HOLTON, Kan. — Jason Larison moves around his classroom, helping students in an agriculture business class at Holton High School use their laptops to complete a test review.

Larison acknowledges being tempted by offers to pursue more lucrative careers but says he loves his job in this town of 3,345 people.

"What I do changes every day, from things like record-keeping to building trailers to landscaping to horticulture," said Larison, who has run this school's agriculture education program for 11 years. "That fits my personality. It's the flexibility and the kids I truly enjoy."

Schools across the United States are looking for people like Larison. A persistent shortage of ag education teachers, coupled with a growing demand for such programs, has school districts searching hard for teachers.

A study done for the National Association of Agricultural Educators estimated that 1,175 new agriculture teachers were needed in the nation's schools in the fall of 2001, but only 693 new graduates were looking for teaching positions.

Tom Broyles, an assistant professor of agriculture extension and education at Virginia Tech, and Adam Kantrovich, an assistant professor at Morehead State University, are currently updating the NAAE study through 2004.

Early responses from 87 universities that graduate ag education teachers showed about 770 new teachers graduated in 2004, up from about 685 in 2001, Broyles said. Of the 770 in 2004, about 500 are employed as ag education teachers.

Roger Robinson, superintendent of the Lorraine School District in central Kansas, has been looking for an ag education teacher for the district’s two high schools since last spring.

"We could not find anyone to fill that position," Robinson said. "We beat the bushes. And we have a long-standing, tradition-rich program. ... It was very disheartening."

One of the most prominent reasons for the continuing shortage of teachers is that ag education graduates have many options other than teaching.

"Our graduates are very marketable," said Steve Harbstreit, coordinator of the Agriculture Education program at Kansas State University. "And it's like teaching in general — there are a whole lot of rules and regulations to get a license that discourages people from entering the profession."

Andy Seibel, a regional vice president of the NAAE and an FFA specialist at Virginia Tech, said the shortage is felt more in rural districts because many ag education teachers go to larger, urban districts that tend to pay better.

That was the case in the Lorraine district, Robinson said, where the last few teachers have been beginning teachers who then moved on.

"Hanging on to them is the most difficult part," Robinson said.

The shortage comes at a time when interest in ag education and ag business careers is growing. The FFA currently has 490,000 student members, an all-time high, said Harbstreit, who said some schools in Kansas and nationally have added new ag education programs.

Kansas State currently has about 85 students in its ag education program and would like to have more, he said.

"We're hitting the recruiting trail hard," Harbstreit said.