Agriculturist vs plant breeder

The differences between agriculturists and plant breeders can be seen in a few details. Each job has different responsibilities and duties. It typically takes 1-2 years to become both an agriculturist and a plant breeder. Additionally, a plant breeder has an average salary of $78,129, which is higher than the $51,734 average annual salary of an agriculturist.

The top three skills for an agriculturist include pest control, USDA and harvest. The most important skills for a plant breeder are harvest, greenhouse, and data management.

Agriculturist vs plant breeder overview

	Agriculturist	Plant Breeder
Yearly salary	$51,734	$78,129
Hourly rate	$24.87	$37.56
Growth rate	8%	8%
Number of jobs	201	8,845
Job satisfaction	-	-
Most common degree	Bachelor's Degree, 64%	Bachelor's Degree, 62%
Average age	40	40
Years of experience	2	2

Agriculturist vs plant breeder salary

Agriculturists and plant breeders have different pay scales, as shown below.

	Agriculturist	Plant Breeder
Average salary	$51,734	$78,129
Salary range	Between $24,000 And $108,000	Between $51,000 And $119,000
Highest paying City	-	Philadelphia, PA
Highest paying state	-	Massachusetts
Best paying company	-	Nufarm
Best paying industry	-	-

Differences between agriculturist and plant breeder education

There are a few differences between an agriculturist and a plant breeder in terms of educational background:

	Agriculturist	Plant Breeder
Most common degree	Bachelor's Degree, 64%	Bachelor's Degree, 62%
Most common major	Agriculture	Plant Sciences
Most common college	Cornell University	Cornell University

Agriculturist vs plant breeder demographics

Here are the differences between agriculturists' and plant breeders' demographics:

	Agriculturist	Plant Breeder
Average age	40	40
Gender ratio	Male, 66.7% Female, 33.3%	Male, 75.0% Female, 25.0%
Race ratio	Black or African American, 4.1% Unknown, 2.8% Hispanic or Latino, 8.0% Asian, 12.0% White, 72.9% American Indian and Alaska Native, 0.2%	Black or African American, 3.7% Unknown, 2.7% Hispanic or Latino, 5.9% Asian, 9.4% White, 78.0% American Indian and Alaska Native, 0.2%
LGBT Percentage	19%	19%

Differences between agriculturist and plant breeder duties and responsibilities

Agriculturist example responsibilities.

Lead all agronomy relate functions including fertility management, irrigation.
Ensure product quality meet highest FDA and USDA standards for consumer consumption.
Implement and maintain test plots containing herbicides, fungicides, and harvest aids.
Uphold contracts between growers and the factory to ensure that field and harvest operations are follow.
Provide food safety and grade inspections under USDA regulations for Nevadaproducers and produce vendors exporting out of the state.
Design fixation technique for SEM observation of aphid feeding sites and their effects on epicuticular lipids of alfalfa leaves.

Plant breeder example responsibilities.

Manage daily operations of USDA facility.
Maintain an OSHA compliant work environment, enforce affirmative attendance policy, maintain complete inventory records and met/exceed production goals.
Travel and work with vendors on equipment upgrades in the extrusion process and tooling rebuilds.

Agriculturist vs plant breeder skills

Common agriculturist skills

Pest Control, 76%
USDA, 12%
Harvest, 11%
Research Studies, 1%

Common plant breeder skills

Harvest, 38%
Greenhouse, 22%
Data Management, 16%
DNA, 9%
Capital Budgets, 7%
Plant Selection, 4%

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Agriculturist vs Plant Breeder

Updated January 8, 2025

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