What does an agricultural engineer do?
An agricultural engineer designs and constructs facilities to improve the agricultural state of a specific region. This job involves constructing buildings such as irrigation systems, production facilities, or farms. An agricultural engineer also inspects agricultural machinery, designs agricultural projects, provides cost estimates, and communicates development strategies to supervisors.
Agricultural engineer responsibilities
Here are examples of responsibilities from real agricultural engineer resumes:
- Install and test PLC in client own equipment on site - solve some logical and hardware issues to accomplish goal
- Design or supervise design\ build of wagons, citrus harvest aide, planters, field equipment, ramps and elevators.
- Operate and troubleshoot vacuum deposition machinery used in the development of anodes vital to the design of novel lithium-sulfur battery technology.
- Prepare soil data in geotechnical software and graphical figures to be used and review by professional engineering project managers.
Agricultural engineer skills and personality traits
We calculated that 26% of Agricultural Engineers are proficient in Engineering Practices, Technical Assistance, and Water Conservation. They’re also known for soft skills such as Problem-solving skills, Analytical skills, and Communication skills.
We break down the percentage of Agricultural Engineers that have these skills listed on their resume here:
- Engineering Practices, 26%
Planed, designed, and prepared construction plans and specifications for USDA-NRCS engineering practices for the South Florida Area.
- Technical Assistance, 22%
Provide technical assistance to the Management regarding landscaping and irrigation new work/modification requirements.
- Water Conservation, 20%
Motivate farmer community to improve their water channels on self-help basis and introduce to them with latest water conservation techniques.
- Data Collection, 6%
Conducted Physical Property data collection of different types of solvent.
- Natural Resources, 5%
Safeguard the agricultural and natural resources from plant/fruit diseases and pest.
- GPS, 4%
Used GPS and other devices to locate and map fields.
Most agricultural engineers use their skills in "engineering practices," "technical assistance," and "water conservation" to do their jobs. You can find more detail on essential agricultural engineer responsibilities here:
Problem-solving skills. One of the key soft skills for an agricultural engineer to have is problem-solving skills. You can see how this relates to what agricultural engineers do because "agricultural engineers’ main role is to solve problems found in agricultural production." Additionally, an agricultural engineer resume shows how agricultural engineers use problem-solving skills: "installed and tested plc in client owned equipment on site - solved some logical and hardware issues to accomplish goal"
Analytical skills. Many agricultural engineer duties rely on analytical skills. "agricultural engineers must analyze the needs of complex systems that involve workers, crops, animals, machinery and equipment, and the environment.," so an agricultural engineer will need this skill often in their role. This resume example is just one of many ways agricultural engineer responsibilities rely on analytical skills: "provide quality assurance for on-farm data collection, including backup of files and preliminary checks of data ranges. "
Communication skills. Another skill that relates to the job responsibilities of agricultural engineers is communication skills. This skill is critical to many everyday agricultural engineer duties, as "agricultural engineers must understand the needs of clients, workers, and others working on a project." This example from a resume shows how this skill is used: "provide technical support for electro-optical communication chips to customers. "
The three companies that hire the most agricultural engineers are:
- RFA Engineering
1 agricultural engineers jobs
- BrightFarms1 agricultural engineers jobs
- PSEA1 agricultural engineers jobs
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Compare different agricultural engineers
Agricultural engineer vs. Engineer
Engineers are highly trained professionals who determine the feasibility of various projects, usually related to the construction industry. They are considered experts in mathematics and science, two disciplines that they need to use in designing and coming up with plans for projects. They should also be well-versed in different construction or industrial materials, and they ensure that appropriate materials are used for the project. They also ensure that the projects meet the requirements of the groups that hired them. They create spaces that would both address the needs of the end-users and the industry standards. They also ensure that the projects they make would stand the test of time.
While similarities exist, there are also some differences between agricultural engineers and engineer. For instance, agricultural engineer responsibilities require skills such as "mathematics," "engineering practices," "technical assistance," and "water conservation." Whereas a engineer is skilled in "python," "cloud," "c++," and "c #." This is part of what separates the two careers.
Engineers earn the highest salaries when working in the automotive industry, with an average yearly salary of $97,672. On the other hand, agricultural engineers are paid more in the manufacturing industry with an average salary of $78,651.On average, engineers reach similar levels of education than agricultural engineers. Engineers are 1.4% less likely to earn a Master's Degree and 1.2% less likely to graduate with a Doctoral Degree.Agricultural engineer vs. Junior engineer
A Junior Engineer helps design, build, or maintain engines, machines, or public works. They work under the supervision of an engineer.
Each career also uses different skills, according to real agricultural engineer resumes. While agricultural engineer responsibilities can utilize skills like "mathematics," "engineering practices," "water conservation," and "natural resources," junior engineers use skills like "control systems," "java," "c++," and "c #."
Junior engineers may earn a higher salary than agricultural engineers, but junior engineers earn the most pay in the technology industry with an average salary of $72,489. On the other hand, agricultural engineers receive higher pay in the manufacturing industry, where they earn an average salary of $78,651.junior engineers earn similar levels of education than agricultural engineers in general. They're 4.4% less likely to graduate with a Master's Degree and 1.2% less likely to earn a Doctoral Degree.What technology do you think will become more important and prevalent for agricultural engineers in the next 3-5 years?
Marcus Duck
Academic Specialist, Michigan State University
Agricultural engineer vs. Plan service engineer
The required skills of the two careers differ considerably. For example, agricultural engineers are more likely to have skills like "mathematics," "engineering practices," "technical assistance," and "water conservation." But a plan service engineer is more likely to have skills like "service plan," "inbound calls," "purchase orders," and "performance metrics."
When it comes to education, plan service engineers tend to earn similar degree levels compared to agricultural engineers. In fact, they're 2.9% less likely to earn a Master's Degree, and 1.1% less likely to graduate with a Doctoral Degree.Types of agricultural engineer
Updated January 8, 2025
