Employment: Agricultural and Food Scientists

Agricultural and food scientists held about 18,000 jobs in 2002. In addition, several thousand persons held agricultural science faculty positions in colleges and universities. (See the statement on teachers—postsecondary elsewhere in the Handbook.)

Almost 4 in 10 salaried agricultural and food scientists work for Federal, State, or local governments. One out of 6 worked for the Federal Government in 2002, mostly in the U.S. Department of Agriculture. Another 1 in 6 worked for State governments at State agricultural colleges or agricultural research stations. Some worked for agricultural service companies; others worked for commercial research and development laboratories, seed companies, pharmaceutical companies, wholesale distributors, and food products companies. Over 1,600 agricultural scientists were self-employed in 2002, mainly as consultants.