Agricultural equipment operators: Salary, career path, job outlook, education and more
Agricultural equipment operators use a variety of farm equipment to plow and sow seeds, as well as maintain and harvest crops. They may use tractors, fertilizer spreaders, balers, combines, threshers, and trucks. These workers also operate machines such as conveyor belts, loading machines, separators, cleaners, and dryers. Workers may make adjustments and minor repairs to equipment.
- Job Outlook
-
The projected percent change in employment from 2016 to 2026: 0% (Little or no change)
(The average growth rate for all occupations is 7 percent.) - Advancement
- Agricultural workers may advance to crew leader or other supervisory positions. The ability to speak both English and Spanish is helpful for agricultural supervisors.
- Licenses/Certifications
- Some agricultural workers, especially those who operate equipment, need a valid drivers license. Agricultural workers who handle pesticides might need a pesticide applicator license. And in a few states, certain types of animal breeders must be licensed.
- Median pay: How much do Agricultural Workers make?
- $22,540 Annual Salary
- $10.83 per hour
Careers for Agricultural Workers
- Animal breeders
- Aquaculture workers
- Artificial inseminators
- Barn hands
- Barn workers
- Cane cutters
- Cane flume chute operators
- Carrot harvesters
- Cat breeders
- Cattle branders
- Cattle drivers
- Chicken handlers
- Chicken vaccinators
- Citrus pickers
- Combine drivers
- Combine operators
- Corn detasseler machine operators
- Corn pickers
- Cotton ginners
- Cotton picker operators
- Cotton pickers
- Cow tenders
- Crop pickers
- Crop scouts
- Crop, nursery, and greenhouse farmworkers and laborers
- Custom harvesters
- Dairy husbandry workers
- Dog breeders
- Drivers, tractor
- Egg gatherers
- Equine breeders
- Farm and ranch animal farmworkers
- Farm tractor operators
- Farmhands
- Farmworkers
- Farrowing workers
- Flower pickers
- Goat herders
- Greenhouse transplanters
- Greenhouse workers
- Harvest workers
- Harvesters
- Hatchery workers
- Hay balers
- Hay stacker operators
- Horse breeders
- Irrigation workers
- Laborers, agricultural
- Livestock breeders
- Livestock handlers
- Livestock showmen
- Nursery workers
- Orchard hands
- Orchard workers
- Pecan gatherers
- Pepper pickers
- Poultry debeakers
- Poultry inseminators
- Rake operators
- Ranch hands
- Replanting machine operators
- Sheep shearers
- Shrimp pond laborers
- Stallion managers
- Tractor operators
- Vineyard tenders
- Wheat combine drivers