Ag teachers are in short supply. Many rural districts offer signing bonuses, relocation, and housing assistance. FFA advising comes with stipends and travel. The job is different from regular classroom teaching — outdoor labs, hands-on projects, livestock, real tractors. Teachers who love ag tend to stay in the career for decades.

Base pay is standard K-12 teacher pay, which is lower than most bachelor's-holders earn. The job is geographically constrained — ag-heavy rural states (Iowa, Nebraska, Kansas, Texas, Georgia, Wisconsin) hire most. Summers include FFA camps, judging contests, and fair supervision — not a quiet calendar.

Move to extension or postsecondary. Ag extension agents ($58–75k) work for universities, visiting farms and running workshops. Postsec ag teachers ($86k median) work at community colleges and universities — usually requires master's or PhD. USDA and state ag-department roles also pay better than teaching with similar subject-matter fit.

AI isn't taking ag-teaching jobs. Livestock, field labs, FFA contests, and hands-on skills are stubbornly physical. AI does reshape ag itself (precision farming, drone surveying, satellite-based yield prediction) — which means ag teachers need to teach those tools alongside traditional skills. The classroom job is safer than the farm job.