up next Chance Hersh
Chance Hersh
Modern Agribusiness Education
Growing the Future of Farming in Nebraska By Cultivating Business-Minded Students
October 2018
The landscape for crop and livestock producers has changed dramatically. Farms are growing in size and shrinking in number. Products must be marketed smartly. Technology demands an up-to-date skillset. And larger operations need more employees to carry the workload.
Students like University of Nebraska at Kearney senior Chance Hersh are prepared for the future of farming. In UNK’s agribusiness program, Hersh is learning a roadmap for navigating today’s farm economy, opening up more employment opportunities after graduation.
UNK’s agribusiness program has a job placement rate of nearly 100 percent.
Before putting agricultural principles to practice, UNK first shapes students into smart business owners. That means accounting, finance, marketing, ethics, and management courses. Hersh is learning to identify problems and turn them into opportunities, interact with other professionals, and develop a strong decision-maker mindset. It’s this business foundation that students need to be successful in agribusiness. Ninety percent of the program’s students also complete an internship in their time at UNK, enriching their education with real-world responsibility.
This approach to agribusiness education is paying off for newly-graduated UNK producers—and for the state. UNK’s agribusiness program has a job placement rate of nearly 100 percent. Grads land positions in agronomy, grain merchandising, agricultural sales, insurance sales and adjusting, finance, agricultural marketing, ethanol production, crop consulting and grain elevator and feedlot management. When one in four jobs in Nebraska is related to agriculture, you can’t ignore the impact a quality education from experienced faculty can have on the state’s economy.
Hersh hails from a family farm in Red Cloud, which raises cattle and grows alfalfa, corn and soybeans. Using his education, Hersh can return with the right skills for the modern farming industry—and play a role in supporting farming in Nebraska for years to come. In an industry that’s all about growth, the University of Nebraska is proud to cultivate tomorrow’s talent.
Editors Note: Hersh graduated from the University of Nebraska at Kearney.
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