Home / Career Explorer / Farming, Fishing, and Forestry

Agricultural Equipment Operators

	Median Wage (USD, 2024)	Projected Job Openings (2023-2033)	Projected Growth (2023-2033)
National Statistics	$42,580	10500	8.4%
State Statistics	-	-	-
City Statistics	-	-	-

Statistics

National

State

City

State

City

$42,580

Median Wage (USD, 2023)

10500

Projected Job Openings (2023-2033)

8.4%

Projected Growth (2023-2033)

Drive and control equipment to support agricultural activities such as tilling soil; planting, cultivating, and harvesting crops; feeding and herding livestock; or removing animal waste. May perform tasks such as crop baling or hay bucking. May operate stationary equipment to perform post-harvest tasks such as husking, shelling, threshing, and ginning.

Experience Requirements Overview

Job Zone One: Little or No Preparation Needed
Little or no previous work-related skill, knowledge, or experience is needed for these occupations. For example, a person can become a waiter or waitress even if he/she has never worked before.
Some of these occupations may require a high school diploma or GED certificate.
Employees in these occupations need anywhere from a few days to a few months of training. Usually, an experienced worker could show you how to do the job.

Education, Training and Experience

Required Level of Education: Less than a High School Diploma

Related Work Experience: N.A.

On-Site or In-Plant Training: Over 1 month, up to and including 3 months

On-the-Job Training: Anything beyond short demonstration, up to and including 1 month

Detailed Work Activities

Maintain forestry, hunting, or agricultural equipment.
Confer with managers to make operational decisions.
Inspect equipment or facilities to determine condition or maintenance needs.
Operate irrigation systems.
Maintain forestry, hunting, or agricultural equipment.
Prepare materials or solutions for animal or plant use.
Operate farming equipment.
Maintain forestry, hunting, or agricultural equipment.
Operate farming equipment.
Direct activities of agricultural, forestry, or fishery employees.
Load materials into equipment for processing.
Apply chemical solutions to plants to protect against disease or insects or to enhance growth.
Attach equipment extensions or accessories.
Operate farming equipment.
Operate farming equipment.
Plant crops, trees, or other plants.
Operate farming equipment.
Measure physical characteristics of forestry or agricultural products.
Record agricultural or forestry inventory data.
Load agricultural or forestry products for shipment.
Operate conveyors or other industrial material moving equipment.
Attach equipment extensions or accessories.

Work Values

Achievement

Occupations that satisfy this work value are results oriented and allow employees to use their strongest abilities, giving them a feeling of accomplishment. Corresponding needs are Ability Utilization and Achievement.

Working Conditions

Recognition

Relationships

Support

Independence

Tasks

Load and unload crops or containers of materials, manually or using conveyors, handtrucks, forklifts, or transfer augers.
Mix specified materials or chemicals, and dump solutions, powders, or seeds into planter or sprayer machinery.
Spray fertilizer or pesticide solutions to control insects, fungus and weed growth, and diseases, using hand sprayers.
Observe and listen to machinery operation to detect equipment malfunctions.
Manipulate controls to set, activate, and adjust mechanisms on machinery.
Operate or tend equipment used in agricultural production, such as tractors, combines, and irrigation equipment.
Adjust, repair, and service farm machinery and notify supervisors when machinery malfunctions.
Attach farm implements such as plows, discs, sprayers, or harvesters to tractors, using bolts and hand tools.
Load hoppers, containers, or conveyors to feed machines with products, using forklifts, transfer augers, suction gates, shovels, or pitchforks.
Direct and monitor the activities of work crews engaged in planting, weeding, or harvesting activities.
Operate towed machines such as seed drills or manure spreaders to plant, fertilize, dust, and spray crops.
Weigh crop-filled containers, and record weights and other identifying information.
Walk beside or ride on planting machines while inserting plants in planter mechanisms at specified intervals.
Drive trucks to haul crops, supplies, tools, or farm workers.
Guide products on conveyors to regulate flow through machines, and to discard diseased or rotten products.
Position boxes or attach bags at discharge ends of machinery to catch products, removing and closing full containers.
Irrigate soil, using portable pipes or ditch systems, and maintain ditches or pipes and pumps.

Work Styles

Achievement/Effort

Job requires establishing and maintaining personally challenging achievement goals and exerting effort toward mastering tasks.

Persistence

Initiative

Leadership

Cooperation

Concern for Others

Social Orientation

Self-Control

Stress Tolerance

Adaptability/Flexibility

Dependability

Attention to Detail

Integrity

Independence

Innovation

Analytical Thinking

Data Source: This page includes information from the O*NET 30.0 Database by the U.S. Department of Labor, Employment and Training Administration (USDOL/ETA). Used under the CC BY 4.0 license. O*NET® is a trademark of USDOL/ETA. This page includes Employment Projections program, Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics program, U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics.

Session has been expired