Student Spotlight: Tucker Huffine

This is a guest post by Ayah Mohamed, ARE Communications Intern.

The Agricultural Business Management (ABM) program at NC State allows students to gain necessary skills and experience that will be used in agriculture and related industry careers. ABM offers multiple education options to various types of students and focuses on business, economics, finance, law, trade, and more. Whether a student plans to be an entrepreneur, agricultural representative, manager, salesman, or unsure about future career plans, the program is designed to prepare students for obstacles and challenges they may face in the field. Students get hands-on experience, virtual learning opportunities, and a wide range of courses to choose from taught by passionate faulty members. 

The ABM program is planned to help students be well-rounded in multiple studies and gain skills that future employers find advantageous. Students can pick their course schedule and choose an education route that suits them best. The ABM program prepares students for success by advising students to choose courses that best suit their interests, providing additional learning and experience resources, education through advanced technology, encouraging collaboration and leadership, and challenging students through curriculum. Tucker Huffine, a student of the College of Agriculture and Life Sciences, accounts his successful start to his career to the ARE 455 Agribusiness Analytics and ST 307 statistics class. 

Tucker works as a Survey Statistician with the National Agricultural Statistics Service (NASS) under the USDA. He works on surveys that focus on farmers and farming companies in the Southern region of American. Tucker does not come from a farming background and says his knowledge on the industry comes from being in the ABM program. He explains that the skills and concepts taught through the program helped him achieve his spot in his company and gain a better understanding of his field and what his position implies. Some of these strengths learned include US Agriculture Policy, management, resume building, and interview etiquette. Tucker recommends that students evaluate the job that they want to pursue and work on acquiring those skills and taking classes accordingly. “I took over 15 credit hours of math and statistics classes that translated into the position I currently have, because they know I am familiar with the material that NASS uses.”

Tucker mentions his ARE 455 class and how he was challenged to learn Excel in its entirety. This covers editing, creating, running reports, analyzing, and summarizing data sets. By getting to work in groups in class, he is able to use that experience in his current position where he also works along a team and uses similar methodologies. Tucker credits his success to Dr. Treme and her class because it is project focused, looks great on resumes, a transferable skill, and brings an advantage when SAS and Excel is a job requirement.

The Agricultural Business Management program can help students achieve a variety of job types. As Tucker Huffine describes, the program allowed him to transfer his skills and be prepared for his career which ultimately landed him in a respected company. Tucker says: “With two other NC State alumni in my office, I’d say NC State is a great school to get an Agriculture Business Management degree!”