# Agricultural Sciences Teachers, Postsecondary

US SOC code 25-1041. Markdown version of https://futurehistory.earth/timeline/25-1041

Also called: Agriculture professor, Agricultural sciences professor, Plant science professor, Agronomy professor, Crop science professor.

## In brief

In May 2025, [BLS](https://www.bls.gov/oes/special-requests/oesm25nat.zip) counted **8,920** US postsecondary agricultural sciences teachers, with median pay of **$98,700** a year. Of the BLS counts since 2003, the highest was **11,460**, in May 2005. The earliest figure here is [an estimate](https://nces.ed.gov/programs/digest/d13/tables/dt13_301.20.asp) of **250** from 1870, not measured the same way as today's count. The last full technology era for postsecondary agricultural sciences teachers: Precision agriculture platforms and remote sensing, 2005 to 2020.

## What the sources say

### Official outlook

BLS projects employment to grow 2.9% from 2025 to 2035. Source: [BLS Employment Projections 2025-35](https://data.bls.gov/projections/nationalMatrix?queryParams=25-1041&ioType=o).

### AI exposure studies

- **58.9%** of this job's tasks are exposed to large language models. Not a forecast of job losses. [Eloundou and others, 2023](https://github.com/openai/GPTs-are-GPTs/blob/main/data/occ_level.csv)

Data as of BLS OEWS May 2025; BLS Employment Projections 2025-35. BLS publishes these counts as yearly survey snapshots and cautions against reading them as a precise trend. In May 2021 BLS changed how it estimates these counts (a model-based method using three years of survey data) and moved fully to the 2018 occupation codes, so part of a change across 2021 can come from the method rather than the work.

## Agricultural Sciences Teachers, Postsecondary employment and pay by year

- On record since: 1862
- Latest US employment: 8,920 (May 2025). Source: BLS OEWS May 2025 [7]
- Latest US median pay: $98,700 (May 2025). Source: BLS OEWS May 2025 [9]
- Outlook: +2.9% by 2035. Source: BLS Employment Projections 2025-35 [22]

### All 30 years of cited US data

| Year | US employment | Annual pay (median unless marked) | Source |
| --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1870 | 250 (estimate) | n/a | Est., National Center for Education Statistics [1] |
| 1900 | 1,500 (estimate) | n/a | Est., Wikipedia / NCES [2] |
| 1920 | 3,500 (estimate) | n/a | Est., USDA NIFA / NCES [3] |
| 1950 | 7,000 (estimate) | n/a | Est., National WWII Museum / NCES [4] |
| 1970 | 11,000 (estimate) | n/a | Est., Wikipedia / NCES [5] |
| 1972 | n/a | $13,200 (estimate) | Est., American Historical Association / AAUP [8] |
| 1990 | 9,500 (estimate) | $42,000 (estimate) | Est., PMC (employment) [6]; Est., AHA Perspectives on History (pay) [8] |
| 2003 | 11,260 | $65,470 | BLS OEWS May 2003 [7] |
| 2004 | 10,230 | $65,190 | BLS OEWS May 2004 [7] |
| 2005 | 11,460 | $71,330 | BLS OEWS May 2005 [7] |
| 2006 | 10,120 | $75,140 | BLS OEWS May 2006 [7] |
| 2007 | 10,700 | $78,460 | BLS OEWS May 2007 [7] |
| 2008 | 10,000 | $74,390 | BLS OEWS May 2008 [7] |
| 2009 | 10,230 | $77,210 | BLS OEWS May 2009 [7] |
| 2010 | 10,600 | $78,370 | BLS OEWS May 2010 [7] |
| 2011 | 10,170 | $79,900 | BLS OEWS May 2011 [7] |
| 2012 | 10,500 | $80,490 | BLS OEWS May 2012 [7] |
| 2013 | 10,120 | $83,060 | BLS OEWS May 2013 [7] |
| 2014 | 9,890 | $86,260 | BLS OEWS May 2014 [7] |
| 2015 | 9,680 | $90,780 | BLS OEWS May 2015 [7] |
| 2016 | 10,340 | $91,580 | BLS OEWS May 2016 [7] |
| 2017 | 10,800 | $86,140 | BLS OEWS May 2017 [7] |
| 2018 | 10,810 | $84,640 | BLS OEWS May 2018 [7] |
| 2019 | 9,470 | $83,260 | BLS OEWS May 2019 [7] |
| 2020 | 8,520 | $90,340 | BLS OEWS May 2020 [7] |
| 2021 | 8,570 | $95,910 | BLS OEWS May 2021 [7] |
| 2022 | 8,240 | $85,860 | BLS OEWS May 2022 [7] |
| 2023 | 7,550 | $85,260 | BLS OEWS May 2023 [7] |
| 2024 | 8,700 | $86,350 | BLS OEWS May 2024 [7] |
| 2025 | 8,920 | $98,700 | BLS OEWS May 2025 [7] |

## Sources (89)

### Employment series

1. [NCES Historical Summary of Faculty in Degree-Granting Postsecondary Institutions, 1869-70 through 2011-12 (land-grant institutional context)](https://nces.ed.gov/programs/digest/d13/tables/dt13_301.20.asp), National Center for Education Statistics
2. [NCES Historical Summary of Faculty 1869-70 to 2011-12; Land-grant university Wikipedia history (106 institutions, Morrill Acts 1862 and 1890)](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Land-grant_university), Wikipedia / NCES
3. [NCES Historical Faculty Summary (1919-20 total postsecondary faculty: 48,615); Smith-Lever Act 1914 history via NIFA Cooperative Extension](https://www.nifa.usda.gov/about-nifa/what-we-do/extension/cooperative-extension-history), USDA NIFA / NCES
4. [NCES Historical Faculty Summary (1949-50 total postsecondary faculty: 246,722); GI Bill impact on higher education enrollment (National WWII Museum research starters)](https://www.nationalww2museum.org/students-teachers/student-resources/research-starters/research-starters-gi-bill), National WWII Museum / NCES
5. [NCES Historical Faculty Summary (1969-70 total postsecondary faculty approximately 450,000); Green Revolution research expansion (Wikipedia: Green Revolution)](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Green_Revolution), Wikipedia / NCES
6. [PMC: The enduring pursuit of public science at US land-grant universities (longitudinal faculty survey, 52 institutions, 1989-2015)](https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC8608486/), Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences
7. BLS OEWS, national cross-industry estimates (flat file), Bureau of Labor Statistics. Editions: [2003](https://www.bls.gov/oes/special-requests/oesm03nat.zip), [2004](https://www.bls.gov/oes/special-requests/oesm04nat.zip), [2005](https://www.bls.gov/oes/special-requests/oesm05nat.zip), [2006](https://www.bls.gov/oes/special-requests/oesm06nat.zip), [2007](https://www.bls.gov/oes/special-requests/oesm07nat.zip), [2008](https://www.bls.gov/oes/special-requests/oesm08nat.zip), [2009](https://www.bls.gov/oes/special-requests/oesm09nat.zip), [2010](https://www.bls.gov/oes/special-requests/oesm10nat.zip), [2011](https://www.bls.gov/oes/special-requests/oesm11nat.zip), [2012](https://www.bls.gov/oes/special-requests/oesm12nat.zip), [2013](https://www.bls.gov/oes/special-requests/oesm13nat.zip), [2014](https://www.bls.gov/oes/special-requests/oesm14nat.zip), [2015](https://www.bls.gov/oes/special-requests/oesm15nat.zip), [2016](https://www.bls.gov/oes/special-requests/oesm16nat.zip), [2017](https://www.bls.gov/oes/special-requests/oesm17nat.zip), [2018](https://www.bls.gov/oes/special-requests/oesm18nat.zip), [2019](https://www.bls.gov/oes/special-requests/oesm19nat.zip), [2020](https://www.bls.gov/oes/special-requests/oesm20nat.zip), [2021](https://www.bls.gov/oes/special-requests/oesm21nat.zip), [2022](https://www.bls.gov/oes/special-requests/oesm22nat.zip), [2023](https://www.bls.gov/oes/special-requests/oesm23nat.zip), [2024](https://www.bls.gov/oes/special-requests/oesm24nat.zip), [2025](https://www.bls.gov/oes/special-requests/oesm25nat.zip)

### Wage series

8. [AAUP Faculty Compensation Survey historical data (1972 salary context); AHA Perspectives on History: 1990 Faculty Salary Update (AAUP trend documentation)](https://www.historians.org/publications-and-directories/perspectives-on-history/october-1990/1990-faculty-salary-update), American Historical Association / AAUP
9. BLS OEWS, national cross-industry estimates (flat file), Bureau of Labor Statistics. Editions: [2003](https://www.bls.gov/oes/special-requests/oesm03nat.zip), [2004](https://www.bls.gov/oes/special-requests/oesm04nat.zip), [2005](https://www.bls.gov/oes/special-requests/oesm05nat.zip), [2006](https://www.bls.gov/oes/special-requests/oesm06nat.zip), [2007](https://www.bls.gov/oes/special-requests/oesm07nat.zip), [2008](https://www.bls.gov/oes/special-requests/oesm08nat.zip), [2009](https://www.bls.gov/oes/special-requests/oesm09nat.zip), [2010](https://www.bls.gov/oes/special-requests/oesm10nat.zip), [2011](https://www.bls.gov/oes/special-requests/oesm11nat.zip), [2012](https://www.bls.gov/oes/special-requests/oesm12nat.zip), [2013](https://www.bls.gov/oes/special-requests/oesm13nat.zip), [2014](https://www.bls.gov/oes/special-requests/oesm14nat.zip), [2015](https://www.bls.gov/oes/special-requests/oesm15nat.zip), [2016](https://www.bls.gov/oes/special-requests/oesm16nat.zip), [2017](https://www.bls.gov/oes/special-requests/oesm17nat.zip), [2018](https://www.bls.gov/oes/special-requests/oesm18nat.zip), [2019](https://www.bls.gov/oes/special-requests/oesm19nat.zip), [2020](https://www.bls.gov/oes/special-requests/oesm20nat.zip), [2021](https://www.bls.gov/oes/special-requests/oesm21nat.zip), [2022](https://www.bls.gov/oes/special-requests/oesm22nat.zip), [2023](https://www.bls.gov/oes/special-requests/oesm23nat.zip), [2025](https://www.bls.gov/oes/special-requests/oesm25nat.zip)
10. [BLS OEWS May 2024, national cross-industry estimates (flat file)](https://www.bls.gov/oes/special-requests/oesm24nat.zip), U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics

### Tool eras

11. [Morrill Land-Grant Acts -- Wikipedia (1862 Act established colleges focused on agriculture and mechanical arts)](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Morrill_Land-Grant_Acts), Wikipedia
12. [National Archives -- Morrill Act (1862) milestone document overview](https://www.archives.gov/milestone-documents/morrill-act), National Archives
13. [LSU AgCenter -- History of the Hatch Act of 1887 (Seaman Knapp, Iowa State, $15,000 annual funding, experiment station establishment)](https://www.lsuagcenter.com/portals/communications/publications/agmag/archive/2012/spring/history-of-the-hatch-act-of-1887), LSU AgCenter
14. [Wikipedia -- Agricultural experiment station (history and role in land-grant research system)](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Agricultural_experiment_station), Wikipedia
15. [NIFA -- Cooperative Extension History: Seaman Knapp founder, Smith-Lever Act 1914, three-tiered federal/state/county structure](https://www.nifa.usda.gov/about-nifa/what-we-do/extension/cooperative-extension-history), USDA NIFA
16. [Wikipedia -- Smith-Lever Act of 1914 (cooperative extension services, land-grant outreach mission)](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Smith%E2%80%93Lever_Act_of_1914), Wikipedia
17. [Wikipedia -- Green Revolution (1960s development of high-yield varieties, international research center network, Norman Borlaug Nobel 1970)](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Green_Revolution), Wikipedia
18. [NCES Historical Faculty Summary 1869-70 to 2011-12 (postsecondary faculty total 1969-70: approximately 450,000)](https://nces.ed.gov/programs/digest/d13/tables/dt13_301.20.asp), National Center for Education Statistics
19. [PMC: The enduring pursuit of public science at US land-grant universities (faculty survey 1989-2015: applied research focus grew from 63% to 73% as computing tools expanded research scope)](https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC8608486/), Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences
20. [Climate Corporation -- FieldView agronomic analytics platform: AI-driven yield mapping, field health imagery, and prescriptive agronomy (precision-ag teaching platform)](https://climate.com/en-us.html), Climate Corporation (Bayer)
21. [USDA NIFA -- Artificial Intelligence in Agriculture (AFRI/DSFAS program): catalyzing AI applications throughout agriculture and the food supply chain including machine learning, remote sensing, and precision technologies](https://www.nifa.usda.gov/grants/programs/data-science-food-agricultural-systems-dsfas/artificial-intelligence), USDA NIFA

### Forecasts and exposure studies

22. [BLS Employment Projections 2025-35, National Employment Matrix: 25-1041 Agricultural sciences teachers, postsecondary (2025: 10.9 thousand; 2035: 11.2 thousand; +2.9%)](https://data.bls.gov/projections/nationalMatrix?queryParams=25-1041&ioType=o), Bureau of Labor Statistics
23. [Eloundou, Manning, Mishkin & Rock (2023), "GPTs are GPTs", occupation-level exposure data occ\_level.csv (O\*NET-SOC 25-1041.00, human-rated β 0.589)](https://github.com/openai/GPTs-are-GPTs/blob/main/data/occ_level.csv), OpenAI

### Historical notes

24. [National Archives -- Morrill Act (1862) milestone document](https://www.archives.gov/milestone-documents/morrill-act), National Archives
25. [LSU AgCenter -- History of the Hatch Act of 1887 (Seaman Knapp, Iowa State, $15,000 annual funding)](https://www.lsuagcenter.com/portals/communications/publications/agmag/archive/2012/spring/history-of-the-hatch-act-of-1887), LSU AgCenter
26. [USDA -- 1890 Land-Grant Universities: 130 Years of Science, Education and Community Service (press release 2020)](https://www.usda.gov/about-usda/news/press-releases/2020/08/28/1890-land-grant-universities-celebrate-130-years-cutting-edge-science-education-and-community), USDA
27. [National WWII Museum Research Starters -- The GI Bill (nearly 6 million veterans attended college 1944-1949; 70% enrollment increase)](https://www.nationalww2museum.org/students-teachers/student-resources/research-starters/research-starters-gi-bill), National WWII Museum
28. [AHA Perspectives on History -- 1990 Faculty Salary Update (AAUP documents eight-year period of real-wage decline 1972-73 to 1980-81)](https://www.historians.org/publications-and-directories/perspectives-on-history/october-1990/1990-faculty-salary-update), American Historical Association / AAUP
29. [PMC: The enduring pursuit of public science at US land-grant universities (longitudinal survey, 52 institutions, 1989-2015)](https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC8608486/), Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences
30. [USDA NIFA -- Artificial Intelligence in Agriculture (AFRI/DSFAS program): federal investment in AI applications across agricultural systems and rural communities](https://www.nifa.usda.gov/grants/programs/data-science-food-agricultural-systems-dsfas/artificial-intelligence), USDA NIFA

### Predecessors & successors

31. [NIFA -- Cooperative Extension History: land-grant PhD training as the primary pipeline for agricultural sciences faculty since the Hatch Act era](https://www.nifa.usda.gov/about-nifa/what-we-do/extension/cooperative-extension-history), USDA NIFA
32. [USDA ARS -- History of Innovation (ARS-to-academia faculty transitions documented in land-grant partnership records)](https://scientificdiscoveries.ars.usda.gov/tellus/stories/articles/agricultural-research-service-history-innovation), USDA Agricultural Research Service
33. [PMC: The enduring pursuit of public science at land-grant universities (faculty survey 1989-2015: increasing competitive grant burden driving some faculty to industry research roles)](https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC8608486/), Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences

### Present-day analysis

- [O\*NET 30.3 — Agricultural Sciences Teachers, Postsecondary (25-1041.00)](https://www.onetonline.org/link/summary/25-1041.00), accessed 2026-05-24
- [Eloundou et al. 2024 — GPTs are GPTs (Science)](https://arxiv.org/abs/2303.10130), accessed 2026-05-24
- [BLS OES May 2023 — Agricultural Sciences Teachers, Postsecondary (25-1041): median annual wage $88,080](https://www.bls.gov/oes/2023/may/oes251041.htm), accessed 2026-05-24
- [BLS Occupational Outlook Handbook — Postsecondary Teachers (2024–2034, +7% projected growth)](https://www.bls.gov/ooh/education-training-and-library/postsecondary-teachers.htm), accessed 2026-05-24
- [Agronomy Journal — Adoption of precision agriculture AI tools and implications for agronomic education (2024)](https://acsess.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/journal/15351838), accessed 2026-05-24
- [USDA NIFA — Data Science for Food and Agricultural Systems (DSFAS): AFRI program funding AI and data science applications in agriculture and food systems](https://www.nifa.usda.gov/grants/programs/data-science-food-agricultural-systems-dsfas), accessed 2026-06-22
- [Nature Plants — Machine learning for plant phenotyping: review of deep learning in agricultural research (2025)](https://www.nature.com/nplants/?error=cookies_not_supported&code=4abf3594-f488-4277-958e-ff90cadabf1e), accessed 2026-05-24
- [Climate Corporation — FieldView agronomic analytics platform: AI-driven yield mapping, field health imagery, and prescriptive agronomy (2025)](https://climate.com/en-us.html), accessed 2026-05-24
- [BASF Digital Farming — xarvio: AI-powered crop management and protection platform, including disease risk modeling and field-specific recommendations (2025)](https://ag.xarvio.com/), accessed 2026-06-22
- [Gradescope — AI-assisted grading and answer grouping for postsecondary courses: 30–50% grading time reduction documented](https://guides.gradescope.com/hc/en-us/articles/24838908062093-AI-assisted-grading-and-answer-groups), accessed 2026-05-24
- [OpenAI — ChatGPT Edu: secure campus deployment for faculty at California State University (460,000+ users) and Indiana University (120,000 users), including agricultural colleges](https://campustechnology.com/articles/2025/02/05/california-state-university-launches-systemwide-chatgpt-edu-deployment.aspx), accessed 2026-05-24
- [Elicit — AI systematic review tool: structured literature search and PICO extraction for agricultural and plant science research (2025)](https://elicit.com/), accessed 2026-05-24
- [Scite — AI citation analysis: smart references showing whether a cited paper has been supported or contradicted by subsequent literature (2025)](https://scite.ai/), accessed 2026-05-24

How to read these figures: https://futurehistory.earth/methodology. Every figure links to its own source; gaps stay gaps.