Employment opportunities for college graduates in agriculture and related academic fields are expected to be better over the next five years than from 2005-10, according to a report by Purdue University and the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s National Institute of Food and Agriculture.

The “Employment Opportunities for College Graduates in Food, Renewable Energy and the Environment” report estimates 54,400 jobs in agriculture-related sectors will be added in the United States annually between 2010 and 2015. In that same period, 53,500 students are expected to graduate each year from U.S. colleges of agriculture and in the life sciences, veterinary medicine, forestry and natural resources, and allied non-agricultural fields.

“Depending on their area of expertise, there should be good opportunities for graduates, with some growth in total jobs during the next five years,” said Allan Goecker, associate director of academic programs for Purdue’s College of Agriculture and one of the report’s authors.

Nearly three-fourths of the new jobs will be in business and science occupations; 15 percent in agriculture and forestry production; and 11 percent in education, communication and government services.

“In the business and management fields, occupations in sales and service continue to be the bellwether for employment opportunities,” Goecker said. “I also think we’re going to see more emphasis on people who have expertise and experience in financial planning and management and in environmental compliance.”

Other fields with above-average job growth through 2015 include food science, plant sciences, biological engineering, public practice veterinary medicine, specialty crop production, forest restoration, precision agriculture, crop management consulting, climate change analysis, distance education and natural resources conservation, Goecker said.