Agricultural Engineer

Agricultural engineers apply engineering principles and techniques to the efficient and effective production, development and evaluation of agricultural crops, livestock, fish, food and energy.

Agricultural engineers may specialize in areas such as the relationships among organisms and their environments, soil and water, structures and environments, power and machinery, electronic and computer applications, or electrical power and processing. Depending on their specialty, they may:

• design equipment and agricultural machinery
• develop plans for the design and layout of agricultural structures and utilities such as farm buildings, farm electrical systems, food or feed processing plants, waste management systems or bioenergy processes 
• design and supervise drainage, waste management, land improvements and irrigation projects
• design and supervise environmental and land reclamation projects in agriculture and other related industries
• carry out environmental studies and assessments
• develop technologies and practices to improve the sustainability of crop and livestock production
• design food and bioprocessing plants and related mechanical systems
• work with others to develop and enforce regulations
• supervise agri-food, feed or fibre processing or manufacturing plant operations.

Agricultural engineers work in offices but sometimes travel to production or processing sites, research laboratories or other locations to do field tests or study equipment and processes. Their work can be very demanding and time consuming due to the seasonal and weather-dependent nature of the industries in which they work.

Agricultural engineers need the following characteristics:

• an aptitude for mathematics, physics, chemistry, mechanics and the biological sciences
• the ability to analyze and solve problems
• a strong work ethic
• good oral and written communication skills
• strong project management skills.

They should enjoy being innovative and doing work that requires precision.

Above-average occupational growth is expected in Alberta for 2016 to 2020. Job openings are a result of employment turnover and newly created positions.

Agricultural engineering graduates usually begin working as trainees. As they gain experience, they advance to positions of greater responsibility in industry, government, universities or research institutes. Agricultural engineers in industry are employed by:

• producers, manufacturers and distributors of agricultural machinery, instruments, equipment and structures
• power and light companies
• agri-food processing firms
• firms in the energy industry
• consulting firms.

They work as:

• project managers
• designers
• researchers
• sales and service advisors
• production managers.

In government, agricultural engineers may work:

• in community education
• in applied research
• in regulatory positions
• as consultants on the development of agricultural projects relating to the construction of specially designed buildings, machinery, irrigation and drainage, waste handling and energy conservation systems.

Teaching or conducting research at the university level generally requires a doctoral (PhD) degree.

Advancement may come through assignments to more difficult or more responsible work, doing independent agricultural research, or developing new agricultural products. For those who have an interest in supervisory, administrative or management positions, work as a chief engineer or plant manager may be an option. Many engineers seeking executive positions obtain graduate training in engineering or business administration to improve their opportunities for advancement.

Agricultural engineers are part of the larger 2011 National Occupational Classification 2148: Other professional pngineers. In Alberta, 86% of people employed in this classification work in the Professional, Scientific and Technical Services (PDF) industry.

The employment outlook in this occupation will be influenced by a wide variety of factors including:

• trends and events affecting overall employment (especially in the Professional, Scientific and Technical Services industry)
• location in Alberta
• employment turnover (work opportunities generated by people leaving existing positions)
• occupational growth (work opportunities resulting from the creation of new positions that never existed before)
• size of the occupation.

Over 5,300 Albertans are employed in the Other professional engineers, n.e.c. occupational group. This group is expected to have an above-average annual growth of 1.8% from 2016 to 2020. As a result, 95 new positions are forecast to be created each year, in addition to job openings created by employment turnover. Note: As agricultural engineers form only a part of this larger occupational group, only some of these newly created positions will be for agricultural engineers.

Employment turnover is expected to increase as members of the baby boom generation retire over the next few years.

A growing number of agricultural engineers are finding employment in developing countries where their skills are needed to adapt existing technologies to local conditions.

Association of Professional Engineers and Geoscientists of Alberta (APEGA) website: www.apega.ca

Alberta Agriculture and Rural Development website: www.agric.gov.ab.ca

American Society of Agricultural and Biological Engineers (ASABE) website: www.asabe.org

Canadian Society for Bioengineering (CSBE) website: www.bioeng.ca

For more information on career planning, education and jobs, visit the Alberta Learning Information Service (ALIS) website, call the Alberta Career Information Hotline toll-free at 1-800-661-3753 or 780-422-4266 in Edmonton, or visit an Alberta Works Centre near you.