance is awesome. They pay really well and have great benefits. But in any ag area there will be some kind of need for it. I have a bachelor's degree in accounting, but with my ag background and then the experience I have gained in ag lending I've opened a lot of different opportunities for myself. I can go do corporate accounting for a farm or ag lending along with all the other industries just having an accounting degree gives me. I currently am an accountant for an agronomy division. I kind of miss the customer ineraction I got being invovled with ag lending, though. In ag lending a lot of times you will start out as an analyst (basically someone who does the financial analysis of a borrower and the underwriting of the loan) and then you can work into a lender role. Google or go to indeed.com and look up relationship analyst, credit analyst, or relationship manager. It should bring up open jobs in those job titles. That way you could read the job description and see what the requirements of the job are.
Thank you for the information! I will look into that. I'm really torn about what I "want" to do. Well, I know what I would love to do (be a stay at home mom, rodeo, get my kids involved in rodeo, travel, have unlimited amounts of funds, etc...) but we all know how that goes. My passion has always been ag based, growing up on a farm, rodeoing, being involved in ag/FFA in school, ag has always sparked my interest and I would love to be able to give back to the land. |
|
| |
|
 Elite Veteran
Posts: 1119
| I work for a farm as a financial specialist, but I do a lot more than finances. Basically, I do all of the day-to-day accounting and finance, serve as the point of contact for our bank/investors/landowners, create marketing presentations and materials, and whatever else needs done! I absolutely LOVE my job. I love working for a small company and having input on what the business does and getting to be a part of several "sides" of the business. I have a bachelor's in Ag with a minor in accounting, and kind of just stumbled across this job by chance...but I will hopefully be here the rest of my working life! |
|
| |
|
Elite Veteran
Posts: 838
Location: Georgia | MissouriJen - 2014-05-01 5:29 PM
I work for a farm as a financial specialist, but I do a lot more than finances. Basically, I do all of the day-to-day accounting and finance, serve as the point of contact for our bank/investors/landowners, create marketing presentations and materials, and whatever else needs done! I absolutely LOVE my job. I love working for a small company and having input on what the business does and getting to be a part of several "sides" of the business. I have a bachelor's in Ag with a minor in accounting, and kind of just stumbled across this job by chance...but I will hopefully be here the rest of my working life!
Something like that would be great for me, I think. I really like working for a small business as well. Sounds like you have a great job! |
|
| |
|
Married to a Louie Lover
Posts: 3303
| I work as a merchandiser for one of the big ABCD (ADM, Bunge, Cargill, Dreyfus) ag companies, specifically farmer origination. After finishing school with a bach in Ag Econ and an associates in Agronomy I was sent to Michigan to work at one of our elevators. I was there for almost 3 years and then last June accepted a position and relocated to Iowa. It's been a journey. The pay is good, the opportunities are really cool. I work with farmers everyday and spend quite a bit of time locally on the road visiting farms - understanding the markets is important to my job, but understanding the people is more important. Farmers are some of the best folks on earth and I wouldn't want to work day in and day out with any other demographic (even barrel racers!)
I have friends who work in ag finance, seed sales, chemical sales, etc - great fields to go into. There will continue to be a demand for food, period. |
|
| |
|
 Dr. Ruth
Posts: 9891
Location: Blissfully happy Giants fan!!! | I work for farm credit but I chose to be specialized. Which means I am not your typical lender. I do capital markets, which means I buy pieces of really large loans (billion dollar transactions), I originate really large loans ($5 million plus, anything less heads to branches), and I handle industry stuff. I travel a ton, I have a portfolio that goes from true farmers to agribusiness to investment grade borrowers. I see all sorts of industries-my portfolio I think right now services over 20 different types of agriculture. I am out of the office a lot and I stay busy. I have no lag time. My portfolio got so big we hired an analyst for me and at the rate I am getting business in, we will likely need another one in a year or so.
I love how fast paced it is, I love the diversity, but I especially love the large transactions. I LOVE dealing in big money. SO MUCH FUN. It is why I do what I do.
Interesting fact, I HATE math and I am really not very good at it. I can't really do a whole lot of it in my head. lol!! BUT, I can do the calculations and I know what the numbers MEAN. And I write really well. I joke that I write thesis papers for a living. That is the important part. Plus, I am a creative thinker, and that is what really makes me good at my job. I don't really like doing true real estate loans so my borrowers typically need some sort of complex type of financing that has some funkiness to it and that is where I really sell them on working with me. That's fun.
I am a Farm Credit lifer. I 100% believe in the mission of Farm Credit and I believe I fulfill that mission. I have worked at Wells Fargo and I have worked at community banks and I would never work anywhere but Farm Credit.
Edited by sassy&tessa 2014-05-02 10:22 AM
|
|
| |
|
Elite Veteran
Posts: 838
Location: Georgia | sassy&tessa - 2014-05-02 9:25 AM
I work for farm credit but I chose to be specialized. Which means I am not your typically lender. I do capital markets, which means I buy piees of really large loans (billion dollar transactions), I originate really large loans ($5million plus, anything less heads to branches), and I handle industry stuff. I travel a ton, I have a portfolio that goes from true farmers to agribusiness to investment grade borrowers. I see all sorts of industries-my portfolio I think right now services over 20 different types of agriculture. I am out of the office a lot and I stay busy. I have no lag time. My portfolio got so big we hired an analyst for me and at the rate I am getting business in, we will likely need another one in a year or so.
I love how fast paced it is, I love the diversity, but I especially love the large transactions. I LOVE dealing in big money. SO MUCH FUN. It is why I do what I do.
Interesting fact, I HATE math and I am really not very good at it. I can't really do a whole lot of it in my head. lol!! BUT, I can do the calculations and I know what the numbers MEAN. That is the important part. Plus, I am a creative thinker, and that is what really makes me good at my job. I don't really like true real estate loans so my borrowers typically need some sort of complex type of financing that has some funkiness to it and that is where I really sell them on working with me. That's fun.
I am a Farm Credit lifer. I 100% believe in the mission of Farm Credit and I believe I fulfill that mission. I have worked at Wells Fargo and I have worked at community banks and I would never work anywhere but Farm Credit.
Wow, that sounds like such an intriguing job! I will look into that! |
|
| |
|
Dr. Ruth
Posts: 9891
Location: Blissfully happy Giants fan!!! | There isn't a lot of us out there. Most of the smaller farm credits don't even have one of me. And I think most of us fall into the job. As someone said, you really have to get hired on as an analyst and most of the time it will be a general analyst. And then you find a way to get over to capital markets. I got lucky in my career path. But I have some big opportunities for me because I have been trained to do this and I am good at it.
I am nothing like traditional lenders and that is where most people land. |
|
| |
Agri-Sales, Agri-Business, and all of the above...