ANIMAL HUSBANDRY GRADUATES IN INDUSTRY 1

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Beverly Watson
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1 ANIMAL HUSBANDRY GRADUATES IN INDUSTRY 1 HERMAN W. SEINWERTH 2 R. HERRELL DE GRAFF of Cornell University in the September D issue of County Agent made an interesting observation: "The industry-agriculture partnership that we hear so much about is nothing new. It's just been intensified to the point where we no longer can say just who is the farm worker!" Dr. De Graft points out that despite sizable increases in population, the number of farm workers has been steadily decreasing. For example, in 1870 out of a total population of 40 million there were 8 million workers on the farms and ranches of the United States--a ratio of 1 to 5. Just 87 years later, in 1957, with an estimated total population of 170 million, there are still only 8 million workers on the farms and ranches--a ratio of about 1 to 22. There is nothing startling or new about these figures. I quote them only to emphasize the dramatic change that has occurred in this specific area which the Land Grant Colleges were designed to serve. I have chosen to reiterate this emphasis because I believe that it has a tremendous impact upon the various phases of the problems this Society is considering at this 1957 annual meeting. For, of all the implications this shift in population make-up has, probably the most significant from the standpoint of the institutions you folks represent is that fewer and fewer of the young men and women with whom you are working are returning to the environs from whence they came. In other words, more and more of them are seeking a livelihood away from the farm in industry, teaching and government situations. This means a corresponding shift in the responsibilities of the Land Grant Colleges in preparing these young men and women for the opportunities which they will seek away from the farm. Such responsibilities fall particularly heavy upon men like yourselves. The training needed to fill these jobs in industry is materially different from that required to achieve the goals and objectives which have guided our colleges and universities in the past. In fact, I wonder if the vast changes taking place in the whole agricultural scene do not justify considerable modification in these goals and objectives even for those graduates who will still be returning to the farm. I would like to explore the situation in the Meat Industry with reference to both opportunity and prerequisite training insofar as they concern x Prepared for meeting of American Society of Animal Production, Chicago, Illinois, November 29, Industrial Relations Manager, Swift & Company, Chicago, Illinois. 507

2 508 SEINWERTH men and women with an agricultural background trained in the broad field of animal husbandry. By way of introduction, the Meat Industry is the third largest in the country in plant value of products. It is the connecting link between the producer of livestock and the consumer of meat. The very nature of the Meat Industry is such that it is quite stable and somewhat "depression proof!" It is characterized by large physical volume and small profit margins. There are more than 3,000 meat packing companies and 10,000 other smaller commercial slaughterers. These companies provide jobs for upwards of 300,000 people, about 100,000 of whom are salaried. A wide variety of job opportunities exists. The American Meat Institute has accumulated for us information from other members of the industry in order to round out our own company experience in the fields of opportunity and prerequisite training for agricultural graduates. Information given here, therefore, will represent industry experience and views. All of the companies surveyed by the American Meat Institute report an intensification of activity in contacting agricultural colleges for employment prospects. It is evident that this trend will continue in the years ahead. The critical need for better educated management prospects plus the potential benefits of agricultural training have undoubtedly caused this growing attention to your graduates. Industry needs exist in all ends of the business--marketing, sales, processing, research. In our own company, of the 50 colleges and universities whose graduates we have employed in large numbers, 28 are agricultural schools. Of all the college graduates in our employ currently, nearly 25% majored in some phase of agriculture. We, like most modern farmers and ranchers, have found that with the increasing application of scientific production and management methods comes the requirement of having access to more technical knowledge. This has meant seeking men trained in livestock production and management methods, in feeding and nutrition, in plant pathology and soils, in food technology and chemistry, and last, but by no means least, in that broad field of economics and marketing. Let us consider some specific areas in which these adjustments touch on the field of employment opportunities for college graduates. 1. What starting jobs are available? Agricultural graduates have started in many ends of our business. The first job is certainly not the last one. More often it serves as an entry point and a training position for the new employee. All too often we feel that the candidate for a new job places too much importance on the character of that starting job. Often he fails to fully appreciate that in a large organization particularly, we like to get the men started in some field where we have an opening so that we can then appraise and judge

GRADUATES IN INDUSTRY 509 his abilities and performance. Only in this way can we arrive at some judgment as to his future potentials in the fields of administration and management.

3 GRADUATES IN INDUSTRY 509 his abilities and performance. Only in this way can we arrive at some judgment as to his future potentials in the fields of administration and management. There is plenty of opportunity for growth regardless of the entry point. At Swift, men who started in such diverse fields as livestock buying, accounting, by-products, sales, beef, provisions, poultry and processing are among our 50 meat processing plant managers. Generally speaking, in the Meat Industry the new employee qualifies for more responsibility on an individual basis and only his initiative and his ability earn him the right to progress. The work and the hours may be hard--and they are---l~ut the rewards will more than compensate in the long run. Then, too, so many of the young men from the agricultural schools seem to have only one interest--livestock buying. Surely they have failed to appreciate all of the other opportunities that are open to them. By way of illustration let me name some of the specific areas toward which we move men trained in the field of animal husbandry; Beef Department, Lamb Department, Veal Department, Agricultural Research, Economic and Commodity Research, Dairy and Poultry Operations, Dairy and Poultry Sales, Feed Production and Sales, General Meat Sales, Hatchery Operations, Oil Mill Production and Sales, Plant Food Production and Sales, Livestock Buying, Provision Department, Time and Motion Study, and Research--just to name a few. 2. What starting salaries can the agricultural graduate expect to receive? This, of course, is a difficult question to answer specifically because of the differences that exist in geographical location, job assignments, extent of specialization, and college degree. However, if you will permit me to generalize, I would place the starting salaries for agricultural graduates as ranging up to ~;100 per week with specialists and those with advanced degrees commanding even higher figures. 3. What are the rates of promotion Jor agricultural graduates? This, too, is diffiult to answer specifically. So much depends on the individual. Given the ability, initiative and the desire, progress may be very rapid. With the very evident need in our industry as well as in industry generally for better qualified management people; the only limiting factor to the rapidity of promotion is the individual himself. Approaching this question from another standpoint, one of our younger vice presidents became an officer in 17 years from the time he went to work. Some of our unit managers have attained appointment in as little as five years. Some of our general sales and commercial people have taken only a couple of years to reach an excellent level of earnings and performance. Again all of this is achieved on the basis of individual performance rather than through formalized group management development programs.

4 510 SEINWERTH Whenever one considers rate of promotion, he must of necessity bear in mind that all people do not progress to the same heights. In most organizations there are many people who are performing quite satisfactorily and who are quite happy and well adjusted but who have not reached the top rung of the ladder. A rather trite way of saying this is that not all of us can be chiefs--we must have some indians. 4. What are the ultimate levels to be reached by agricultural graduates? One of the companies surveyed reported that currently they have two vice presidents, six department heads, and five branch house managers all of whom have an agricultural background. In Swift & Company animal husbandry graduates occupy Such positions as president, vice president, plant manager, plant superintendent, department head and supervisor. We have long held the belief that we can raise better men than we can hire. This policy has had a very definite bearing upon the ultimate levels reached by our people as well as the average length of service. A recent survey of over 2,000 Swift & Company executives showed that 95% of these men started at the bottom of the ladder. Seventy-three percent were employed under 25 years of age. 5. How many agricultural graduates are employed in the Meat Industry? I have been unable to secure any meaningful figures in this connection, other than the general trends in the observations made earlier. However, to give you a quantitative indication in our own company we may hire as many as 300 or more college graduates annually, and a good proportion of these are from agricultural schools. Further, we know from pure observation that a high percentage of the agricultural graduates are men who have been in animal husbandry schools. Now, what are the requirements and training necessary to fill a number of the jobs which have been mentioned in the foregoing? I think it is only fair to observe that the Land Grant Colleges have by law, in past years, emphasized the production and marketing of agricultural commodities from the viewpoint of the agricultural producer. This has meant training men to produce and market the products of America's farms and ranches. As a consequence much of the teaching and curricula in the agricultural departments is still directed toward such questions as increasing productivity per acre, per animal, per man hour, etc. Likewise considerable emphasis has been given to discovering and teaching farmers the best and most efficient means of marketing their livestock and grain and feed crops. In recent years there has been a sharp acceleration in the number of your graduates who have had to seek employment in industry rather than returning to the farms and ranches. From those institutions that have been unable or have not seen fit to

GRADUATES IN INDUSTRY 511 change their curricula to more fully prepare their agricultural graduates to enter some phase of industry, we receive graduates trained in production and marketing from farm

5 GRADUATES IN INDUSTRY 511 change their curricula to more fully prepare their agricultural graduates to enter some phase of industry, we receive graduates trained in production and marketing from farm to market, but lacking a sufficient background in industrial processing and an understanding of the workings of the market place. I do not, however, want to seem entirely negative on this question. A number of institutions have already made some appropriate adjustments. I refer for example to the schools that have added meats courses to the animal husbandry curriculum. This has, in most cases, been done over the past 10 to 20 years. In addition, we know of a number of schools who have added new course work to their agricultural curriculum, which courses add materially to the students' background for an entree to an agricultural-related industry. In this connection, emphasis has been given in recent years to such fields as packaging, food technology, marketing consumer goods, and research methods. Further than this, the addition of placement bureaus and counseling service for students has played an important part in directing the undergraduate curriculum toward the desired end. It seems apparent that students will need to be guided in the appropriate areas of interests and adjustments made in their curriculum accordingly. It is quite probable that such subjects as food technology or engineering may be increasingly important to those who wish to prepare themselves for work in a number of fields related to agriculture. As processing operations become more technical and scientific in character, there will be a greater use of college trained men in processing assignments, and it is in this connection that some engineering and science courses may pay real dividends to the individuals involved. We cannot overemphasize the desirability of training to improve the ability of the individual to express himself. All too often we observe an individual who has been well trained in specific functional areas but who is grossly inadequate in expressing himself and in communicating with others. Communications is management in action. Courses such as public speaking, journalism, business writing and even grammar and spelling should not be overlooked. Extra curricular activities are also helpful in developing communications effectiveness and, in addition, usually make a real contribution in broadening the personality. The field of sales in industry is so large in itself that it would be difficult to visualize our Land Grant Colleges overlooking this basic subject. Yet we are almost continually amazed at the lack of interest in and preparation for sales work in a great many agricultural colleges and universities. Then there is the matter of specialization. Too much can be a handicap. Industry wants men who are well versed in the fundamentals of several sciences and who are imaginative and adaptable enough to apply these

512 SEINWERTH fundamentals in such fields as processing, marketing, research activities, and possibly later to management. Versatility is always of value.

6 512 SEINWERTH fundamentals in such fields as processing, marketing, research activities, and possibly later to management. Versatility is always of value. Another subject mentioned frequently by various companies in the industry as being highly desirable is agricultural economics. Several companies reported that those agricultural graduates who had majored in agricultural economics seem to have made very rapid progress. This may have been because of specific opportunities present at the time in these companies, but the observation is nonetheless an interesting one. These are a few---but major--points which seem to suggest themselves immediately in the subject under discussion. They may well deserve your amplification and consideration in the problem of preparing the animal husbandry graduate for a career in industry. Just how your curriculum can best be adjusted to provide for the needs suggested here is certainly something that is in your province to determine. I am not an expert in the field of education and would not presume to suggest how the objectives suggested here could best be attained. Summarizing, it should be considered first of all that there are wide opportunities in the Meat Industry for agricultural graduates, trained in the broad field of animal husbandry and/or meats. Certainly there will be no lack of attractive job opportunities available for those~who have the necessary training and attributes. Secondly, the educational requirements to best fit the agricultural graduate for a job in industry vary significantly from those needed to best prepare him for a job on the farm. As these needs are taken into account in adjusting the courses of study, and in counseling with the young men entering such college programs, we should see the emergence of a group of men who would be admirably prepared to make a real contribution, not only to industry but to agriculture generally. I say this because the better trained and qualified the men who are marketing America's agricultural products, the better are likely to be the results, both in industrial performance and on America's farms and ranches. Considering the very fine success we have had in utilizing agricultural graduates, we look forward to continuing our close relationship with you and the many others who are associated with you in this basic educational area of animal husbandry.

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