What is a Farm Helper?
There is more than meets the eye when it comes to being a farm helper. For example, did you know that they make an average of $12.87 an hour? That's $26,779 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 Farm Helper Do
There are certain skills that many farm helpers 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 Farm Helper
If you're interested in becoming a farm helper, one of the first things to consider is how much education you need. We've determined that 28.5% of farm helpers have a bachelor's degree. In terms of higher education levels, we found that 1.9% of farm helpers have master's degrees. Even though some farm helpers have a college degree, it's possible to become one with only a high school degree or GED.
Average Salary for a Farm Helper
What Am I Worth?
Roles and Types of Farm Helper
There are several types of farm helper, including:
Helper
Role:
A helper gives a hand with domestic chores. Your employer might have a demanding job or one too many children to take care of, or perhaps they do not have the physical strength to keep an organized home.
You could be asked to work in the garden or maintain the lawn, but most of your tasks will revolve around housekeeping. Cooking, cleaning, and running various errands will be on your to-do list, like grocery shopping, picking up kids from school, cleaning the pool, whatever your employer might think of, really. As long as it is legal, you should be up for it.
You will be coming in and out of other people's homes sharing their personal space, sometimes even in a live-in arrangement, so being friendly, clean, and reliable is a must. You need to build a good relationship with the family you help and, as usual, building trust takes time. Just make sure your working hours are respected, and you get the amount of free time you had agreed upon. Painting an image of what an overworked and cranky helper might do will definitely set the grounds for negotiation.
- Average Salary: $31,331
- Degree: High School Diploma
Farm Hand
Role:
A farmhand is responsible for assisting farmers in growing plants and feeding livestock on the farm. Your work is basically to ensure a smooth running of the farm by performing various tasks throughout a working day. You are expected to maintain the machinery by fixing it when necessary, cleaning it regularly, and maintaining the condition of building the farm.
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:
A ranch hand works on a farm or ranch, tending to animals and doing menial tasks around the ranch. They either live on the ranch or near it, and work long tedious hours. They attend to live farm or ranch animals that may include cattle, sheep, swine, goats, horses, bees, or poultry that produce animal products such as milk, fur, skins, meat, feathers, eggs, and honey. They are responsible for feeding, watering, herding, grazing, castrating, branding, weighing, catching, and loading animals into transport vehicles.
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
States With The Most Farm Helper Jobs
Number Of Farm Helper Jobs By State
| Rank | State | Number of Jobs | Average Salary |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Texas | 333 | $24,535 |
| 2 | California | 327 | $31,384 |
| 3 | Florida | 317 | $23,501 |
| 4 | North Carolina | 188 | $21,833 |
| 5 | Pennsylvania | 165 | $29,465 |
| 6 | Georgia | 153 | $28,534 |
| 7 | Illinois | 153 | $24,908 |
| 8 | Virginia | 151 | $23,392 |
| 9 | Tennessee | 145 | $23,853 |
| 10 | Ohio | 140 | $31,455 |
| 11 | New York | 132 | $30,626 |
| 12 | New Jersey | 122 | $26,901 |
| 13 | Washington | 106 | $28,323 |
| 14 | South Carolina | 101 | $23,879 |
| 15 | Arizona | 93 | $23,912 |
| 16 | Minnesota | 86 | $19,962 |
| 17 | Michigan | 82 | $24,720 |
| 18 | Wisconsin | 80 | $24,394 |
| 19 | Colorado | 75 | $23,908 |
| 20 | Iowa | 71 | $22,963 |
| 21 | Kentucky | 70 | $23,058 |
| 22 | Louisiana | 69 | $21,276 |
| 23 | Massachusetts | 68 | $31,048 |
| 24 | Oregon | 67 | $27,269 |
| 25 | Indiana | 65 | $22,944 |
| 26 | Maryland | 63 | $27,000 |
| 27 | Alabama | 60 | $23,222 |
| 28 | Utah | 55 | $26,655 |
| 29 | Connecticut | 51 | $27,569 |
| 30 | Missouri | 48 | $25,428 |
| 31 | Nebraska | 39 | $29,766 |
| 32 | Montana | 37 | $24,189 |
| 33 | Maine | 35 | $35,299 |
| 34 | New Hampshire | 28 | $30,157 |
| 35 | Kansas | 28 | $28,122 |
| 36 | Idaho | 26 | $26,344 |
| 37 | Oklahoma | 25 | $24,877 |
| 38 | Arkansas | 25 | $22,219 |
| 39 | Nevada | 23 | $29,842 |
| 40 | Alaska | 23 | $21,713 |
| 41 | Mississippi | 22 | $26,778 |
| 42 | West Virginia | 16 | $27,783 |
| 43 | North Dakota | 14 | $31,557 |
| 44 | Vermont | 12 | $35,427 |
| 45 | New Mexico | 12 | $30,196 |
| 46 | Rhode Island | 11 | $31,125 |
| 47 | South Dakota | 11 | $26,987 |
| 48 | Delaware | 11 | $27,413 |
| 49 | Hawaii | 8 | $32,995 |
| 50 | Wyoming | 4 | $26,953 |
Top Skills For a Farm Helper
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, 22.0% of farm helpers listed farm animals on their resume, but soft skills such as dexterity and listening skills are important as well.
Choose From 10+ Customizable Farm Helper Resume templates
Zippia allows you to choose from different easy-to-use Farm Helper templates, and provides you with expert advice. Using the templates, you can rest assured that the structure and format of your Farm Helper resume is top notch. Choose a template with the colors, fonts & text sizes that are appropriate for your industry.
Farm Helper diversity
Farm Helper Gender Distribution
After extensive research and analysis, Zippia's data science team found that:
- Among farm helpers, 35.6% of them are women, while 64.4% are men.
- The most common race/ethnicity among farm helpers is White, which makes up 68.4% of all farm helpers.
- The most common foreign language among farm helpers is Spanish at 66.7%.
Online Courses For Farm Helper That You May Like
1. Discover Best Practice Farming for a Sustainable 2050
The Discover Best Practice Farming for a Sustainable 2050 Course is based on a clear vision: imagine best practice farming for 2050, start to implement these strategies now, all the while making sure it will still be profitable. At UWA we're doing just that with the Future Farm 2050 Project, set on a mixed-enterprise farm in Western Australia and we want you to learn how it can be done in your part of the world. Although this course is based on agriculture, it's not only about farming. It is a...
2. Chicken Behaviour and Welfare
This course explains the general principles of chicken behaviour and welfare, and the behavioural and physiological indicators that can be used to assess welfare in chickens kept in hobby flocks through to commercial farms. The focus is primarily on laying hens and meat chickens (broilers) although many of the principles are relevant to other types of poultry. The course is likely to be of interest to people who own chickens as pets or keep a small hobby flock, commercial egg and chicken meat...
3. Aquaponics Farming & Gardening + Design Case Study
Wether you're thinking of an aquaponics farm or garden this course teaches you the how to's of designing & building one...
How Do Farm Helpers Rate Their Jobs?
Top Farm Helper Employers
Most Common Employers For Farm Helper
| Rank | Company | Average Salary | Hourly Rate | Job Openings |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Aqua | $33,731 | $16.22 | 2 |
| 2 | Tyson Foods | $32,065 | $15.42 | 1 |
| 3 | Delta Natural Gas Co | $31,824 | $15.30 | 2 |
| 4 | Farmers Insurance | $31,201 | $15.00 | 2 |
| 5 | Arrow Services | $30,487 | $14.66 | 1 |
| 6 | Windmill Intl | $30,362 | $14.60 | 2 |
| 7 | Kerr Corporation | $29,572 | $14.22 | 1 |
| 8 | TED | $27,682 | $13.31 | 2 |
| 9 | PeopleReady | $27,475 | $13.21 | 3 |
| 10 | Christmas Tree Shops | $27,352 | $13.15 | 2 |