Career Options (long)

I have posted on here before as far as what I am interested in doing in the future and have received some pretty insightful and thoughtful advice so I am going to throw some ideas out there again.

Right now I am a double major and am thinking about possibly triple majoring. (in four years, I am in year two) I major in Finance and Management.

For those that do not know, I plan on farming anywhere from 50-200 acres in the next 10 years with old tractors and equipment. It is something I truly enjoy doing as a hobby and not as something I would want to do for a living. I want to run old tractors and equipment and not have the high payments and stress that the BTO's have. (big time operators) I realized this after working for a big time operator. He just didn't look like he was in it because he liked doing it. He even said he would love for one of his sons to take the farm over so he wouldn't feel more stressed. He has all new JD equipment and nice trucks but the stress that comes with farming that much land is something I would not want to deal with. I'll also add that I did love working for him and the sum of things I learned about farming was immense while working for him.

Now to my question:
Besides farming 200ish acres and having 4+tractors and numerous hay and grain equipment, are there any "finance" jobs in farming? I am thinking two types of options:

Option 1:
Work as a finance guy at a big grain dealer. I know the grain dealer closest to me is huge (Deerfield Farms) and I plan on going in and asking them what kinds of jobs are available. I would only consider this field if it was competitive with the wages and benefits I could be making elsewhere with my credentials as a double major.

Option 2:
Work as a consultant and go out to farms and work out financial planning, equipment insurance, crop insurance etc with farmers. I am a people person and I have always connected well with those in the farming community.

Your thoughts and advice? Sorry about the post being so long.

You are going to find that any of the careers, that you qualify for with your education,will have a drag in the Ag sector. There are lots of people that want to work in/with agriculture. Not as many in general businesses.

Your best bet would be with either an Ag bank or Farm Credit Services. The careers in the bank/financing business don't lag as much as the ones directly involved in Ag do.

I know someone is going to come on here and tell me I am all wrong but I have four children with college degrees. All of those degrees have applications that can be related to agriculture. My kids just could not see taking a pay cut as big as 100% in the oldest case. The others where in the 50-60% range.

You are going to find a big wage drag/lag to even stay in OK. Mine did here in Iowa.

A good friend's oldest son has the exact same majors as you do. He graduated from Iowa State. He was faced with staying in Iowa and starting out at $45K or going to Chicago and starting out at $75K. He personally knows the guy that took the Iowa job. The Iowa guy is making $70K now and the guy in Chicago is making $150 now.

The sad fact it that the best money will not be in an Ag area. Just not enough jobs for the people that want to stay in the area. So the employers can pick and chose from many people.

Can you use your degree to serve farmers? Meaning in areas like insurance (property, life, casualty)or a life, investments and retirement accounts ( Edward Jones, ING, Thrivent). If you can get the CPA thing going farmers need tax people. Marketing and financial planning? You can do it in house or if you can build up a reputation you may help farmers on the business end keeping the farm and estate in order. Advanced degree? An MBA or JD might open up worlds for you if your desire is to stay rural. Look at your local county or municipal government they are a big business our county has several CPAs and finance people on staff, fair money good benefits and reasonable hours. Also municipal, town or County Clerks and treasurers (elected positions). As a previous poster said the ag credit system used to be PCA (production credit association) now Greenstone, whatever land bank in known as now. Several finance type positions in Fmha some in lending finance and rural development. Sometimes commercial banks as a branch manger will have use for your skills. Some areas have local economic development authorities often have well paid business types on staff. Our local extension office has a MBA that does economic development as part of our extension charter. Sometimes your school district will have a business manager. Yes you'll give up some money by not going to the big city but your cost of living might be lower in that housing and some other living expenses are cheaper and you seem to have a handle on the quality of life issues.

what you are saying is what I feel will be a similar situation I will face. I am looking at a current offer of 75k if I stick with my intern and that would include full benefits but it is not farm related of course...

Thanks for the advice.

I am not a fan of the whole tax route but I will heavily consider many of the options you just listed.

Thanks for the advice.

I advise 70 undergrad students. SCSU in Technology Management. My advice is to get the double major done and find a job that provides opportunities to discover your interests. Agribusiness advising and financial management would be valuable for many medium to small time operators. Land prices, loans, taxes, and statistical evaluation of crops and land management could be a great combination. More than one "client" would keep you busy and help the farmers manage their profit making potential.
If you find you need a third degree, tackling it within 2 or 3 years would allow you to capitalize on your general studies investment, and common core courses with much less slippage. Being in the work force places dramatic insight into what you like, hate, enjoy, and tolerate. Jim

I have a double major in Animal Science and Ag Economics, BS degree from U of MN. My main interest shifted from AnSci to Finance by the time I finished my degree, I interviewed in Finance, but I never worked in either......I talked to bankers and started farming full-time, because that was my main interest and ultimate goal. I passed up jobs because they weren't in an area I wanted to farm in. (ie- sand vs clay soil). If you go into the ag sector, you will be earning less than if you stay in the urban sector. Just like my son who is a diesel tech- ag jobs pay about 2/3 of what the commercial side does. ($20 tk mech, 14 for JD tech, starting) I don't think a double or triple major is going to command more salary....it just opens a few more doors as to what you qualify for.

I misplaced my reply, it was intended to be a direct response, not a commentary on your input which is good. Jim

(quoted from post at 20:05:49 10/27/12) You are going to find that any of the careers, that you qualify for with your education,will have a drag in the Ag sector. There are lots of people that want to work in/with agriculture. Not as many in general businesses.

Your best bet would be with either an Ag bank or Farm Credit Services. The careers in the bank/financing business don't lag as much as the ones directly involved in Ag do.

I know someone is going to come on here and tell me I am all wrong but I have four children with college degrees. All of those degrees have applications that can be related to agriculture. My kids just could not see taking a pay cut as big as 100% in the oldest case. The others where in the 50-60% range.

You are going to find a big wage drag/lag to even stay in OK. Mine did here in Iowa.

A good friend's oldest son has the exact same majors as you do. He graduated from Iowa State. He was faced with staying in Iowa and starting out at $45K or going to Chicago and starting out at $75K. He personally knows the guy that took the Iowa job. The Iowa guy is making $70K now and the guy in Chicago is making $150 now.

The sad fact it that the best money will not be in an Ag area. Just not enough jobs for the people that want to stay in the area. So the employers can pick and chose from many people.

Click to expand...

JD don't be too impressed with a 150K job in Chicago. The cost of living there for decent places to live and such that 150 there could be like 75 someplace else. My son was offered a job in Chicago at twice the pay he's getting in Fargo so he went down to look around. For an Apt in the same kind of area he's in now rent was about 3500 a month for the same type area and quality of apt he has in Fargo for 1 K a month. Lot of extra cost there too that he was telling me about like insurance is way higher and so on.

In fact his sister in law was visiting and started figuring just how much her and her husband spend to live in Chicago and found that switching jobs and moving to Fargo will leave them with more spendable income even though they will make less. She's the bread winner and he's a stay at home dad.

Rick

I took a different route: I majored in Ag Engr, and acquired minors in Journalism and Ag Economics, which gave me a wide base of qualifications. I used both of my minors extensively throughout my career; I was able to use both minors to my advantage.

I've know people with double majors, but both were a little too narrow in scope. Daughter graduated and went to work in her major; later she acquired a new major and went to work in that field and is much more satisfied with the new job. Although she complained yesterday that she is working from 6:30 a.m to 9:00 p.m. some days because now she is the boss.

No one can "de-educate" you. No negatives I can think of with regard to knowing several fields. That can put you a step ahead of the next guy, or at the very least, provide you with a wider perspective in whatever field you choose.

40+ years of intermittent college degree programs...3 majors in a variety of subjects. Combination of areas allowed me to excel at my career. Education is all about what you make of it.

Well one thing I'll tell you about the financial consulting/planning side of things - you might want to find somebody in your area that does that, and talk to them about it.

I'm not sure they teach you the reality of it in school, but you'll find that type of job riddled with regulation requirements.

You can't blink without getting an ok from a copmliance officer of some sort.

I think it takes the fun out of that kind of work. I love finances and accounting, anything with numbers and money - but again, in reality, you're job is to ensure you've met all the regulations and not misrepresented your products/services in anyway.

For example - for every single person you speak with during the day, you'll have to call in to a recording service and relay your exact conversation word for word, along with reasons behind the recommendations you made, all to be recorded and stored in case of a future lawsuit. ( you can't record your conversations directly).

As crazy as that sounds - it's the kind of thing that's really there, annoying you every single day, getting in the way of doing what you really want to be doing.

If you're a super organized person, and you're in with a large company doing it, it may not be so bad. But if you're trying to go it alone - FORGET IT.

Every ad you try to place has to be approved by your broker dealer - every EVERYTHING has to be approved. Every change you want to make for a client has to be accompanied by streams of forms that are redundant and excruciatingly complex.

I'd guess 80% of your time is spent covering your butt - 20% is spent doing the work you enjoy.

I'm in software development myself - not actively in this kind of work - but I did dabble in it several years ago.

Thought I'd get my series 7 - studied for it - got close to taking the test (was working closely with a broker so I COULD take the test) - but then took a larger picture look at the decision to get into that - and it was all the regulation #)(*$# that made me realize I couldn't be happy with it. I'm much too efficient oriented - I need fast progress with no bureaucracy style quagmire in the way of things. That kind of stuff drives me nuts!

Glad I didn't.

Thats an interesting opinion. I guess I will learn a lot more about it next semester because I am taking business law. I will say that with anything in business these days there is a ridiculous amount of "covering yourself" that you have to do. After financial blow outs like Enron etc its just become something that is standard procedure.

Finance by itself offers a plethora of opportunities. Finance majors from my school have had no problems whatsoever finding good jobs. Companies are always looking for people who know the ins and outs of money so their bottom line can look the way they want it to.

Something that can not be contracted out to China or India.

I think that is what I am aiming for. It gives me more options and I think it could also be a competitive advantage in the hiring process as well.

I def agree with that last sentence. It is exactly why I went to work for the big time operator. I needed to find out if it was something I wanted to do with my life.

If you're good at math and finance look into what it takes to become an actuary. People say it's a great job if you can get it.

Oldtanker: The cost of living right in Chicago is higher but not $75K higher. The friend son live an hour out of Chicago. His living cost are much more reasonable there.

The point I wanted the young lad to think about is that to stay in an AG related field will cost him in income. Plus he may not have much room to go up either in a small Ag business. He may start where he will be in ten year from now income wise.

Also he is in OK. The real good jobs are not there. He is going to really think long and hard about how he wants his life to be. Income wise and life style. It will be a trade off.

Truthfully if he is going into an AG related field the double major, and even extra education, would largely be a waste of time and effort. His degrees will not be utilized in most AG related jobs.

I didn't get into the business side when I went to school and after the fact it is a bit of a mistake (Grad Dec '11 with a bachelors in Agroecology and a minor in Soil Sciences). I would also suggest sticking with the internship for a few years as you start looking you will quickly find that most jobs want 3 years experience. In the long run 3-5 years isn't a whole lot to earn a position that you really want.

I'm guessing that since you have a couple hundred acres you want to farm, you are limited on location... You might want to see what bigger ag related companies are around. Pioneer, Deere, Case, Syngenta, and their dealers would probably all have the need for someone with your education. Not just their headquarters, but at most of their manufacturing sites, too. I work for one of them in that list and there are advantages like good pay and benefits and many times they are more understanding about needing to take a week off to do some farming (granted that might be your busy time at work, too). One disadvantage of the larger companies is they tend to be focusing on diversity lately, I don't know yoru situation, however, but an ag background should nnalert that if everything else is even.

I'm sure most on that list have internship opportunities as well. Can't go wrong doing that. It is how I got my job.

Good luck.

thanks I appreciate the advice!

olliekid,
I put both of my kids through college. Neither are working at a job they went to college for. Both have good paying jobs just because they went to college. My son is making 6 figures after 12 years on the job. Again, nothing to do with the degree he has.

I don't think my kids are the exception. Most college grads don't work in the field they majored in. Most kids start college and change majors many times. So get a degree and see where it leads you.

As for farming 200 acres, you may want to find a bankruptcy lawyer first. Most people with 200 acres share crop it. Farmers I've talked to say if you don't farm 2-3000 acres, you won't make it. They don't sell a combine for 200 acres.

What's the smallest acreage you can make a profit on?