Higher Learning

He also expects to see a continued emphasis on sustainability, public policy, and globalization. “Becoming more in tune to the globalization of markets, the preferences of buyers in other parts of the world, and the ins and outs of importing and exporting,” Phillips contends, “those are going to be very valuable skills.”

Concluding Thoughts
Although many of the strengths and challenges that Cook, Mitcham, Levi, and Phillips discussed are specific to their own universities, several broad trends are clear.

High rates of retirement among ag faculty, are producing instability across the discipline, including replacement of tenure-track professors with temporary faculty, and creating shifts in research and areas of expertise. This changing of the guard may also generate subtle shifts in pedagogical style.

Meanwhile, the popularity of sustainable agriculture and social justice concerns among millennials has been a boon to enrollment and is shaping both course offerings and a passionate cohort of young produce professionals prepared to bring fresh energy to the industry.

Image: Shutterstock