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With the downtrend of the national economy, anyone looking for an agriculture-related job in Illinois may be out of luck.

According to an article from the Illinois Department of Employment Security, overall employment in the agricultural production industry is expected to continue to decline through 2014.

“The trend toward larger farms and more technological advances will limit the job opportunities to the point that almost all job openings will be due to the need to replace workers,” the article states. “However, employment in agribusiness and in the natural resource sector is expected to moderately increase. Many job openings will be in the landscaping and grounds maintenance sector, as the public is demanding these services to free up time for other activities and many older people are physically unable to perform these duties.”

It is expected job prospects in Illinois will be best for agricultural workers employed by nurseries and greenhouses. Employment of agricultural managers, especially in livestock, is projected to rise, but more slowly than the average for all occupations. Applicants with required education also should be able to find ample opportunities given the limited supply of people pursuing careers in this field.

Possible careers in the agricultural production industry include:

• farmers with 458 annual openings and a median salary of $44,130
• landscaping and groundskeeping workers with 1,654 annual openings and a median salary of $21,225
• sales reps for wholesale and manufacturing and technical and scientific products with 670 annual openings and a median salary of $57,486
• farmworkers and laborers with 343 annual openings and a median salary of $20,510
• first-line supervisors landscaping, lawn service and groundskeeping workers with 161 annual openings and a median salary of $35,153
• farm, ranch and other agricultural managers with 92 annual openings and a median salary of $54,727
• non-farm animal caretakers with 150 annual openings and a median salary of $18,170
• veterinarians with 80 annual openings and a median salary of $65,431
• veterinary technologists and technicians with 65 annual openings and a median salary of $25,972
• farmworkers with 30 annual openings and a median salary of $16,492
• agricultural and food service technicians with 16 annual openings and a median salary of $32,912

So while other Illinois jobs are on a strong and steady path, a career in agriculture could soon be hard to find.

This entry was posted on Tuesday, August 5th, 2008 at 8:10 am and is filed under job search. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. Both comments and pings are currently closed.