Farming really matters. It plays a vital role in everyone’s life, without it our very survival would be threatened. Today’s farms are complex businesses providing high quality, affordable food in a sustainable manner to our tables.At the heart of farming is the agricultural engineer. Farmers and growers need the support of a sophisticated engineering industry to produce the machines and equipment they need to guarantee the crops and livestock they grow reach the high quality standards they must achieve to get top market prices.
The machinery and equipment manufacturers require engineers of the highest calibre with the right skills to deal with structures, mechanisms, control systems, hydraulics and electronics as well as having an interest and appreciation of farming systems and other relevant industry sectors.
Landbased engineering also embraces environmental and conservation work, irrigation, forestry and the leisure and recreation industry. Agricultural engineers design and create new products, repair and maintain equipment. They are also involved in a wide variety of field engineering topics from dealing with challenges such as soil erosion, irrigation and drainage, protecting and processing crops and environmental control to designing electronic systems to manage conditions inside buildings used to house livestock and store crops.
As farmers understand more about the damage to the natural environment created by current farming methods they are demanding more imaginative solutions to the problems of meeting the global demand for food.
Agricultural engineers also work alongside agronomists, geneticists, microbiologists to solve and develop solutions to specific land- based concerns.
Engineers in the landbased sector can get involved in:
- Tractors and tillage machines
- Harvesting equipment
- Crop processing
- Animal welfare (handling and transport)
- Irrigation and drainage schemes
- Earth moving and other construction equipment
- Pioneer road and bridge construction
- Fish farming equipment