By Stephanie Schupska
University of
Georgia

Two years ago, one University of Georgia poultry student
decided to see how many job offers he could get. He still holds
the record at eight.

The average UGA College of Agricultural and Environmental
Sciences’ poultry science graduate can expect two to six job
offers as they close in on graduation. And they get to skip the
typical three-month anxiety attack that comes with a post-
graduation job hunt.

While students in other majors may have to hit the pavement a
little harder to find their first jobs, the poultry science
department “can’t graduate enough students for the industry,”
said department head Mike Lacy.

The supply and demand problem stems from the increased
consumption of poultry — and the decreased interest in
agricultural-related college majors.

“More and more poultry is consumed each year,” Lacy said. “It’s
convenient, it’s a high quality product, and it has good health
benefits. But there’s been a drop in the number of people
interested in agriculture in general. We don’t have as many
people who are farmers, students whose parents are farmers.”

As the worldwide demand for poultry grows, so does Georgia’s
poultry industry, which is the state’s top farm commodity. In
2005, broilers alone provided more than 40 percent of the
state’s agricultural income.

“It’s just a huge industry here,” said Gene Pesti, a CAES
professor of poultry science and animal nutrition. “There are
so many jobs for our graduates — good jobs. And the industry
is still growing.”

Industry officials are concerned that with the shortage of
poultry science graduates, there will also be a shortage of
adequate leadership in the poultry industry in coming years.

“I know from talking to industry colleagues that they believe
that future leaders in the industry will need to have four-year
degrees, be well-trained, sharp, bright and aggressive,” Lacy
said. “The U.S. has historically led the world in innovations
in poultry production. If we don’t have more graduates go into
those jobs, I think poultry innovations in the United States
will not be able to keep pace in the future.”

“We have big exports, lots of money coming into the state,”
Pesti said. “It’s not uncommon at all for the breast meat we
produce to be consumed in Minnesota, the legs to be eaten in
Russia and the feet to be shipped to Hong Kong and China.”

It’s not uncommon for UGA graduates to be shipped to those
places either.

“Poultry is pretty much accepted as a good, desirable food
worldwide, regardless of cultural differences,” Lacy
said. “It’s a global food product. There’s a demand for our
students in the state of Georgia, the U.S. and internationally.
We’ve sent graduates to virtually every continent. If you want
to see the world, you can do it without having to join the
Navy.”

The poultry science department, which offers majors in poultry
science and avian biology, doesn’t “train people to be chicken
farmers,” he said. “We train live production specialists,
processing plant managers, breeding program supervisors,
pharmaceutical researchers, vaccine producers, salespeople,
quality control specialists, research assistants and
technicians for the USDA.”

Even with an average starting salary of $35,000 and potential
for rapid advancement, there aren’t enough students to fill
poultry science-related jobs. Currently, 23 UGA students hold
seats as poultry science majors. Avian biology has 17. About
300 students nationwide are studying to be poultry scientists,
and only six universities – UGA, Arkansas, Auburn, Mississippi
State, North Carolina State and Texas A&M – still offer a
poultry science degree. There used to be 40 schools with such
programs.

“There are jobs now that seem to be the hot jobs – journalism,
business, law, medicine,” Lacy said. “Somehow we’ve got to get
poultry science into that hot job category. It’s a great field
to be in if you’re interested in biology and animals and want
to do something that will benefit people.”