Agricultural News
Temple Grandin says Skilled Trade is Important for Today's Youth
Fri, 29 Apr 2022 13:08:51 CDT
This year's the Ag Mechanics show at the Oklahoma Youth Expo had over 150 entries. Exhibitors in the show entered various kinds of equipment manufactured on their own. Farm Director, KC Sheperd sat down with Dr. Temple Grandin and talked about why skilled trade is so important for our youth.
"I think it is very important," Grandin said.
Being in the cattle industry for 50 years, Grandin has spent most of her time working in various plants aiding in the design and layout of these facilities. Grandin's concern, she said, is many people she has worked with over the years in these construction sites are retiring, and there is no one taking their place once they leave.
"I had a gigantic wake-up call in 2019 shortly before covid," Grandin said. "I visited a poultry processing plant and two pork processing plants- state of the art, brand new factories- all of the equipment was imported from Holland."
Grandin said this all goes back to taking out skilled trades.
"We are getting into a very serious issue here with a skill loss," Grandin said.
When Grandin started to notice the lack of U.S. manufactured items being used in various buildings and plants, she began to investigate, she said. She found that fewer individuals in the U.S. are going into a skilled trade, so we are having to look outside of the U.S. for things that previously could have been built by American hands.
"A lot of people I have worked with in these shops are the 'kid that can't do algebra,'" Grandin said. "They have a lot of problems with higher math but can build just anything. Then you have your mathematical minds- your more typical engineers."
What Grandin said she has found working on construction projects is that her kind of mind builds all the clever mechanical devices, and the degree engineer will do things more along the lines of the power, water, boilers, and refrigeration.
What is happening, Grandin said, is that the people who could be learning a skilled trade do not have the chance anymore because many places require these individuals to complete higher math courses and take other classes, which aren't necessary to do the job.
"There is a tendency to think if you don't go to college, you are not smart," Grandin said.
Grandin said you can prove others wrong by showing your work and showing them what you can do, with or without a degree.
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