Next-Gen Ag

A timely reminder of the scope, strength, and sophistication of Minnesota’s agricultural sector surfaced this spring when Dan Voytas, a highly regarded plant geneticist at the University of Minnesota, landed an impressive gig.

Voytas, lured by the U from Iowa State University in 2008, was named chief science officer for a new subsidiary of Paris-based Cellectis S.A. The unit, Cellectis Plant Sciences, based at the University Enterprise Laboratories biotech incubator in St. Paul, will develop new seed varieties for Monsanto, DuPont, BASF, and others.

Already, Voytas has hired five researchers to push for progress on an exciting scientific frontier: applying Cellectis’ core technology of genome engineering, “meganucleases,” to boost crop yields and strengthen their resistance to disease.

Add another half dozen good jobs to the state’s ag sector, which offers many rewarding careers. A U.S. Department of Agriculture and Purdue University forecast predicts 54,400 new jobs annually over the next five years for college graduates going into the nation’s food, renewable energy, and environmental fields. The study anticipates above-average job growth in plant and food sciences, bio-engineering, specialty crop production, precision agriculture, and crop report consulting.

More Than Farming

Such opportunities underscore an argument stressed by Gene Hugoson, the Minnesota Department of Agriculture’s commissioner since 1995. Hugoson notes that agriculture accounts for much more than farming jobs. Minnesota’s farms employ 98,000, but another 260,000 work in research jobs like those at Cellectis, regulatory work, sales and management posts, specialty ad agencies or consulting firms, ethanol and food processing, and elsewhere.

Many of those jobs are in some of Minnesota’s largest companies: Cargill, General Mills, Hormel, Supervalu, C. H. Robinson, AgriBank, and the Land O’ Lakes, CHS, and American Crystal Sugar cooperatives. In one way or another, all of them arose from the state’s diverse farming base, which Hugoson compares favorably to neighboring states’ more concentrated farming: “We’ve got a little bit of everything. That helps balance our agricultural economy.”

The Minnesota Department of Agriculture serves as a hub for much of the state’s ag sector activity. Hugoson has served a longer continuous term than any of his predecessors, working for three different governors. During his tenure, the department has forged deeper ties with the ag sector’s many players in businesses, governments, schools, and nonprofits.