What is a Dairy Farmer?
There is more than meets the eye when it comes to being a dairy farmer. For example, did you know that they make an average of $14.4 an hour? That's $29,959 a year! Between 2018 and 2028, the career is expected to grow 1% and produce 10,900 job opportunities across the U.S.
What Does a Dairy Farmer Do
There are certain skills that many dairy farmers have in order to accomplish their responsibilities. By taking a look through resumes, we were able to narrow down the most common skills for a person in this position. We discovered that a lot of resumes listed dexterity, listening skills and physical strength.
How To Become a Dairy Farmer
If you're interested in becoming a dairy farmer, one of the first things to consider is how much education you need. We've determined that 39.3% of dairy farmers have a bachelor's degree. In terms of higher education levels, we found that 4.6% of dairy farmers have master's degrees. Even though some dairy farmers have a college degree, it's possible to become one with only a high school degree or GED.
Dairy Farmer Career Paths
In addition to switching up your job search, it might prove helpful to look at a career path for your specific job. Now, what's a career path you ask? Well, it's practically a map that shows how you might advance from one job title to another. Our career paths are especially detailed with salary changes. So, for example, if you started out with the role of truck driver you might progress to a role such as foreman eventually. Later on in your career, you could end up with the title site manager.
Average Salary for a Dairy Farmer
What Am I Worth?
Roles and Types of Dairy Farmer
There are several types of dairy farmer, including:
Farm Hand
Role:
Since farming is an unpredictable industry, your work differs per season. Nonetheless, you will be required to do heavy lifts and manual labor throughout the day to help farmers to reduce unforeseen and unpredictable circumstances. Helping out farmers involves a lot of participation in farm activities, which include providing water for the animals, cleaning out pens and closures, and providing fresh straw and hay. You are also responsible for moving animals from one area of the farm to another, planting and spraying crops, and watching them as they grow.
As a farmhand, you have to be very vigilant in every aspect to alert the farmer whenever you observe a problem concerning the animals or the crops. Sensitivity, flexibility, attention to detail, problem-solving skills, critical thinking, and a genuine love for farm work are crucial for this role. You must also be physically fit for this role. Plus, you need a bachelor's degree in agriculture or other related fields. The average salary of a farmhand annually is $25,000.
- Average Salary: $26,594
- Degree: Bachelor's Degree
Ranch Hand
Role:
The ranch hand cleans and maintains animal housing areas, shears wool from sheep, collects eggs from hatcheries, and do routine menial tasks such as repairing fences, operating heavy machinery like tractors, and so on. They require physical stamina to do tasks around the ranch. They have to be up very early in the mornings and retire late at night.
Only a high school diploma or GED is necessary. A ranch hand earns an average of $25,368 per year, which translates to $12.20 per hour. Career growth is described as having little or no change at 1% and will produce 10,900 new jobs across the US by 2028.
- Average Salary: $27,569
- Degree: Bachelor's Degree
Farm Worker
Role:
You will be responsible for maintaining ditches pipes and pumps, direct and monitoring work crews' activities, operating and service farm machinery, spray fertilizer or pesticide solutions to control environmental pests, feed livestock, and cleaning and disinfecting the yards. You need to be stable, persistent, genuine, practical, and thrifty. You need to like tasks that are physical, athletic, or mechanical. You must also be communicative and able to follow orders. You will make a salary of $26,000 per year.
- Average Salary: $26,598
- Degree: Bachelor's Degree
States With The Most Dairy Farmer Jobs
Mouse over a state to see the number of active dairy farmer jobs in each state. The darker areas on the map show where dairy farmers earn the highest salaries across all 50 states.
Number Of Dairy Farmer Jobs By State
| Rank | State | Number of Jobs | Average Salary |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | New Jersey | 117 | $31,549 |
| 2 | North Carolina | 109 | $21,611 |
| 3 | California | 75 | $23,140 |
| 4 | Virginia | 62 | $23,610 |
| 5 | New York | 43 | $36,360 |
| 6 | Pennsylvania | 37 | $30,687 |
| 7 | South Carolina | 35 | $23,726 |
| 8 | Washington | 34 | $25,165 |
| 9 | Connecticut | 28 | $33,009 |
| 10 | Maryland | 26 | $28,276 |
| 11 | Texas | 24 | $23,933 |
| 12 | Arizona | 21 | $25,268 |
| 13 | Colorado | 15 | $22,002 |
| 14 | Delaware | 11 | $29,961 |
| 15 | Michigan | 11 | $25,070 |
| 16 | Iowa | 11 | $21,610 |
| 17 | Ohio | 9 | $31,528 |
| 18 | Georgia | 8 | $28,321 |
| 19 | Nevada | 6 | $26,794 |
| 20 | Minnesota | 6 | $18,236 |
| 21 | Utah | 5 | $23,976 |
| 22 | Tennessee | 5 | $23,551 |
| 23 | Montana | 5 | $21,582 |
| 24 | Kansas | 4 | $27,155 |
| 25 | Wisconsin | 4 | $23,171 |
| 26 | Oregon | 4 | $23,659 |
| 27 | North Dakota | 3 | $27,511 |
| 28 | New Mexico | 3 | $28,087 |
| 29 | Missouri | 3 | $26,788 |
| 30 | Illinois | 3 | $24,196 |
| 31 | South Dakota | 2 | $24,761 |
| 32 | Florida | 2 | $26,503 |
| 33 | Kentucky | 2 | $22,731 |
| 34 | Alaska | 2 | $20,843 |
| 35 | Vermont | 1 | $37,890 |
| 36 | West Virginia | 1 | $27,731 |
| 37 | Nebraska | 1 | $28,000 |
| 38 | Oklahoma | 1 | $24,432 |
| 39 | Alabama | 1 | $22,987 |
| 40 | Idaho | 1 | $23,307 |
| 41 | Indiana | 1 | $20,713 |
| 42 | Maine | 0 | $37,624 |
| 43 | Rhode Island | 0 | $36,636 |
| 44 | Massachusetts | 0 | $36,012 |
| 45 | New Hampshire | 0 | $34,137 |
| 46 | Mississippi | 0 | $26,509 |
| 47 | Wyoming | 0 | $24,285 |
| 48 | Hawaii | 0 | $29,456 |
| 49 | Arkansas | 0 | $21,925 |
| 50 | Louisiana | 0 | $21,001 |
Top Skills For a Dairy Farmer
The skills section on your resume can be almost as important as the experience section, so you want it to be an accurate portrayal of what you can do. Luckily, we've found all of the skills you'll need so even if you don't have these skills yet, you know what you need to work on. Out of all the resumes we looked through, 31.6% of dairy farmers listed milking on their resume, but soft skills such as dexterity and listening skills are important as well.
Choose From 10+ Customizable Dairy Farmer Resume templates
Zippia allows you to choose from different easy-to-use Dairy Farmer templates, and provides you with expert advice. Using the templates, you can rest assured that the structure and format of your Dairy Farmer resume is top notch. Choose a template with the colors, fonts & text sizes that are appropriate for your industry.
Dairy Farmer Demographics
Dairy Farmer Gender Distribution
After extensive research and analysis, Zippia's data science team found that:
- Among dairy farmers, 33.0% of them are women, while 67.0% are men.
- The most common race/ethnicity among dairy farmers is White, which makes up 70.2% of all dairy farmers.
- The most common foreign language among dairy farmers is Spanish at 59.1%.
Online Courses For Dairy Farmer That You May Like
1. Dairy Production and Management
With the world's first MOOOOO-C, you will gain a broad and comprehensive understanding of all aspects of dairy management such as genetics, nutrition, reproduction, animal health, farm economics, and sustainability of dairy production systems. There's something here for everyone whether you are just looking for the basics or have years of experience in the dairy industry. This is an eight-week course. Each week consists of four to nine video lectures, additional reading materials, and a...
See More on Coursera2. Sustainable Food Production Through Livestock Health Management
Learn about the impact of infectious disease on sustainable animal-based food production by understanding the science of growth, immunity, and infection and by learning the problem-solving skills needed to advance animal health and food production through optimal management practices. There is a growing global need in agricultural production for a workforce that is capable of integrating knowledge of animal health and production with an understanding of consumer preferences in the context of...
See More on Coursera3. AI For Medical Treatment
AI is transforming the practice of medicine. It’s helping doctors diagnose patients more accurately, make predictions about patients’ future health, and recommend better treatments. This Specialization will give you practical experience in applying machine learning to concrete problems in medicine. Medical treatment may impact patients differently based on their existing health conditions. In this third course, you’ll recommend treatments more suited to individual patients using data from...
See More on CourseraBest States For a Dairy Farmer
Some places are better than others when it comes to starting a career as a dairy farmer. The best states for people in this position are Vermont, Maine, Rhode Island, and New York. Dairy farmers make the most in Vermont with an average salary of $37,890. Whereas in Maine and Rhode Island, they would average $37,624 and $36,636, respectively. While dairy farmers would only make an average of $36,360 in New York, you would still make more there than in the rest of the country. We determined these as the best states based on job availability and pay. By finding the median salary, cost of living, and using the Bureau of Labor Statistics' Location Quotient, we narrowed down our list of states to these four.
1. New York
$36,360
Avg. Salary
2. Connecticut
$33,009
Avg. Salary
3. Vermont
$37,890
Avg. Salary
How Do Dairy Farmer Rate Their Jobs?
5.0
5.0
I did everything on the farm • December 2019What do you like the most about working as Dairy Farmer?
I fed bottle yeah firewood very much baby get off Show MoreWhat do you NOT like?
I got tired of they never had any help Show MoreTop Dairy Farmer Employers
Most Common Employers For Dairy Farmer
| Rank | Company | Average Salary | Hourly Rate | Job Openings |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | The Kraft Group | $85,410 | $41.06 | 2 |
| 2 | Dean and | $83,027 | $39.92 | 3 |
| 3 | Kingston Technology | $39,677 | $19.08 | 2 |
| 4 | Kerr Corporation | $28,859 | $13.87 | 1 |
| 5 | Skipper Limited | $28,482 | $13.69 | 1 |
| 6 | DM | $28,043 | $13.48 | 2 |
| 7 | Dairy.com | $27,224 | $13.09 | 3 |
| 8 | Roberts Dairy | $25,983 | $12.49 | 1 |
| 9 | Milo | $25,947 | $12.47 | 1 |
| 10 | Homan Group | $25,927 | $12.46 | 2 |