If you love being outdoors and have a drive to better the environment, there are interesting and exciting ‘green jobs’ that you can pursue. With several categories of outdoor environmental jobs, you are sure to find your niche in this growing sector.

In the field of natural resources and conservation, rangers, wardens, and landscapers work outside in all weather conditions. They are involved primarily with land stewardship and monitoring. In addition, they work with the public to educate on topics pertaining to the land’s resources and the steps that can be taken to preserve them.

Ecology

Protect the endangered species of the world when you work in the field of Ecology. Analyse how organisms interact with their natural environment and report on the distribution of organisms in a specific area. Make a difference when you work to create and maintain thriving natural habitats.

Energy

Energy is a rapidly growing field with diverse and exciting new positions. Wind is an energy source still being evaluated so there are many positions for wind resource specialists. Out in the field, they conduct assessments, design measurement campaigns, and evaluate wind farm layouts. Similarly, hydrologists are hired to study the distribution and circulation of water and their work is done primarily through research at outdoor sites.

Construction and Engineering

There are many construction jobs that focus on the geotechnical aspects of building projects. Evaluating the earth’s subsurface, creating foundations, and monitoring the conditions at the building site are all duties that fall under this category. Geotechnical engineers and construction workers assure that the physical and chemical properties are taken into consideration before and during building.

Recycling and Waste Management
Those looking to work hands-on to better the environment can consider a job in waste and recycling. Many of the worksites are located outdoors and the jobs can include collection services, sorting and processing, and composting and landfill operations.

Farming and Animal Care

Another hands-on industry is farming. The United Kingdom is rich in farm land. Animal care, horticulture, and fencing are just a sample of the many jobs in the agricultural community.

Recreation Jobs

For individuals who are adventurous and athletically inclined, there are many outdoor recreational jobs that connect people with the environment. Those working in a wilderness park, leading a mountain climbing or river rafting expedition serve an important purpose. They are bringing others closer to nature as well as educating them on their surroundings.

Over half of the UK’s rural population work at jobs related to the farming industry. That accounts for half a million workers on the nearly 19 million hectares currently classified as agricultural land. To keep this important industry alive and economically healthy, new ways of producing crops and new uses for existing crops offer an exciting and prosperous future for farmers.

Farming jobs are vital for today’s economy for many reasons that tend to be overlooked with all the emphasis on “green” projects, revitalizing inner city areas and the upcoming Olympic Games in 2010. That is not to deny the importance of these other schemes; everything has its place and time, but the time for attention and investment in agriculture is now, before it is too late.

Farms Support Small Rural Communities

The countryside has become a tougher place to live, financially speaking, since many conveniences, such as subsidized public transport, choice of schools and easy access to commuter routes are missing or harder to obtain outside of the urban areas. For the fewer every year that stick it out in “the sticks”, local farms offer a place to buy produce of all kinds, act as a social center during seasonal celebrations, and most importantly, are the major employers in the area. If these small holders and farmers are not actively encouraged by decent financial incentives to remain in business, the next generation will not be farmers, but have to seek alternative careers, elsewhere. The result for small villages would be a gradual death, closure of local small schools and hospitals, followed by residents relocating in search of work and better services.

Small Businesses are the Root of Economic Growth

UK business statistics show the most growth, economically speaking, comes from the small to medium size businesses, which includes many farms. Those employing fewer than 250 staff have increased their business sizes and production, taken on loans to re-tool and improve all aspects of their businesses. This, in turn, creates new job, a cycle that is vital for the survival of small communities in rural areas.

History has a Habit of Repeating Itself

A hard lesson learned during WWII involved the quick cultivation of any even remotely suitable land for food crops. As food imports were halted by shipping coming under fire from enemy planes, the UK had to turn inward to supply itself with any foods that could be grown or raised at home. An army of workers recruited from many who were previously not in the general workforce produced huge amounts of food to sustain the population. Any reduction of imported foods, for whatever reason, will inevitably drive prices up and create shortages again. This could be a major problem if sufficient farming businesses no longer exist, or have cut back on production.

Growing Crops for Fuel for the Future

With the high process of petrol and heating oil, research is continuing into using crops to produce the energy needed. “Biofuels” as they are called, currently cause 30% to 40% less carbon emissions than the oil alternatives, offering a very profitable future for farmers who can use less productive land to grow the crops, since they typically need lesser soil quality than fruits or vegetables.

The Food Chain Stops Here

Farms are only the starting point for a huge industry based around food delivery and packaging. When those nice fresh vegetables arrive in a London supermarket, they have passed through many hands and helped provide jobs in all the stages in their journey. The food processing industry takes the basic raw materials and turns them into the convenience foods that help busy workers eat a good hot meal at the end of the day. Produce markets in London and other cities rely on fresh supplies coming from farms located all over the UK, as well as other EU countries. UK produce has an excellent reputation for good agricultural techniques, keeping up with recent health and safety regulations (often at a high cost) and are considered providers of superior quality produce.

Adaptability for Survival

Research into which crops will be effective in the coming year has lead to increased revenue and production for farmers. They are prepared to be more flexible in the selection of crops than ever before. Examples of this are identifying areas where markets are under supplied and converting existing fields and greenhouses to produce crops to fill these holes. Organic produce has gained popularity with consumers, and offers a good return for many farmers who have switched over some acres to grow vegetables in this way.

All the above reasons show how important farming is to the UK economy, and where it can assist in the future, by adapting and diversifying to changing needs.

Figures released by DEFRA show that average farm business income for all farm types was slightly higher in 2008/09 at £50,900 compared to £48,200 in 2007/08. This reflects firmer prices during the year for a range of commodities, particularly pigmeat, lamb and beef and to a lesser extent milk. Farmers also saw an increase in the value of their single farm payment due to a more favourable exchange rate compared to the previous year.

Of the individual farm types, specialist pig farms, grazing livestock farms and dairy farms all saw modest increases in income, whilst cereal farms, poultry farms and horticultural units saw a small decline in income.

Despite the call to “Buy British” it seems that UK supermarkets are leaving British plums to rot this year whilst stocking their shelves with imported products. Despite a bumper British harvest, supermarkets are stocking imported fruit blaming the unpredictable British weather and saying that they have to make contingency plans to import fruit in case the British harvest is poor and cannot now change these plans.

One sheep breeder is celebrating this month following the Scottish National Texel Sale in Lanark. Graham Morrison’s February-born lamb, Deveronvale Perfection, sold for 220,000gns (£231,000) smashing the previous UK and world record prices for a sheep.

One couldn’t say that the concept of vertical farming isn’t controversial, but they could say that it has serious merits that need to be considered on both sides of the issues.

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What is a vertical farm?  The basic premise, as you see in this image, is to be able to grow food in urban areas by creating tall buildings where, instead of each floor having offices, each floor is in essence its own super greenhouse, where different crops can be grown to feed people within its own community.  The idea is to not only be able to feed the community, but to protect the land that’s being damaged by over-farming and making sure that there will still be enough food for an ever growing population.

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Of course, not all designs would be the same, but this model of a design for the city of Seattle helps us to see how it would work.  It’s integrated into a city plan so that it fits in, and has areas where people can go inside to not only tend to the plants, but could actually buy their produce at the same time.

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Thinking of vertical farm in terms of super stores fits a model like this one, where the ground floor has everything a traditional supermarket would have,

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While upper levels would contain areas for growing produce.  This particular example tries to highlight how power might be created for all the energy needed to grow crops in urban areas, as the designs for vertical farming wouldn’t be able to provide natural light for all of the crops, so they’d need enhancement from artificial lighting.  It’s one of the major criticisms of trying to have vertical farms.

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As you can see from this image of what the inside of the vertical farm in Seattle might look like, not only are there people who tend to the plants, and in some cases can pick their own produce, but it’s a place of beauty and tranquility that many in urban areas have to leave the city to enjoy.

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In a city like New York, for instance, one could see a design like this in either lower or upper Manhattan, where they have dense populations and no land areas to grow their own products, making it expensive to get produce into the city.

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This is another design for the Roosevelt Island area of New York City, built not only to be productive, and not only to help generate its own energy with a combination of solar and wind power, but can also be a popular meeting place in the city, with a supermarket, restaurant, and even kind of a virtual indoor park in the middle of the city.

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This design was made for the city of Toronto, and was estimated to be able to feed around 35,000 people a year.  It would be a 58 stories high, becoming the fourth highest building in the city if made, but it’s design is still sleek enough to fit in with the culture of the city.  And,

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this gives us an idea of how the builders see different products being produced on the different levels.

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In this design for a city like Dubai, where fresh water isn’t as readily available, seawater is sued to cool the greenhouse and also create humidity, which not only helps the plants grow, but then produces more fresh water that can be used for not only the crops, but if produced in significant amounts could be used for the city’s water supply.

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The initial testing of the vertical farm system is already in place in a much different way.  One test is in El Paso, TX, where above you see how this type of farming concentrates certain types of plants close together, yet requires less water and needs almost no fertilizer for the crops to grow.

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Another real test is presently going on at Paignton Zoo in the United Kingdom, where they’re trying to cut the zoo’s overall costs by growing their own produce.  Both of the last two examples are outside, yet they still qualify as vertical farms because the idea is growing produce in limited space, not expanding space.

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Could you imagine a city like Las Vegas, which is not only landlocked but also has no true vegetation growing around it for hundreds of miles, being able to grow their own produce in a building like this one, which was designed as a prototype for them?  This design could easily capture enough sunlight, though there would still have to be modifications to keep the temperatures down, especially in summer months.

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Not all urban areas are the same around the world, however.  Vertical can still take up a lot of area, and as this image shows, it can be a planned community where everything is self contained and the farm can be a mixture of internal and external, as well as retaining certain elements of a culture.

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This was an idea for a vertical farm in Vancouver, which was drawn up in 2003.  This idea even comes with a plan for a grazing plain and a dairy farm, right in the city.  The energy for it would come from wind turbines and geothermal heat pumps.

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There are no end to the types of designs that vertical farms could be.  This is another one for Dubai, this time in the middle of the city, being powered by wind turbines and, once again, creating its own water.

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This one, the pyramid vertical farm, is a favorite of the guy who helped come up with the concept, Dickson Despommier, a professor of environmental health sciences and microbiology at Columbia University.  It’s not only a vertical farm, but a tourist attraction as well as a peaceful park of sorts.

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Something like this, a proposal that won 3rd place in an international competition, is the concept of an actual farming community right within the confines of a large city, in this instance Manhattan once again, where residents who would normally inhabit the city still live there, but share the space with farmers on alternate levels around the city.

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Even designs like this could be used, where, instead of taking over land that could be used for residential or commercial space, one could build vertical farms right into the waterways, where they would still be a popular attraction.

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If cities needed to be redesigned to fit a changing environment, a design like this one for the city of San Francisco would not only be environmentally friendly, but this one is estimated to be able to feed over 7 million people.

The world of vertical farming could offer so much to the world as it concerns food, the environment, and our living space issues, as its estimated that we could have as many as 9 billion people on the planet by 2050.  It will take a lot of planning, and a lot of energy, but if most of these buildings can be somewhat self energy sufficient, vertical farming could be viable within a relatively short period of time.

There are so many careers involved with Agriculture, unlike the common stereotype of everyone becoming a farmer with a degree in Agriculture. Farming is a big part of an agricultural degree, however there is so much more involved than meets the eye.

In Agriculture, you can get jobs within sales, management, managing accounts payable, doing scouting, or taking soil samples. The pay is generally very good in this field of work, depending on experience.

One can also become a technician in weed research, to assist with developing new ways to eliminate weeds more safely and effectively. You may also work in the field of seed and crop research, as a technician of researching the best ways to grow crops faster and more effectively.

Agricultural companies may also hire you on the basis of being a farm safety hazard inspector. Here, you will visit farms to ensure proper safety procedures are put in place, understood, and reinforced. One may also obtain work in Poultry Feed Sales, Dairy Feed Sales, Hatchery Operations Coordinator, Broiler Breeder Farm Assistant, and Broiler Breeder Farm Manager. Of course the salaries range here, but usually pay quite competitively.

Crop farming is a very popular career in the field of agriculture. Crop farming typically involves the extensive cultivation of vegetation and plants to yield feed for farm animals, food for humans, or fiber for the production of medicine or other industrial ingredients. Jobs within crop farming can involve research associates for a particular crop, such as cotton or corn, for example. Roles here may include everything from field operations, collection of data, and field scouting to repairing the necessary vehicles and farm equipment. Crop farming may also involve roles such as a testing operations manager, where you may be in charge of organizing, planting, measuring, harvesting and recording information on new experimental crop varieties and advanced breeding.

Within the dairy farming sector of Agriculture, there are also a wide variety of available roles. It isn’t like people usually assume, where all you’ll be doing is herding cattle or milking them. Roles can include animal nutrition experts, where you research and implement proper diet for cows.Within that field of animal nutrition comes sales consultants, and management jobs as well. One may also be a dairy herdsman manager, in which you will closely supervise the employees milking, herding, and caring for cattle. In this position, you will also work closely with veterinarians as you would be responsible for scheduling vaccinations, monitoring the cattle’s health, and when they get sick or injured you would be responsible for monitoring their treatments.

With a certificate or degree in agriculture you could also become a plant manager, in which you will be in charge of an entire plant which manufactures anything related to agriculture. The possibilities are endless, and as you can see, there’s so much more to do than planting and harvesting crops and milking cows!

In recent years, an increasing amount of media and consumer attention has been paid to not just what kinds of food we eat, but where the food we eat comes from and how it is produced. The result has been the soaring popularity of organic and free range foods. But what do these terms mean, what’s the difference between them, and which should you prefer?

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The organic label refers to certain production standards: restriction on the use of pesticides, insecticides, and herbicides and rejection of the routine use of antibiotics and growth hormones for livestock. In the U.S., foods must be “certified” organic which means that food producers are held to certain standards of the National Organic Program—part of the United States Department of Agriculture. Many people prefer organic foods out of health or environmental concerns because organic farms produce less potentially hazardous waste and foods are thought to be lower in pesticides and growth hormones which may impact human health.

Free range means something very different than organic. It refers to the raising of livestock in which animals are allowed to roam more freely. This often is contrasted to “factory-farming” in which animals are housed in small confined enclosures and rarely allowed to walk, run, exercise and sometimes even to lay down. Because free range refers to how livestock are treated, only meats, eggs, and milk—not fruits or vegetables—can be free range.

Consumers tend to be interested in free range foods, not just because of environmental or health benefits, but also out of concern for the humane treatment of the animals. Unfortunately there is not much oversight on this worldwise, as seen by the USDA about requirements for free range meats, dairy, and eggs. You can see here, for instance, a visual comparison between “factory-farmed” and free range chicken enclosures.

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Both the organic and free range industries are currently in high demand and consumers are likely to become even more interested in the future. Job opportunities are likely to increase in the coming decades as more farmers, meat-packers, and local food vendors will be needed to keep up with ever increasing consumer demand.

There are many different types of farms to be found in the United Kingdom, from mom and pop roadside stands to large industrial farms. Agricultural and dairy are the most important from the standpoint of resources as well as income. Here are some of the largest farms in the UK, what they produce, and how to find them.

Ireland’s Carrowreagh Farm, located near Dundonald on the outskirts of Belfast, is split into three smaller farms: Carrowreagh (the main farm), Reynolds, and Glenmoore. Spring calving and grazing of milking cows is done at Carrowreagh, autumn calving cows are held at Reynolds, and Glenmoore holds the beef cows. Each small farm has a different feeding system as well; Carrowreagh has silos, designed to be self feed, in a number of cubicle houses. For the autumn through winter seasons, Reynolds uses diet feeders, which are connected to a meal bin mounted on an RSJ; this makes refilling easier.

Rhug Estate Organic Farms, in Wales,is one of the largest farms in the country.In addition, its agricultural property has been in the hands of the same tenants for a number of years. It covers 1050 hectares, or 2,600 acres of land. Not only does it grow its own vegetables and raise its own livestock, it has a restaurant , a small grocery store, and a butcher shop on the premises. The farm “grows green”, which includes such practices as growing food for their animals, then plowing the unused crops under to provide nutrition for the soil later in the year.

The Co-operative Farms, located throughout the UK, is the largest farm in the UK. Like Rhug Estate, they also practice organic and “green” farming, using a minimum of pesticides and practicing crop rotation. They also encourage biodiversity by only trimming their hedges every couple of years (thus providing a habitat for local birds) and planting native deciduous trees.

In general, all of these farms are able to meet the needs of any client, and a couple even cater to individuals as well as companies. Contacting them is the first step; these are an excellent way to find supplies for one’s business.

We all believe that the job we do is the hardest, most stressful, difficult etc, etc.   Well I for one wouldn’t want to sit under this much bull everyday!!!!  Can any of you top that?