Missouri’s agtech industry brings in over $94 billion to the state. That’s according to Kristine Callis-Duehl with the Donald Danforth Plant Science Center in St. Louis. Otherwise known as agriculture technology, it uses technology in agriculture to improve yield, efficiency, and profitability.
On Tuesday, Callis-Duehl told a state House committee that Missouri is a global leader.
“We’re projecting great increases in innovation and precision agriculture, drones and geospatial ag, data driven farming, agriculture is a technical trade,” she said. “It is no longer cows and plows. It is a STEM career, and we need to be training as a STEM career.”
The technology in use includes robots, drones, and driverless tractors, while modern computers such as data analytics and GPS are used to improve planting, watering, and harvesting.
But she said that a “prominent” (unnamed) agtech equipment manufacturer cannot find enough qualified people to make repairs for Missouri farmers.
“They’re trying to do that training in-house, and yet this is a large ag company who isn’t actually versed in good training programs,” said Callis-Duehl. “So, why are we expecting them to do all the training when we can have a partnership with educational institutions?”
The key to fixing that, she said, is encouraging students to enter STEM, or Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics fields from an early age in K-12 schools.
Another issue that the industry noticed is that even though there are plenty of training programs available, most people don’t know where to find them, according to Brittany Whitley with BioSTL.
“So, that is one of the sort of my dream goals for the next few years is how do we build a clear, really accessible, shared resource that you can go in and say, ‘I’m interested in this type of job, what are the skills I need and where can I go to get those skills,’” Whitley said.
The state government could play a role through workforce development grants, tax breaks, and funding for research and development.
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