Exploring Careers in Agriculture – Plano Library Learns

Feeding the world’s population is a huge job and an important one! How are growing, distribution and purchasing practices changing? How does technology impact these processes? What is the role of smaller family farms and community gardens?

Careers in agriculture are vital to our future, and there are many possibilities to consider, including roles in production as well as business aspects such as distribution/transportation, sales and marketing, and more. Hear from industry experts and learn about ways you can get involved.

Collin College
Texas A&M AgriLife Extension Service
Profound Foods
D&L Farm and Home

Hear about the state of agriculture in Collin county, career and educational opportunities, high-tech local operations, and current business strategies in the industry. Register here.

Library Resources

Plano Public Library has many resources available to explore agriculture careers and learn more about agricultural principles and practices.

Databases

Find out more about different agriculture methodologies like sustainable agriculture, hydroponics, aquaculture, permaculture and more with the Science in Context-GALE database.
Wanting to find the latest research or academic articles related to agriculture? Check out the Agricola Database powered by EBSCO.
If you’re looking to explore different occupations then  LearningExpress Library offers a career assessment tool, resources about changing careers, and a collection of practice tests for college entrance exams.

Video Resources

Would you like to explore the future of food production and the problems that agriculturalists are working to solve through video? If so, check out some of these series and documentaries on the library’s streaming service, Kanopy:

Resources that Support the Business Side of Agriculture

Agriculture is more than just farming. Many agriculture careers require business acumen. Plano library offers several programs and classes to help develop business skills.

Resources for Agriculture Related Hobbies

Even if you are not thinking about entering a career in agriculture, many people find agriculture-related hobbies like gardening and maintaining their home’s landscaping fulfilling. Hobbies also provide a good path to explore agriculture with younger children.

Here are some library resources to help you explore these hobbies.

Gardening with PPL Playlist on Youtube
Gardening on the PPL Learns Blog
Check out books in our catalog about raising backyard chickens and composting

Inspiring Reads for Teens and Adults

Letters to a Young Farmer: On Food, Farming, and Our Future by Stone Barns Center for Food and Agriculture

Tractor: The Heartland Innovation, Ground-Breaking Machines, Midnight Schemes, Secret Garages and Farmyard Geniuses that Mechanized Agriculture by Lee Klancher

Resources to Inspire Young Children

Do you have some young children in your life that you’d like to inspire to learn more about how plants grow, where their food comes from and other agricultural-related topics? Here are some hands-on resources to make this exploration interesting.

STEAM KITs like the Preschool Science – Growing Things kit and the Preschool Science – Animals kit would be engaging hand-on ways to explore early agriculture and science concepts
Check out the Plano Library Learns Blog for STEAM Connections programs like the Greenhouse Effect to find interesting science activities that will appeal to elementary aged children

City of Plano Resources

The Sustainability and Environmental Education Department (SEED) has many classes and programs related to gardening, composting, and other environmental issues.

Collin College Resources

Collin College offers certification programs and an associate of applied science degree in sustainable agriculture.

Texas A&M AgriLife Extension Service- Collin County Resources

The Collin Country AgriLife Extension Service offers information about local youth agriculture programs like 4-H, as well as information and certification programs about a variety of agriculture, environmental, and natural resource topics.

Attend Exploring Agriculture Careers via Zoom on Saturday, September 18 at 2 p.m. and learn more about different career pathways and technologies that bring food from the farm to your table. Hear about the state of agriculture in Collin county, career and educational opportunities, high-tech local operations, and current business strategies in the industry. Register here.