Managing the business aspects of a major dairy farming enterprise in western New York.

Trapping lobsters off the cold waters of Downeast Maine.

Overseeing financial management of a far-reaching logging enterprise in Northern New England.

Training future professionals in New York's agricultural and food systems industries.

We can quickly name dozens of other ag-related careers across the Northeast Farm Credit Region. The fact is, thousands of individuals who work in agriculture in this part of the country play a big role in helping the United States produce an impressive 16 percent of the world's food supply.

And all this is happening when many people think that U.S. agriculture is in decline. The fact is, opportunities abound for anyone interested in working in ag-related business.

An open mind

The key to success, according to several agricultural professionals whom F.P. magazine interviewed for this issue's feature story is to keep an open mind to career and business opportunities. Agriculture generates close to 22 million jobs in the United States, with 2 million of these jobs directly involved in production agriculture but not necessarily in a business operated by the individual's own family. In other words, you don't have to be born on a farm to thrive on one.

Production agriculture is science based, technology-driven and offers an array of possibilities beyond business ownership for people at all stages in their careers - everything from milking staff, herdspeople, equipment operators, farm managers, field crew managers, foresters, loggers and wood procurement experts to financial officers, business managers, marketing directors, co-op presidents and even corporate CEOs.

Many agricultural businesses today are large enough to utilize outside labor to help operate their businesses. In fact, according to the USDA 1997 census, more than 24,000 farms in the Northeast hire farm labor, and close to 13 percent of those hire 10 or more employees. This means that jobs are available to those outside immediate farm families (Click for details).

In addition, agriculture today also offers a wide range of off-farm career opportunities: in animal, fish and plant research, food science, banking and commodities, market analysis, sales, food processing, forest and wildlife management, retail operations … and the list goes on.

The forecast for employment in agricultural careers looks good, as long as talented job seekers keep an open mind to new possibilities, take an active role in achieving their goals and are willing to break new ground.

With this in mind, F.P. magazine interviewed four creative people who developed their own unique career paths. We asked them to comment on business and career opportunities in agriculture, based on their own experiences and observations. Two of these professionals see many opportunities in production agriculture. One trains people for leadership roles in production agriculture as well as in its service industries. And the fourth is a recent college graduate just starting his career, but already forging creative opportunities for himself - and for others - in his coastal Maine community.

Lyn Odell is not the typical dairyman, but he certainly knows his way around a farm, and enjoys talking about opportunities on dairy farms for savvy, hardworking people who want a career in agriculture, a respectable paycheck and a solid future.

Lyn is the chief operating officer for Willet Dairy, a 4,000 milking cow dairy farm in Locke, N.Y., owned by Dennis Eldred. Lyn is responsible for the business's financial management and also helps manage the field crew, participates in crop planning and oversees government regulation programs (such as those related to water quality requirements).

Willet Dairy is about as large a dairy business as you'll find in the Northeast, with three milking facilities and more than 80 employees working across its three farms. In the four years that Lyn has worked at Willet Dairy, he has seen steady growth in the farm's dairy herd - from 5,700 animals to today's 7,000.

"Ongoing growth had been part of the owner's plans for many years," Lyn says. "As the farm grew, it added more staff and leadership opportunities, including my position as a full-time financial manager. We fill our management positions with people who paid their dues by taking on various farm positions and gaining a wide range of animal care and technical skills along the way. Positions on Willet Dairy include a herd manager who floats between three lactating farms, a farm manager at each of our three farms and also a herd manager at each farm. We also employ various ranks of herdspeople, assistant herdspeople, milking staff, field crews, junior managers for the field crews and maintenance staff."

While Lyn is technically not a dairy farmer, he too paid his dues before earning his current position. His impressive career started on his parents' 50-cow dairy farm followed by various jobs at the Grand Union Supermarket and Farmers' Home Administration while Lyn was still in college. After graduating from Cornell with a degree in farm management and finance, he spent more than 23 years building lending and management experience with Farmers' Home, Agway and Farm Credit before joining the Willet Dairy management team as its chief operating officer in 1997.

Career strategies

To those considering careers in agriculture, Lyn says, "If you think that production agriculture is all hard work with very little pay, you're half right. It is hard work, but the pay may be better than you think. Well managed dairy farms - whether they milk 60 cows or 4,000 cows - can be profitable and offer rewarding job opportunities. The first rule for advancement in any business is that you have to pay your dues. Experience comes before a big paycheck or farm ownership.

"When searching for new employees at Willet Dairy, we look for skilled people who know how to handle animals and their illnesses. Possessing top technical skills is still the first steppingstone in production agriculture. That goes without saying.

"We want team players, who get along well with coworkers, and have computer skills, since all our records are computerized, including dairy, production, breeding, drug treatment, herd check, feeding and herd health records."

Lyn also promotes the importance of participation in community and agricultural organizations. "Agriculture is becoming more regulated every year, and while the most successful farmers don't cave in to every whim, they take an active role in determining their futures by sitting on town boards, county governments or soil and water conservation committees. When neighbors can put a face to an issue, they generally become more open minded and try to understand a farm's management practices."

Larry Van De Valk is the director of LEAD New York, a two-year leadership training and development program for adult professionals in New York's agriculture and food systems industry.

"Although I was not raised in production agriculture," Larry says, "my career has always been in the food and fiber industries. I worked on farms in high school and college, and graduated from both a two-year forestry school and from Cornell with a degree in agricultural engineering. I worked for Agway for several years, and later taught agricultural engineering at SUNY Cobleskill before being named director of LEAD New York last year."

"I was always drawn to agriculture," Larry says, "because it's a great place to raise a family, and it's an industry where you can feel good that what you produce is also good for society."

About LEAD New York's 230 alumni, Larry says that one-third represents various industries in production agriculture, from fruit or vegetable farmers to dairy or poultry Larry spends a quite moment with his daughter, Sarah, during a family outing. Larry Van De Valk Director of LEAD New York Program Ithaca, N.Y. farmers. The rest of the alumni represent service related industries, such as Farm Credit, Cooperative Extension, Agway, Agrilink Foods, real estate agents, crop insurance agents and feed company representatives.

Career strategies

"I advise young people looking for a future in production agriculture to keep an open mind to new opportunities. Owning a farm business is an impressive goal, but you can also be successful and happy by heading off to work on someone else's farm.

"I also suggest that you work off your family farm after college, or at least during summer vacations. New experiences in your industry, or even outside your industry, can provide better skills and a wider perspective to bring back to the farm."

For many farmers, Larry sees a trend toward adding off-farm income to their bottom lines. For example, a full-time farmer may take on a part-time job as a seed salesperson or add a new enterprise to his farm business, such as custom pesticide application; or one spouse may operate the farm and the other spouse may work off the farm.

Besides opportunities in production agriculture, Larry sees a tremendous variety of career choices for people to work in service industries, such as nutrient management planners who assist farmers with farm plans or government regulations or consultants who help farmers make fertilizer and pesticide recommendations.

Mike O'Connor may never have felled an 80-foot pine tree or owned a feller buncher, but he works with a lot of skilled people who have. Mike is the chief financial officer and treasurer for Prentiss & Carlisle, a large timberland management and consulting business in Bangor, Maine. Prentiss & Carlisle also harvests timber, builds roads and operates a sawmill and pole-peeling facility.

To keep such a diverse business operating, Prentiss & Carlisle requires a staff of 60 employees across the state of Maine, including foresters, regional foresters, wood procurement experts, forestry technicians, sawmill laborers and sawyers, truck drivers and equipment operators on the production side of the business. In addition, accountants, computer programmers, managers and executives are on the business operations side.

A Bangor area native and graduate of Husson College with an accounting degree, Mike worked for a public accounting firm and as a controller for a construction firm before joining Prentiss & Carlisle's management team in 2000. He is responsible for supervising the company's accounting functions, insurance programs, pension plans and cash management.

Mike believes that most businesses want employees with a combination of technical, analytical and people skills. "With that combination plus some training and a little time, most people can achieve their business goals.

"At Prentiss & Carlisle, we look for employees with analytical skills so they can make many of their own decisions on the job. Team-oriented employees are also vital to our success because more than half of us work with vendors and contractors. A company's reputation is very important in this part of the world. We want our clients, customers and vendors to feel they've been dealt with fairly, respectfully and politely so they will come back to do business with us again and again. Technical and computer skills are also important because most of our employees, from foresters to mill workers, use computers and computerized equipment daily."

Mike believes that one of the shortcomings in the timber industry is a lack of education about the vast number of career opportunities that it offers. "As an industry, we are just beginning to offer more flexible work schedules that will help us hold on to seasoned, talented employees who want more leisure time to enjoy family life and recreational pursuits."

Career strategies

"My number one career strategy tip is to gain computer know-how, even if you are not planning to attend college. And take every opportunity for additional training in technical, analytical and people skills."

Mike also encourages employees to participate in industry associations, to stay informed about legislative issues facing the industry and to educate the public on the industry's viewpoints. He thinks it's essential to ensure that each side has fair representation in every debate so well informed decisions can be reached.

Getting a new venture up and running takes business skills and unique personality traits, from organizational skills and technical expertise to personal drive and leadership qualities. It also takes endurance to work long hours and a willingness to wait before you see a profit.

A 2001 graduate of the University of Maine with a degree in resource agribusiness, Josh Conover already had those skills and more when he set off to organize a lobster cooperative on the island of Isleboro, off the central coast of Maine. He also saw a particular niche on his lobster-rich island.

"During my internship in the Farm Credit Fellows program I learned about cooperatives, and I read one of my professor's guidelines for agricultural cooperatives in Maine. I always wondered why Isleboro didn't take advantage of the quantity of lobster that we have off our coastline, so I worked with my fellow lobstermen on our island and we created one."

While still in college, Josh bought "Satisfaction," his lobster boat, and started tending traps. To move his dream of building a lobster cooperative forward, Josh first did his homework. He talked with lobstermen on his home island and industry experts and the manager of a fishermen's cooperative on the neighboring island of Vinalhaven.

It took some time, but a core group of eight experienced lobstermen eventually committed to sign on the dotted line for a $50,000 operating line of credit through Farm Credit of Maine and a $5,000 startup capital loan. During its first year of operation, the Spruce Island Lobster Co-op handled 120,000 pounds of lobsters and created its own distribution channels.

"We sell to a dealer in Southwest Harbor, Maine," Josh explained. "Our soft-shelled lobsters are sold to the Canadian market where they are cooked and frozen. Some lobsters are sold to pounds where they are fed for winter sale. Other lobsters are sold in New York and Boston every week."

About his new career, Josh says, "I enjoy the fishing aspects of the business and running the co-op. But I don't enjoy the headaches that come along with the co-op. I am lucky that my fellow co-op members are good calming influences, and help me work through the stresses of running a business."

Josh has already taken advantage of the Internet as a sales outlet (see box). In the future, he hopes to take advantage of another opportunity on his island by opening a retail location. "Isleboro is an extremely wealthy summer community with lots of tourists eager to take fresh lobsters back to their coastal Maine vacation homes. It is hard to believe, but our island doesn't offer that opportunity today."

A new boat, a new co-op and maybe someday a new retail location. Josh, like other agriculturists profiled on these pages, keeps an open mind regarding opportunities that abound in his niche in the Northeast agricultural community.

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