美国国家公共电台 NPR--Agriculture companies are desperate for workers

Agriculture companies are desperate for workers

Transcript¹

Many of the jobs are in cities and aimed at scientists and data engineers. Some can even be filled by people who have gone through a technical training program without a bachelor's degree.

STEVE INSKEEP, HOST:

If you want to work in agriculture but life on a farm is not for you, well, here's some news. The largest number of open positions in agriculture are in cities and in science. Kate Grumke of Harvest Public Media reports on a new crop of ag jobs.

KATE GRUMKE, BYLINE²: A parking lot with office buildings in suburban³ St. Louis is also lined with something a bit out of character - rows of huge greenhouses. This is the Donald Danforth Plant Science Center, a research institute devoted⁴ to studying plants. In a lab in one of the buildings on the campus, people are sitting at stations lined with trays of bacteria cultures. You can hear the hum of freezers and the buzz of a labeler. They're working on a bacterial⁵ product for plants used in agriculture.

NATALIE BREAKFIELD: It's almost like a probiotic for a plant.

GRUMKE: That's Natalie Breakfield, vice⁶ president for research and discovery at NewLeaf Symbiotics, a biotechnology startup. Although this is a science-heavy job, not every position here requires a Ph.D. NewLeaf has some hands-on lab positions requiring just an associate's degree or technical training program. Breakfield does have a Ph.D., but she says she came to this field in a roundabout way. She had a molecular⁷ biology degree but didn't really have any experience with plants before starting her first job as a lab technician.

BREAKFIELD: Well, I knew I liked science. I didn't really know these kind of jobs existed. And that was my first real introduction into working with plants, and then I actually just fell in love with it.

GRUMKE: While it worked out well for Breakfield, that's a key challenge for the agriculture industry - making sure people who like science know about these types of careers. Kim Kidwell sees this firsthand as an associate chancellor⁸ at the University of Illinois and a former dean of the College of Agriculture.

KIM KIDWELL: When people meet folks that work in the ag industry, they're often shocked about what they actually do for a living. And, you know, there's a lot of engineering. There's a lot of business. There's a lot of computer science. There's so many things that underpin⁹ what we do in food ag, and people just don't connect the dots.

GRUMKE: Corteva Agriscience is also feeling the demand for workers. The global chemical and seed company lists about 500 open positions on its website right now, based all over the country. Angela Latcham leads the company's North America seed production and supply chain teams and says people think they have to have an agriculture degree to work for a company like Corteva.

ANGELA LATCHAM: And that's far from the truth. We're looking for people with, you know, nontraditional backgrounds.

GRUMKE: Back in St. Louis, one program is trying to fill the worker pipeline¹⁰ by training students to work in labs. Elizabeth Boedeker runs St. Louis Community College's Center for Plant and Life Sciences. She says even without a four-year degree, her students are in high demand, and salaries for these jobs are around $45,000.

ELIZABETH BOEDEKER: You are getting some solid foundation, and there is a huge workforce¹¹ demand right now. So the odds¹² are pretty good you're going to get a job at the end.

GRUMKE: One of her students is Kasha Vanyoka (ph), who was exposed to agriculture early in Poland, where she grew up on a farm. Vanyoka has always been interested in science but has an untraditional education background and never finished her degree.

KASHA VANYOKA: But it's fine because everybody's education takes different pathways. And I think this is important to recognize that not every pathway is good for everybody.

GRUMKE: Vanyoka says now she's finally found her field, working part time at a plant science startup while finishing up her community college program. After that, she says she wants to keep doing research in microbiology, not on a farm but in the city.

For NPR News, I'm Kate Grumke.

(SOUNDBITE OF MUSIC)

INSKEEP: Harvest Public Media is a collaboration¹³ of public media newsrooms in the Midwest and Great Plains reporting on food systems, agriculture and rural issues.

1 transcript   

n.抄本，誊本，副本，肄业证书

参考例句：

• A transcript of the tapes was presented as evidence in court.一份录音带的文字本作为证据被呈交法庭。
• They wouldn't let me have a transcript of the interview.他们拒绝给我一份采访的文字整理稿。

2 byline   

n.署名；v.署名

参考例句：

• His byline was absent as well.他的署名也不见了。
• We wish to thank the author of this article which carries no byline.我们要感谢这篇文章的那位没有署名的作者。

3 suburban   

adj.城郊的，在郊区的

参考例句：

• Suburban shopping centers were springing up all over America. 效区的商业中心在美国如雨后春笋般地兴起。
• There's a lot of good things about suburban living.郊区生活是有许多优点。

4 devoted   

adj.忠诚的，忠实的，热心的，献身于...的

参考例句：

• He devoted his life to the educational cause of the motherland.他为祖国的教育事业贡献了一生。
• We devoted a lengthy and full discussion to this topic.我们对这个题目进行了长时间的充分讨论。

5 bacterial   

a.细菌的

参考例句：

• Bacterial reproduction is accelerated in weightless space. 在失重的空间，细菌繁殖加快了。
• Brain lesions can be caused by bacterial infections. 大脑损伤可能由细菌感染引起。

6 vice   

n.坏事；恶习；[pl.]台钳，老虎钳；adj.副的

参考例句：

• He guarded himself against vice.他避免染上坏习惯。
• They are sunk in the depth of vice.他们堕入了罪恶的深渊。

7 molecular   

adj.分子的；克分子的

参考例句：

• The research will provide direct insight into molecular mechanisms.这项研究将使人能够直接地了解分子的机理。
• For the pressure to become zero, molecular bombardment must cease.当压强趋近于零时，分子的碰撞就停止了。

8 chancellor   

n.(英)大臣；法官；(德、奥)总理；大学校长

参考例句：

• They submitted their reports to the Chancellor yesterday.他们昨天向财政大臣递交了报告。
• He was regarded as the most successful Chancellor of modern times.他被认为是现代最成功的财政大臣。

9 underpin   

v.加固，支撑

参考例句：

• China needs regional stability to underpin its continued economic growth.中国需要地区稳定来巩固其持续的经济增长。
• These developments are underpinned by solid progress in heavy industry.重工业的稳固发展为这些进展打下了基础。

10 pipeline   

n.管道，管线

参考例句：

• The pipeline supplies Jordan with 15 per cent of its crude oil.该管道供给约旦15%的原油。
• A single pipeline serves all the houses with water.一条单管路给所有的房子供水。

11 workforce   

n.劳动大军，劳动力

参考例句：

• A large part of the workforce is employed in agriculture.劳动人口中一大部分受雇于农业。
• A quarter of the local workforce is unemployed.本地劳动力中有四分之一失业。

12 odds   

n.让步，机率，可能性，比率；胜败优劣之别

参考例句：

• The odds are 5 to 1 that she will win.她获胜的机会是五比一。
• Do you know the odds of winning the lottery once?你知道赢得一次彩票的几率多大吗？

13 collaboration   

n.合作，协作；勾结

参考例句：

• The two companies are working in close collaboration each other.这两家公司密切合作。
• He was shot for collaboration with the enemy.他因通敌而被枪毙了。