Why Agriculture Students Are Suddenly Trending: Two Real-Life Profiles

What springs to mind when you think of agriculture students? The best university cafeterias? Drinking coffee like it’s soup? Or perhaps viral quotes like “The machinery over there is far too loud, mind turning it down?” or “I have no idea, but my strawberries are looking rather graceful”?

Over the past year, agriculture students have unexpectedly gone viral online. For some, it was agriculture students’ posts about tomatoes and watermelons that first introduced them to large-scale field farming. Others envy their closeness to the land and nature, sharing the belief that “being close to the earth broadens the mind”. Yet when it comes to careers, a different picture emerges: “Agriculture is easy to get into, but hard to get out of”, or “If you put job prospects to one side, it’s actually a rather fascinating subject.” These, too, are the honest reflections of agriculture students.

It’s that time of year again for university entrance exams and graduations. What are today’s agriculture students actually studying? What do they do day-to-day? Where do they go after graduation? And who is really suited to studying agriculture? In this episode, we’re joined by Li Yangyang, a lecturer at the Department of Plant Nutrition, College of Resources and Environmental Sciences, China Agricultural University, and Xianzi, a second-year master’s student currently stationed at the Quzhou Science and Technology Backyard, to talk through the expectations and realities of studying agriculture.

The two guests represent quite different career and life trajectories: one is an ag major by default (‘native ag student’) who stumbled into an agricultural university by chance, while the other is a cross-disciplinary student who progressed from grey- and yellow-collar jobs to a green-collar path. Between turning out over 90 tonnes of organic fertiliser through foul smells and sweltering heat, and sweet-talking a village uncle into operating the sprinkler truck… it turns out agriculture students do far more than just work the land. Their research covers soil science, meteorology, microbiology, robotics, and drones.

Welcome to this episode’s conversation. Whether you’re currently navigating your university applications or simply curious about agriculture, join us to find out what it’s really like for those working in the field. If you’re also an agriculture student working with the land, please feel free to share your own story in the comments below.

Special thanks: Thanks to Daxiao Dianbo Podcast Space (Maizidian) for providing the venue.

Guests

Li Yangyang | Associate Professor at China Agricultural University, sometimes INTJ, sometimes ENTJ. Having shifted from science to engineering and then to agriculture, they bring an interdisciplinary research perspective, with a long-standing focus on green and low-carbon approaches to agricultural resource and environmental systems.

Yang Ruoxianzi | 2024-intake postgraduate student at China Agricultural University from Yili, Xinjiang. Research focuses primarily on integrated crop-livestock systems at the county level and the functional regulation of organic fertilisers.

HOST

Li Ye | A business student who wanted to study medicine, agriculture and biology, but applied to the Central Academy of Drama in their university application and sadly missed out.

Timestamps

03:01 A girl from a small town in Xinjiang who used every ounce of luck to get into an agricultural university

04:10 From training to teach geography to teaching agriculture: good campus food is also part of the life choice.

12:01 At admissions fairs, parents and students are always asking different questions.

16:25 Are there actually more women studying agriculture? Eight girls, over a hundred tonnes of chicken manure, and the making of the “Eight Composting Fairies”.

22:32 Breeding, plant protection, AI, smart agriculture — today’s agriculture students are learning far more than just how to farm.

26:10 “You’ll eat every last kernel of the maize you grew yourself”

27:54 On composting and integrated crop-livestock systems: much of agriculture is simply learning from the land.

32:47 Downpours, muddy fields, racing the farming calendar — the real moments of growth that happen far beyond a thesis.

38:50 What is a Science and Technology Backyard? Before you can write a thesis on the land, you have to learn how to drive a three-wheeler first.

42:45 Which undergraduate degree allows you to apply for a postgraduate place at a Science and Technology Backyard? If switching to agriculture, do you need to study biology and chemistry?

44:25 Lab work, fieldwork, downpours and village meetings: a day in the life of a postgraduate agriculture student.

51:05 The maize got flooded, so I took a photo: the mud pit was deep enough to fit three of me.

57:34 Is studying agriculture tough? It is. But the skills you gain in the fields will ultimately take you into a much wider world.

65:17 Where do agriculture graduates end up? On careers, salaries, and a piece of advice from a lecturer: life has a surprisingly high margin for error. Live fully, stay genuine, and keep your kindness.

A photo of Professor Li and Xianzi (left: Li Yangyang, right: Xianzi, centre: Xianzi’s classmate An Nan)

From grey-collar to yellow-collar, then green-collar: what did Professor Li do right? Have a go yourself!

“Please generate a profile of an agriculture student” – here’s the response from Doubao.

The trike is a “lifesaver” around the Backyard, passed down through eight generations.

Days at the Backyard are long: spreading fertiliser, prepping lab equipment, training local farmers, guiding international students through composting… Every day is like opening a blind box, and you always end up with a hidden surprise.

Professor Li and the students researching fertilisers at the Quzhou Experimental Station, with a row of loaded trolleys behind them.

The finished compost, of course, goes straight back into the fields. Daily life on the maize experimental plot: everyone pitches in to help with two classmates’ experiment (top image: digging trenches with tools; bottom image: spreading fertiliser into the trenches).

The legendary “Eight Composting Fairies”, standing with their research project behind them. The future is right at their feet!

Plenty of joy in life at the Backyard.

Xianzi squatting in the flood-battered maize trial field, contemplating life.

Xianzi’s two accounts (Video Account and Douyin). Come watch an agriculture student’s daily farming life (and occasional episodes of madness).

This episode was invited by Xiaoyuzhou’s Gaokao special series. Feel free to search within the platform for 👉A University Application Guide for Ordinary Students👈, to listen to more content from the series.

Published by Foodthink