MEET THE PRO: Elijah Woodward, Agriculture Service Tech

By Arkansas Next on Friday, October 13, 2023

Jacob Slaton

Hometown: Cave City

Age: 20

Where I Trained: Arkansas State University-Beebe

What I Earned: Associate degree in agricultural technology

Job Title: Service technician

Employer: Greenway Equipment

Elijah "Eli" Woodward grew up on a farm in Cave City and always enjoyed operating the hay equipment. He wanted to pursue a career in agriculture and ditched the traditional college route. Instead, he went straight to work while earning his associate degree in agricultural technology from ASU-Beebe.

“I knew I was going into this job before I even finished high school, and I just did not feel traditional college was as useful for this field of work,” Eli said. “Instead of having a lot of years and money tied up in traditional college, I could start working sooner and be more experienced in the same time most people are out of school.”

Eli works as a service technician for Greenway Equipment. His daily duties include diagnosing different issues on John Deere equipment and keeping a good relationship with customers. His favorite thing about his job is the feeling he gets when he fixes the problem and gets the customer back in the field with their equipment running smoothly. 

“Our job isn’t just turning wrenches and fixing equipment,” Eli said. “There is a lot of using computers and newer technology.”

Eli has been able to support himself a lot sooner than most people his age. He hopes that high school students can follow their own paths and consider alternative paths for education. 

“Don’t take the advice ‘you won’t make any money without college,’” Eli said. “I’ve heard that all my life, and at the age of 20, I have less debt and make more than people with years worth of college experience.” 

WHAT DOES AN AGRICULTURE SERVICE TECH DO?

Use technology to help farmers grow crops, raise animals and manage land in smarter ways

Education Needed: 

Technical certificate or associate degree


Job Outlook

 8% projected job growth in Arkansas by 2030

You'll be great at this too if...

 A 9-to-5 office job sounds miserable

 You prefer rural towns to big cities

 You want to see how our food and crops are produced

 You’d like to solve world hunger or advance sustainable agriculture

Average agri tech salaries at Greenway:
$63,500 (18 months)
$84,000 (three years)
$102,000+ (five years or more)


WHERE TO LEARN

  • Arkansas State University-Beebe
  • Arkansas State University-Newport
  • Business and Industry Training
  • Greenway Equipment
  • University of Arkansas Community College at Batesville
  • Simmons Foods

WHERE TO WORK

  • Arkansas Department of Agriculture
  • Greenway Equipment
  • Riceland Foods
  • Simmons Foods
  • Stribling Equipment

Sources: careeronestop.org


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