Ag Education Focus of FFA and Tractor Sales Up

Ag Education Focus of FFA and Tractor Sales Up

Bob Larson
Bob Larson
From the Ag Information Network, I'm Bob Larson with your Agribusiness Update.

**Ag education is changing to keep up with recent advancements.

National FFA Association CEO Mark Poeschl tells Brownfield they are working with ag educators as agriculture and technology evolves.

He says that means exposing FFA members to more science and technology uses in agribusiness to get them interested in a possible ag-related career. Poeschl says there were 235 unique career opportunities in agribusiness last year.

Now, he says there's 255 only a year later.

** U.S. tractor sales continue to improve, especially four-wheel drive tractors.

The Association of Equipment Manufacturers announced more than 92,000 tractors were sold in the first five months of 2017, 7-percent more than the same period a year ago.

For the month, sales of four-wheel drive tractors were up 26 percent.

Combine sales were down nearly 10 percent on the month, and 13 percent for the year.

**In office for nearly five months, farmers are still waiting for President Trump's administration to take steps to address the labor shortage that many producers say continues to plague the Ag sector.

A recent press release from the Labor Department that promises to crack down on abuses of worker visa programs has raised concerns of some in ag like the National Council of Agricultural Employer's Frank Gasperini who says it implies there is widespread abuse in the guestworker programs including H-2A, but the abuses are few and far between.

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