Agricultural Equipment Operators

What the job really is

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.

At a glance

• Sector: Farming, Fishing & Forestry
• O*NET-SOC code: 45-2091
• O*NET job zone: 2 — some preparation
• Work sample tasks on file: 12
• Tools and technologies listed: 12

What you actually do

Work sample tasks recorded for this occupation:

• 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.

Tools and technology

Microsoft Access, Microsoft Excel, Microsoft PowerPoint, 2-point sprayers, 3-point sprayers, Air carts, Air drill seeders, Air reels, Air seeders, All terrain vehicle ATV discs, All terrain vehicle ATV harrows, All terrain vehicle ATV manure spreaders

What employers expect you to already be comfortable with.

Where this job leads

Related occupations — the usual moves up and sideways:

• Farmworkers and Laborers, Crop, Nursery, and Greenhouse
• Machine Feeders and Offbearers
• Separating, Filtering, Clarifying, Precipitating, and Still Machine Setters, Operators, and Tenders
• Extruding, Forming, Pressing, and Compacting Machine Setters, Operators, and Tenders
• Milling and Planing Machine Setters, Operators, and Tenders, Metal and Plastic
• Crushing, Grinding, and Polishing Machine Setters, Operators, and Tenders
• Conveyor Operators and Tenders
• Industrial Truck and Tractor Operators

Getting in

O*NET assigns this occupation job zone 2 (some preparation). The related occupations above are the realistic routes in and out.

Find openings

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Check this against the source

O*NET OnLine: Agricultural Equipment Operators — the authoritative public-domain profile this page is derived from, including the full task list, reported skills and the wage estimates for your region.

Derived and rewritten from the public-domain O*NET database (U.S. Department of Labor / Employment and Training Administration). Figures are observations, not promises — always confirm salary, licensing and visa requirements with the employer and the relevant authority.