Introduction Efforts to expand youth engagement in careers in agriculture especially among students from nonfarming and urban backgrounds are recognized as a key priority in both research and practice (Bass et al., 2016; Unay-Gailhard et al., 2025). Central to these efforts is understanding how urban students perceive the utility value of agricultural activities, as such perceptions are essential for designing effective experiential learning opportunities (Hulleman & Harackiewicz, 2009). This study examines how urban students perceive the utility value of agricultural production activities framed as traditional or nontraditional. This study is grounded in Eccles’ Situated Expectancy-Value Theory (SEVT), which posits that students’ motivation are shaped by their expectancy for success, subjective task value and the situated context of a task (Eccles & Wigfield, 2020).  Methods and Findings A focus group study was conducted involving 3 groups of 11 high school students from schools in an urban area of a Midwestern state. The participants had completed at least one semester of an agriculture course. They were presented with Activity A, traditional agricultural production activities e.g. growing soybeans and corn, and Activity B, nontraditional agriculture production activities e.g growing a garden. The preliminary findings suggest the following: Urban students are more inclined toward animal-related agricultural activities indicating animal systems may serve as effective entry points into agriculture pathways. Nontraditional agricultural activities were perceived as more useful and engaging. Traditional agricultural activities were less engaging due to limited access to large-scale agricultural environments, highlighting need for educators to create opportunities for students to explore agriculture through digital and virtual experiences to support career exposure. Context-driven, experiential instruction that emphasizes personal utility and real-world relevance plays a role in fostering student interest.