Agriculture as a Career

**Alanna Kmicikewycz**

Having attended high school in the heart of Chicago, images of
skyscrapers, crowded buses, polluted streets, and masses of people
immediately come to mind whenever I reflect back to those days. I never
imagined that a city dweller, like me, would pursue a career in
agriculture until my summer service project in Appalachia, Kentucky.
During that summer, I heard countless stories form individuals who lived
in dire poverty, met with severely malnourished children, and witnessed
families pinning away for a better life they believed they would never
have. I began to wonder how people living in one of the world's
wealthiest countries could be starving. There had to be a way to
optimize food production in a cost effective way. My experiences that
summer made me consider the meaning of agriculture as a career and the
potential to feed our own starving population through the protection and
safe handling of animals and crops.

As an animal science major at the College of agricultural, Consumer and
Environmental Sciences at the University of Illinois, I have discovered
that it is important to draw on all aspects of agriculture in order to
truly understand how food production works in the Unites States. To
further develop my knowledge of crop growth and production, I worked on
several con breeding genetic projects through the University's
Department of Crop sciences during the summer after my freshman year. I
chose to be a part of these research projects because I wanted to find
out how genetically modified crops could potentially feed large
populations and even impact animal nutrition.

This research experience later developed into a drive for learning more
about food production through animal management. To better gain an
understanding of agriculture on a global scale, I had the opportunity to
take part in a study abroad program funded by the United States
Department of Agriculture to Tjele, Denmark this past summer. I worked
at the Danish Cattle Research Center studying ruminant nutrition and its
implications on milk consumption. Studying abroad not only enriched my
life both personally and academically, it also taught me how different
agricultural systems work and the impact animal nutrition have on human
health. Through studies on the effects of fatty acids in the liver of
dairy cattle, the Danes have discovered ways to prevent disease in dairy
cattle. Disease prevention in dairy cattle has helped to optimize milk
production for human consumption and has ultimately improved the way
consumers view their food.

I believe that the health and well being of consumers should be a high
priority of an agricultural worker. I am currently working on a research
project concerning the nutrition of dairy cattle in early lactation. The
long-term goal of this research is to improve feeding practices so that
the nutritional requirements of animals can be met in a cost effective
way. Improving the feeding practices and nutritional requirements for
cattle will lead to ways that farmers can, maximize the efficiency and
nutritional quality of milk and meat production in cattle. These
implications are important for creating a cheaper and more nutritious
diet for humans.

Finding ways to optimize growth in crops and animals will enable us to
find a solution to end huger and malnourishment. Through research it
will be possible to sustain animal health and crop production in order
to improve the lives of humans around the world. A career in agriculture
would allow me to integrate my ideas about animal health to improve what
is fed to consumers. Working for the USDA, specifically the ARS or
APHIS, would give me the opportunity to explore the possibilities of
improving human health through animals, which is an ultimate goal and
dream that I would like to pursue after graduating college.