Young commodities trader leans on farm experienceYoung commodities trader leans on farm experience

According to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, Hispanic workers make up 27.5% of total workers in agriculture, forestry, fishing and hunting.

Broken down further, 34% of workers in crop production identify as Hispanic, while 19.3% of animal production workers also identify as Hispanic.

There is no doubt that Hispanic workers make up a large portion of the agricultural workforce. One of those young workers is Alfredo Resindiz Rojo of Clifton Springs, N.Y., who decided to follow in his father’s footsteps to pursue a career in agriculture.

He wasn’t raised on a farm, but Alfredo started hanging out with his father on the farm he worked at, Will-O-Crest Farm, when he was 8 years old. He grew a love for showing dairy cows and showed animals at local fairs throughout the state.

As a teenager, Alfredo started working on a neighboring dairy, Willow Bend, further growing his love for the business.

MAKING A DIFFERENCE: Alfredo, 23, the son of a first-generation immigrant farmworker, grew up working on dairy farms in New York state and is now working for a commodities trading firm helping farmers protect their profits.

He wanted to go to college to become a large animal veterinarian but changed his major to ag business at Cornell University. Today, Alfredo is a commodities trader for INTL FCStone in Chicago, a major commodities firm.

“It’s a different part of the industry that I’m involved in but I’m still working with farmers and producers, which I have a strong affinity for,” he says.

In this week’s Young Farmer podcast, we talk with Alfredo about growing up in the industry and how showing cows and being the son of a first-generation farmworker inspired him to stay in the business. We also talked to him about inspiring other young people to get into the business.