What does a farm labour do?
Also called agricultural workers, farm laborers are people who inspect and harvest crops. The workers irrigate soil on the farm and maintain their pumps, pipes, or ditches. They service and operate farm tools and machinery. Their job involves the maintenance of crops like vegetables, nuts, and fruits. They look after livestock on the farm like cows, chickens, etc. Also, they inspect the animals for the detection of symptoms of injuries or illnesses and administer vaccines for disease protection.
Farm labour responsibilities
Here are examples of responsibilities from real farm labour resumes:
- Manage and oversee the day-to-day running of farms raising poultry or pigs for the production of meat and breeding stock.
- Perform duties in farrowing unit, relocate sows, immunize and care for newborn pigs.
- Job are to keep the farm up, mowing, weed eating, put fertilizer down.
- Used hand tools including shovels, rakes, pruning saws, hedge and brush trimmers and axes.
- Carry out daily milking, feeding, and field operations, twice per day, for the care of dairy livestock
- Milk cows, landscaping, field work, lawn mowing, bailing hay, and anything else done on a farm.
- Help move milking cows and/or heifers in and out of milk barn, feed, and clean under and around them.
- Clean stalls, pens, and equipment, using disinfectant solutions, brushes, shovels, water hoses, and /pumps.
- Work with all types of field and lawn care equipment including mowers, SSL, balers, forage harvesters and tractors.
- Plant seeds and dig up and transplant seedlings and sets, using hand tools such as hoes, and by hand.
- Operate and perform maintenance on agricultural equipment CDL truck driver
- Supervise and perform daily farm operations in preparation of upcoming harvest.
- Assist with seasonal/final harvest of tobacco/sweet potatoes on large family operation.
- Work with animals: feeding, insemination, cleaning, etc.
- Assist veterinarians with pregnancy checks, minor medical procedures, and artificial insemination of the mares.
Farm labour skills and personality traits
We calculated that 18% of Farm Labours are proficient in Harvest, Cleanliness, and Farm Machinery. They’re also known for soft skills such as Dexterity, Listening skills, and Physical strength.
We break down the percentage of Farm Labours that have these skills listed on their resume here:
- Harvest, 18%
Supervised and performed daily farm operations in preparation of upcoming harvest.
- Cleanliness, 12%
General warehouse labor, sort and package company merchandise, and maintaining cleanliness of work environment at all times
- Farm Machinery, 10%
Operated farm machinery; repaired and maintained farm equipment and facilities Milked dairy cows
- Farm Work, 5%
Provided care for 200 head of Sheep Hay Making Repaired Farm Equipment, Buildings and Barn Basic Farm Work
- Drive Tractor, 5%
Farm Laborer * Refill tractors with plants * Plant tomato plants * Refill tractors with water * Drive forklift * Drive tractors
- Mowing, 5%
Job was to keep the farm up, mowing, weed eating, put fertilizer down.
Common skills that a farm labour uses to do their job include "harvest," "cleanliness," and "farm machinery." You can find details on the most important farm labour responsibilities below.
Dexterity. To carry out their duties, the most important skill for a farm labour to have is dexterity. Their role and responsibilities require that "agricultural workers need excellent hand-eye coordination to harvest crops and operate farm machinery." Farm labours often use dexterity in their day-to-day job, as shown by this real resume: "operate forklifts, mowers, tractors, pallet jacks, carts and variety of equipment for all routine maintenance. "
Listening skills. Many farm labour duties rely on listening skills. "agricultural workers must listen carefully to ensure that they understand instructions from farmers and other agricultural managers and supervisors.," so a farm labour will need this skill often in their role. This resume example is just one of many ways farm labour responsibilities rely on listening skills: "operated farm equipment, provided maintenance and repair - conducted independent work and communicated well with a team"
Physical strength. Another skill that relates to the job responsibilities of farm labours is physical strength. This skill is critical to many everyday farm labour duties, as "agricultural workers must be strong enough to lift heavy objects, including tools and crops." This example from a resume shows how this skill is used: "operated machinery and physical labor. "
Mechanical skills. farm labour responsibilities often require "mechanical skills." The duties that rely on this skill are shown by the fact that "agricultural workers must be able to operate complex farm machinery." This resume example shows what farm labours do with mechanical skills on a typical day: "gained mechanical knowledge, harvested over 2,000 acres, operated heavy machinery, milking holstein cows, and raising young stock. "
The three companies that hire the most farm labours are:
- Cargill6 farm labours jobs
- Tyson Foods4 farm labours jobs
- Bee Sweet Citrus4 farm labours jobs
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Compare different farm labours
Farm labour vs. Herdsman
A rider's job is to maintain a specific route or area to collect or deliver packages. They often used bicycles or motorcycles to perform their duties. Their duties and responsibilities include writing logs and reports, collecting payment for deliveries, and informing customers of new products and services.
There are some key differences in the responsibilities of each position. For example, farm labour responsibilities require skills like "harvest," "cleanliness," "drive tractor," and "mowing." Meanwhile a typical herdsman has skills in areas such as "dairy farm," "animal handling," "dairy cattle," and "usda." This difference in skills reveals the differences in what each career does.
Herdsmen really shine in the professional industry with an average salary of $36,206. Comparatively, farm labours tend to make the most money in the finance industry with an average salary of $32,950.herdsmen tend to reach similar levels of education than farm labours. In fact, herdsmen are 0.7% more likely to graduate with a Master's Degree and 0.1% less likely to have a Doctoral Degree.Farm labour vs. Milker
Each career also uses different skills, according to real farm labour resumes. While farm labour responsibilities can utilize skills like "harvest," "cleanliness," "farm machinery," and "drive tractor," milkers use skills like "dairy farm," "calf," "milk cows," and "goats."
Milkers may earn a higher salary than farm labours, but milkers earn the most pay in the finance industry with an average salary of $40,793. On the other hand, farm labours receive higher pay in the finance industry, where they earn an average salary of $32,950.milkers earn similar levels of education than farm labours in general. They're 1.4% less likely to graduate with a Master's Degree and 0.1% less likely to earn a Doctoral Degree.Farm labour vs. Rider
There are many key differences between these two careers, including some of the skills required to perform responsibilities within each role. For example, a farm labour is likely to be skilled in "harvest," "cleanliness," "farm machinery," and "farm work," while a typical rider is skilled in "cpr," "safety procedures," "pallets," and "walkie."
Riders earn the best pay in the retail industry, where they command an average salary of $42,874. Farm labours earn the highest pay from the finance industry, with an average salary of $32,950.Most riders achieve a similar degree level compared to farm labours. For example, they're 1.6% more likely to graduate with a Master's Degree, and 0.5% more likely to earn a Doctoral Degree.Farm labour vs. Stable hand
Types of farm labour
Updated January 8, 2025
