INDIANAPOLIS – Work is underway on trying to create a labor pipeline for pork producers and the agriculture industry in general in Indiana.

Much of the focus is on finding ways to attract middle school and high school students by showing them the benefits of working on a farm and a path they can take to qualify for entry level positions after graduating, said Chad Martin, director of strategic outreach for the Indiana Pork Producers Association.

Indiana Pork is partnering with the Indiana Soybean Alliance on the effort that includes a recently completed study of hundreds of students, ages 13-18, to find out what would get them interested and involved in working on a farm.

Martin said the survey revealed students want internships and other opportunities for work-based learning to help better determine if employment on a farm is the career path they want to take.

He said there could be more opportunity to make a noticeable dent in the labor shortage judging from data revealing more students today are leaning toward entering the workforce after high school or pursuing a less costly form of higher education in places like a vocational school.

“This next generation of younger people are not as interested in going and pursuing a college degree and getting into debt.  If that’s the case, how are we able to attract and make them aware of the opportunities in our industry,” Martin said.

Martin said the next steps include sharing the results of the study with pork producers and farm commodity organizations, and developing programs about working in the industry for use in the schools.

Recently, Martin said a visit was paid to the Indiana Agriculture and Technical School in Carmel to give students an idea of what a typical day is like from working at a hog farm and the training needed to break into the industry.

There were also guest speakers explaining the type of entry level positions they were able to find and how they worked their way up in their careers. “We provided some exposure to the opportunities that are there,” he said.

A labor pipeline for agriculture is needed more than ever, perhaps, because farms are competing for quality help against other industries now having difficulties with labor shortages in areas like manufacturing and health care.

Martin said the strategy includes making additional farmers aware they’re also competing against other industries in attracting and retaining labor in areas such as pay and benefits.

Another message to be conveyed to students is the sort of family like atmosphere often experienced from working at a farm especially if it’s where they grew up.

“There’s a lot of fulfillment in that,” he said.

Martin said other potential strategies include reaching out more to 13-and-15-year-olds less likely to have already decided their career paths. Explaining tasks at a farm could range from working in a confinement barn one day to operating a drone or some other form of precision agriculture later in the week.

He expects the effort to be long term to try and better meet the need, but the goal is to have some early successes to create momentum. “Our hope is to start moving the needle as soon as possible,” he said.

Martin said another thing discovered from the research is a program called “Earned Indiana,” which pays one half of the salary of a high school student working on a farm under an internship. Some of those interns could very well decide to make a career out of working on a farm. 

He said Indiana Pork is now spreading word about the Indiana Chamber of Commerce program being taken advantage of already by some producers.

He said another goal is uncovering resources for labor researchers possibly didn’t know existed and making farmers aware of what they can tap into for help in filling job openings.

The effort is also aimed at filling the labor gap caused by immigration policies.

“If that is not going to be remedied, we need to find ways where we can attract labor from within local means. That’s one of our goals. What are we not doing that we should be doing to help bring in and attract labor that isn’t being built by the immigration issues,” he said.