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May 2007, Issue #58
Agricultural Engineering—Doing More with Less, Conserving Resources
Just 100 years ago, nearly half of the population was needed to work on farms to supply enough food for our nation. Thanks to advances in agricultural engineering and its related field of biological engineering, it now takes only 2 percent of the population to accomplish this essential task. The benefits in the United States and other developed nations go well beyond a cheap and abundant supply of food we enjoy, they include ensuring a safe supply of food, a cleaner environment, and freeing up our workforce to create abundance in other areas of our lives.
Agricultural engineers apply knowledge of engineering technology and science to agriculture and the efficient use of biological resources. In addition to creating advances in farming and agriculture, agricultural engineers apply engineering design and analysis to protecting natural resources, develop power systems to support agriculture, and provide environmental controls. They:
- help to protect natural resources by conserving water and soil resources and protect the environment from sources of pollution, including soil loss, and nutrient and chemical runoff from crop and forest lands and construction sites.
- develop machinery for farming equipment, food, and feed manufacturing.
- Design engineered-wood products and environmental control systems for buildings, housing plants, animals, microorganisms, and food production operations.
Agriculture engineering is a broad and diverse field. Agricultural engineering can select from a multitude of specialties to work in, including:
- Alternative energy—including biogas, biomass, fuel cells, liquid fuels, solar energy, and more
- Agricultural water management systems
- Aquacultural engineering—designing farm systems for raising fish and shellfish
- Biological engineering—from environmental protection to food and feed production to medicine and pharmaceuticals
- Animal housing and livestock systems
- Erosion/sediment management and control
- Farm safety and health
- Forest engineering
- Nursery and greenhouse engineering
- Irrigation management
- Waste management—reducing environmental pollution from dairy milk house waste, other animal waste, and chemical fertilizers
- Post-harvest handling of crops—crop drying/cooling and storage systems
- Sustainable agriculture
- Power systems and machinery design
- Natural resources
Among the exciting emerging fields for agricultural/biological engineers is the development of alternative fuels and nanotechnology. In addition to breakthrough discoveries on alternative fuels, agriculture engineers are working to develop and apply nanoscale engineering principles to the creation of new renewable and sustainable materials, coatings, and devices based on the structure of wood fiber—cellulose.
A large percentage of agricultural engineers work in academia or for government agencies such as the U.S. Department of Agriculture or state agricultural extension services. Others work in production, sales, management, research and development, or applied science. The U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics reports that the growing interest in worldwide standardization of agricultural equipment should result in increased employment of agricultural engineers. Job opportunities also should result from the need to feed a growing population, to develop more efficient agricultural production, and to conserve resources.
Related links:
The American Society of Agricultural and Biological Engineers
http://www.asabe.org/membership/beengin.html
Pennsylvania State University Agricultural Engineering Program
http://www.abe.psu.edu/agprospective.htm
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