MY PATH TO A CAREER IN AGRICULTURE

BY: TEMPLE GRANDIN PROFESSOR DEPARTMENT OF ANIMAL SCIENCE COLORADO STATE UNIVERSITY

I came from a non-agricultural background, and I became interested in the cattle industry after I visited my Aunt’s Arizona ranch when I was a teenager. There are two basic steps that lead students into a career. The first step is exposure, and the second step is mentoring. Many people end up in their parent’s careers because they were exposed to it. The parent’s career is often a good choice, but some students are urged to become doctors or lawyers and end up hating it. Agriculture classes in high school could be a doorway to a career where many students could excel. and woodworking. One of the biggest mistakes many schools have made was removing hands-on classes such as carpentry, welding, auto mechanics, sewing, and art.

Recently, I have talked to college students who have never used tools. Two years ago, I had a student in my livestock handling class who had never used a ruler. These students have been deprived of the opportunity to get exposed to careers where they could make a really good living.

Skill Loss Is A Real Issue

There is a link between removing the hands-on classes and a loss of skills that the U.S. really needs. In my new book, Visual Thinking: The Hidden Gifts of People Who Think in Pictures, Patterns, and Abstractions, I write about skill loss. The mechanical equipment we used to invent and manufacture is now imported from ters will run everything tomorrow. They forget that computers control mechanical devices. Object visualizers are needed to create the tools that are attached to robotic arms and to repair the robots.

Europe. Almost all the new mechanical equipment for poultry and pork processing now comes from Holland. In Europe, high school students can choose either the university or the technical route. I have worked on livestock equipment design for fifty years. At large packing plants, I worked with talented technicians, welders, and machinery designers who built and designed entire packing plants. Many of these people have now retired and they are not getting replaced. They entered a successful career because they took either a single welding class or a drafting class in high school. Some of them started their own businesses and ended up selling patented mechanical equipment that is still used today. When I look back at the projects I worked on for many major meat companies, I estimate that about 20% of these talented people were either autistic, ADHD or dyslexic. They had great careers that utilized their abilities.

Object Visualizers Screened Out

There are two barriers that prevent talented object visualizers from going into careers inventing mechanical equipment. They are the lack of hands-on classes and algebra and calculus requirements for occupations that do not need higher math. Many object visualizers, including me, cannot do algebra. It is too abstract to visualize in pictures. I worked with two talented older people who also could not do algebra. They have multiple patents and sell their equipment around the world. One of them was labeled dyslexic in high school and has many autistic traits.

Many educators and policymakers are not aware that to build a large factory, two types of skills are required. They are the object visualizers like me who think in photo-realistic pictures and the more mathematically oriented university-trained engineers. The object visualizers who work in the shop build and invent complex mechanical equipment. The engineers with university degrees design the parts of the factory that require higher mathematics, such as refrigeration systems broilers, electric power, and water requirements. Today we have lots of engineers who can do all the higher math and program computers, but we have lost many of the “Clever Engineers” who work in the shop. Some policymakers and managers will often say that compu-

In my book Visual Thinking, I have a chapter on scientific research that shows that different kinds of thinking really exist. We need people who can fix things. Many food companies are having increasing difficulty finding people who can repair equipment. Older repair people are retiring. A feedlot human resources person recently told me that they cannot find people to work in the feed mill. I have also observed that the people who repair elevators, escalators, and airplanes are getting older and older. We need the people who can see how mechanical things work. This is essential for future food security and staying technologically ahead.