From the Ground Up: Pork industry seeking leaders

BRYAN, Texas (KBTX) - The pork industry is hiring and Jodi Sterle, a professor at Iowa State says there are many opportunities for graduates across a variety of disciplines.

“Kind of that, interdisciplinary, plus the soft skills,” she said, describing what the industry is looking for in a leader. “Those people are going to be in high demand. They already are.”

Just like any other industry today, the swine industry is becoming more technologically advanced each year.

“Lots and lots of technology in the swine industry today,” she said. “Anything from water meters to bin cameras that will measure the feed in your bin.”

Also like other industries, it’s hiring outside its usual job candidate pool. If you didn’t grow up on a farm, you’re not disqualified from applying.

“It used to be, we had farm kids going onto the farm,” she explained. “We all knew the acronyms and the jargon. And, today, we have so many opportunities for people who have no experience with livestock who can be very valuable to our industry. But then, there’s also like this kind of disconnect.”

Sterle says the best person for the swine industry is someone who can adapt to a team and who has great communication skills.

“As we’re looking at developing future leaders for this industry, we are looking at those soft skills we always talk about, that are hard to teach and hard to measure,” she said. “Of, you know, how do you educate and how do you communicate with others, and how do you get your message across, but listen to what people [say] who could basically be speaking a different jargon than you are?”

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