PDF Commonwealth of Pennsylvania

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Commonwealth of Pennsylvania Tom Wolf, Governor

Department of Agriculture Russell C. Redding, Secretary

Department of Education Pedro A. Rivera, Secretary

The Pennsylvania Department of Agriculture (PDA) and the Pennsylvania Department of Education (PDE) do not discriminate in their educational programs, activities, or employment practices, based on race, color, national origin, [sex] gender, sexual orientation, disability, age, religion, ancestry, union membership, gender identity or expression, AIDS or HIV status, or any other legally protected category. Announcement of this policy is in accordance with State Law including the Pennsylvania Human Relations Act and with Federal law, including Title VI and Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964, Title IX of the Education Amendments of 1972, Section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act of 1973, the Age Discrimination in Employment Act of 1967, and the Americans with Disabilities Act of 1990.

The following persons have been designated to handle inquiries regarding the Pennsylvania Department of Education's nondiscrimination policies:

For Inquiries Concerning Nondiscrimination in Employment: Equal Employment Opportunity Representative Bureau of Human Resources Voice Telephone: (717) 783-5446

If you have any questions about this publication or for additional copies, contact:

Pennsylvania Department of Agriculture 2301 N. Cameron Street, 2nd Floor, Harrisburg, PA 17110 Voice: (717) 787-4737 agriculture.

Pennsylvania Department of Education Bureau/Office of Career and Technical Education 333 Market Street, 11th Floor, Harrisburg, PA 17126-0333 Voice: (717) 787-5530, Fax: (717) 783-6672 education.

All Media Requests/Inquiries:

Contact the PDA or PDE Office of Press & Communications at:

PDA: (717) 787-5085

PDE: (717) 783-9802

Photos provided courtesy of the National FFA Organization

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Contents

Introduction .................................................................................................................................................. 4 Legislative Mandate and Purpose............................................................................................................. 5 Process and Activities ............................................................................................................................... 5

The Agriculture and Food Industry in Pennsylvania ..................................................................................... 5 The Broader Agriculture and Food Industry ............................................................................................. 6 Changing Attitudes about Food and Farming ........................................................................................... 7

Agriculture and Food Workforce Career Pathways ...................................................................................... 7 Agriculture Education in Pennsylvania ....................................................................................................... 10

Funding for Agriculture Education Programs ......................................................................................... 10 Supporting Career Pathways................................................................................................................... 11 K-12 Agriculture Education in Pennsylvania ........................................................................................... 11 Postsecondary Agriculture Education in Pennsylvania........................................................................... 12 Staying Ahead of Change in the Industry.................................................................................................... 13 Technology's Impact on the Agriculture and Food Industry................................................................... 13 Skill-Based Training Needs ...................................................................................................................... 14 Work-Based Learning and Apprenticeship ............................................................................................. 14 Bilingual Skill Training ............................................................................................................................. 15 Challenges for Agricultural Education......................................................................................................... 15 Recommendations ...................................................................................................................................... 17 Appendix A .................................................................................................................................................. 20 High-Demand Occupations in the Agriculture and Food Industry.......................................................... 20

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Introduction

The Pennsylvania Agriculture Education Advisory Committee ? a cross-sector group of educators, administrators, business and industry representatives, and community leaders ? provides this report to help guide agriculture education in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania. At the core of the committee's work is a shared commitment to ensuring that Pennsylvania's students have access to high-quality agriculture education programs that foster the skills necessary for success and laying the groundwork for a talented, well-prepared labor force for business and industry.

While the committee's work and this resulting report of findings and recommendations focuses on existing agriculture education programs at the secondary and postsecondary levels, there are also broader societal and educational benefits to raising the awareness of food and agriculture industry career pathways in the elementary and middle school years.

The convergence of several key industry-related factors makes this report timely and critical:

? The current and anticipated growth of the food and agriculture sectors to meet demand for products and services;

? Increased interest from the public in knowing where their food comes from and who is producing it;

? Rapid change in the industry catalyzed by enhancements in technology creates new opportunities for the commonwealth to respond to these trends and compete in the global marketplace, necessitating more employees with the necessary technical skills and competencies; and

? The recent development of strategic recommendations to guide the food and agriculture industries over the next 10 years.

The report also comes at an important moment for public education in Pennsylvania. Since Governor Tom Wolf took office in January 2015, Pennsylvania has enacted historic increases in state investments in public pre-K to postsecondary education, with additional investments driven by a newly adopted funding formula that considers both student- and district-based factors.

In addition to a focus on additional resources and a fair funding system, the Pennsylvania Department of Education (PDE) has engaged thousands of students, educators, parents and families, advocates, community leaders, and policymakers to develop more comprehensive, holistic measures of student and school performance in preparing students for postsecondary success. These efforts will culminate in the launch of the Future Ready PA Index in fall 2018, a new public-facing school report card that includes measures of K-12 career readiness, industry-recognized credentials, access to advanced coursework, chronic absenteeism, and postsecondary outcomes after high school graduation, among others.

The 2017-18 school year also marks a significant transition point as Pennsylvania and other states move to new systems of support and accountability under the federal Every Student Succeeds Act (ESSA), which replaced No Child Left Behind as the nation's main K-12 education law. Pennsylvania's ESSA Consolidated State Plan, approved by the U.S. Department of Education in January 2018, outlines the commonwealth's commitment to creating conditions that ensure all Pennsylvania learners are ready for success in school, work, and life.

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Legislative Mandate and Purpose

Act 91 of 2000 required that the Secretary of Education "shall consult, at least annually, with the Secretary of Agriculture and a cross section of the agriculture and education communities to:

? Assess the trends and needs in agriculture education; ? Consider the way any funds are used to support agricultural education; and ? Make recommendations to the Governor and the General Assembly regarding legislative or

regulatory changes to improve agricultural education pursuant to the preparation and submittal of the report required by subsection (c)."

Based on this review, the law required the Secretary of Education "to prepare and submit, in conjunction with the Department of Agriculture, an annual report to the Governor and the General Assembly on the status of agricultural education in the Commonwealth. The report shall outline agricultural education programs and achievements, highlight new initiatives, and recommend future program needs."

Process and Activities

To fulfill the intent of Act 91, Secretary of Education Pedro A. Rivera and Secretary of Agriculture Russell Redding empaneled an Agriculture Education Advisory Committee in 2016. The composition of the committee was designed to meet the specifications of the legislation for members in certain roles (e.g., farmers, representatives of other agriculture businesses, school superintendents, agriculture teachers, and members of the public knowledgeable about agriculture education). The secretaries agreed that committee members should represent the commonwealth geographically, and members serve a twoyear term (except for the first class of members where half will serve for one year and half for two years).

Committee meetings were held twice per year in April and October (in anticipation of the end of the fiscal year and the calendar year, respectively). Staff support came from both departments and the FFA Association.

The Agriculture and Food Industry in Pennsylvania

Agriculture production1 is a vital part of Pennsylvania's economic and cultural landscape, accounting for more than $135 billion in total economic activity and nearly 580,000 jobs across the commonwealth,2 and utilizing more than 7.7 million acres of the state's total land area.3 The infrastructure of the cluster provides fresh and processed food products to the more than 52.3 million people who live on the northeastern seaboard of the United States (Boston to Richmond).4 Just as importantly, the production

1 According to Agriculture Security Area definition section in Chapter 1381 of the Agricultural Area Security Law, "agricultural production" is defined as "the production for commercial purposes of crops, livestock and livestock products, including the processing or retail marketing of such crops, livestock or livestock products."

2 Economic Modeling Specialists International, Analyst, Moscow, ID, 2017 3 U.S. Department of Agriculture, Farms and Land in Farms, 2015 Summary, February 2016 4 America 2050, Northeast, northeast.html

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infrastructure provides substantial support including seed, feed, equipment, lending, and technical and support services for agriculture enterprises in the mid-Atlantic states.

While Pennsylvania's agriculture economy is primarily animal-based (dairy, poultry, and swine), the commonwealth also leads the nation in the production of agaricus mushrooms and is in the national top 10 for fruit products, particularly apples, Christmas trees, butter and certain cheeses, and maple syrup. Both dairy products and eggs topped $1 billion of cash receipts in 2015.5 Cash receipts from agriculture

commodities tallied $7.5 billion in 2015 with more than $2.04 billion in international exports of agricultural products.6

In Pennsylvania, one in 15 jobs are related to the agriculture and food industry. There are just over 59,000 farm operators with farming as their primary occupation, but there are nearly 580,000 jobs in the agriculture and food industry that are as diverse as farmers to foresters and from mechanics to agronomists and veterinarians.7 The agriculture and food workforce is very diverse with foreign-born workers comprising more than 70 percent of the production jobs in the industry.8 The Pennsylvania Department of Agriculture has identified 28 occupations that will be key growth positions for the next 10 years based on anticipated changes in the industry. Those careers alone will require more than 75,000 new and replacement workers moving forward.9

The Broader Agriculture and Food Industry

Pennsylvania agriculture extends well beyond traditional boundaries into areas that make its product inventory much more diverse and robust.

? Pennsylvania is a national leader in the production of hardwoods that are exported abroad and processed in-state for lumber and finished wood products.10 In 2015, lumber and wood products accounted for $16.1 billion of direct sales and an estimated $33.4 billion in sales through related supply and distribution chains.11

? The state's Christmas tree industry ranks fourth in the United States12 with 32,000 acres under cultivation.

5 Economic Research Service, USDA, State Fact Sheets, Pennsylvania, 2016 6 Ibid. 7 Ibid. 8 PA Department of Agriculture, Fast Facts on the Role of Foreign-Born Workers in the Hired Farmworker Labor Force, January 2017. 9 Economic Modeling Specialists International, Analyst, Moscow, ID, 2017 10 U.S. Department of Agriculture, Forest Service Forest Inventory Analysis, FIADB version 6, Population Estimates, January 2017 11 Economic Modeling Specialists International, Analyst, Moscow, ID, 2017 12 U.S. Department of Agriculture, 2014-2015 Agricultural Statistics Annual Bulletin, Pennsylvania

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? Finally, Pennsylvania is a food processing giant, not only because of the abundant agricultural product in the area, but also because of the location of Pennsylvania relative to East Coast markets. Manufactured food product sales totaled $43.7 billion in 2015, or more than $119 billion when including sales related to extended supply and distribution chains. Pennsylvania processes and packages mushrooms; snack foods; milk, ice cream, butter, and cheese; ham, hot dogs, and meat products of all kinds; eggs; and cereal. It rivals the Chicago area in the sale of confectionary goods.

Changing Attitudes about Food and Farming

While the traditional agriculture and food industry in Pennsylvania is large and well established, it is being reinvented gradually by new attitudes among consumers. Specifically, consumers are increasingly looking for food perceived as being "pure" or "clean" (i.e. processed with minimal additives, locally grown or processed, and produced equitably). The trends related to these changing attitudes about food are far-reaching and include new thinking about what is being grown, how it is being grown, how it is being processed, and how it is transported to market.

Consumers are also buying through newly-expanded food distribution channels (e.g., direct from producer, consumer-supported agriculture, farmers markets) and, in many cases, participating to one degree or another in production themselves. Organic products are some of the fastest-growing segments of the agriculture and food industry as are direct-to-consumer marketing channels. Pennsylvania is a leader in both categories.13

Amid responding to these changes in consumer attitudes, production agriculture is also undergoing a revolution in the way it uses new technology. No-till farming has changed the way crops are grown, and farmers are increasingly cognizant of the volume of water they use in production and the way in which that water is managed. Best practices in manure management have not only addressed the amount of runoff in local watersheds but, in many cases, are generating electricity for farm operations. New equipment is being guided by global positioning systems. Crops are being surveyed and planned using drones. Vertical farms using hydroponic and aquaponic systems are springing up in urban communities, offering new methods for crop production in confined spaces using year-round growing options.

Agriculture and Food Workforce Career Pathways

As the needs and practices of the agriculture industry have grown and evolved, so too has the workforce that supports those vital efforts. Members of the Pennsylvania Agriculture Education Advisory Committee noted ? and data and research have affirmed ? the continued need for education and training that allows current and future workers to meet the demands of the agriculture and food industry.

The workforce of any industry is like a pyramid with a small number of management, engineering, and scientific professionals at the top; a significant number of supervisory and technical people in the middle; and many production people at its foundation. In agriculture, professionals at the top rely on a base of knowledge and skills that are usually taught in agriculture and management institutions of higher education. The middle layer of supervisory and technicians usually acquire the knowledge and skills that they need through technical education that is provided at the high school, community college,

13 U.S. Department of Agriculture, National Agricultural Statistics Service, Pennsylvania Organic Growers Second in Nation in Sales, news release, September 22, 2017.

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and technical school levels, while production workers normally receive on-the-job training from their employers rather than through any formal education system.

Expanding opportunities for current and future workers is essential for ensuring the success of the industry. There are significant disparities in economic security and education levels between production workers and those at higher levels of the agriculture pyramid. Nearly one in five agriculture workers in Pennsylvania are undocumented immigrants,14 and many face significant challenges related to economic security and working conditions. According to data from the National Agricultural Workers Survey (201314), mean and median incomes from agricultural employment ranges from $15,000 to $17,499; only 8 percent earned more than $30,000.15 Only one in three workers are fluent in English, and the majority have not completed schooling beyond high school.16 Nearly half of farmworkers rely on some form of public assistance through programs such as Medicaid; the Women, Infant and Children program; Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program; and public health clinics.17 While this report focuses primarily on improving formal education opportunities for K-12 and postsecondary students in Pennsylvania who are preparing for careers in the industry, it is important to also consider the education and training needs of the sector's current workforce, including production and farmworkers.

14 Jeffrey S. Passel and D'Vera Cohn, "Size of U.S. Unauthorized Immigrant Workforce Stable After the Great Recession," Pew Research Center, Hispanic Trends, November 3, 2016. . 15 U.S. Department of Labor, Employment and Training Administration, Office of Policy Development and Research, Findings from the National Agricultural Workers Survey (NAWS) 2013-2014: A Demographic and Employment Profile of United States Farmworkers, December 2016. . 16 U.S. Department of Labor, Findings from the National Agricultural Workers Survey (NAWS) 2013-2014, December 2016. 17 U.S. Department of Labor, Findings from the National Agricultural Workers Survey (NAWS) 2013-2014, December 2016.

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