A farmworker is responsible for applying fertilizer, pesticides, and herbicides to crops and livestock. You will operate agricultural machinery under the direction of a rancher, farmer, or an agricultural manager. Your duties will typically include harvesting and inspecting crops manually, irrigating farm soil and maintaining pipes, pumps, d ditches, and feeding livestock. As a farmworker, you will operate milking machinery and other farm machinery such as plows and tractors, maintain farm buildings, and trim hedges. You are also expected to mend walls and fences and clear drainage ditches.

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Farm Worker Responsibilities

Here are examples of responsibilities from real farm worker resumes representing typical tasks they are likely to perform in their roles.

  • General farm operations including health checks and care of calves, manage cleanliness of barns, milking
  • Manage regular routines of dairy calf sector, developing skill in feeding, housing, sanitation, parasite and disease control.
  • Care for domestic farm animals, lawn mowing, lifting supplies and feed, general grounds work.
  • Adhere to farm procedures for newborn calf management.
  • Serve as vacation relief foreman and semi trailer spotter.
  • Farm aid carrry trees to customers cars, drive a bobcat.
  • Task include milking, parlor cleaning, feeding, calf care, and maternity pen
  • Put in charge of feeding the goats, sheep, and occasionally the pigs.
  • Perform courtesy tasks that include; locating specific items for customers and bagging groceries.
  • Harvest vegetables for the farm's CSA program and gain hands-on experience in organic horticulture and farming.
  • Operate various types of industrial equipment including, but not limit to, tractors combines, and augers.
  • Learned about pasture management and rotational grazing practices with cows, calves and a flock of Jacob sheep.
  • Work loading trucks, cleaning, and using heavy machinery, ie; loader, bobcat, and forklifts.
  • Help around the farm with various responsibilities including cattle herding, planting crops, fixing and moving irrigation sprinklers.
  • Operate and maintain heavy equipment including tractors, hay bines, balers, rakes, trailers, and vehicles.

Farm Worker Job Description

When it comes to understanding what a farm worker does, you may be wondering, "should I become a farm worker?" The data included in this section may help you decide. Compared to other jobs, farm workers have a growth rate described as "little or no change" at 1% between the years 2018 - 2028, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics. In fact, the number of farm worker opportunities that are predicted to open up by 2028 is 10,900.

A farm worker annual salary averages $26,598, which breaks down to $12.79 an hour. However, farm workers can earn anywhere from upwards of $21,000 to $33,000 a year. This means that the top-earning farm workers make $9,000 more than the lowest-earning ones.

Once you've become a farm worker, you may be curious about what other opportunities are out there. Careers aren't one size fits all. For that reason, we discovered some other jobs that you may find appealing. Some jobs you might find interesting include a cowboy, stable hand, ranch hand, and field hand.

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12 Farm Worker Resume Examples

Farm Worker Skills and Personality Traits

We calculated that 25% of Farm Workers are proficient in Harvest, Mowing, and Farm Equipment. They’re also known for soft skills such as Dexterity, Listening skills, and Physical strength.

We break down the percentage of Farm Workers that have these skills listed on their resume here:

  • Harvest, 25%

    Monitored and maintained crops to maximize product quality and quantity during harvest.

  • Mowing, 11%

    Cared for domestic farm animals, lawn mowing, lifting supplies and feed, general grounds work.

  • Farm Equipment, 10%

    Reduced maintenance costs by performing timely preventive maintenance on farm equipment.

  • Farm Machinery, 7%

    Operated precision agriculture farm machinery in planting and harvesting crops

  • Farm Work, 5%

    Conduct qualitative research using various design research methodologies to identify migrant farm worker needs.

  • Beef Cattle, 3%

    Attended beef cattle, broiler houses, Boer meat goats, performed maintenance on equipment, maintained livestock fencing.

Choose From 10+ Customizable Farm Worker Resume templates

Build a professional Farm Worker resume in minutes. Browse through our resume examples to identify the best way to word your resume. Then choose from 10+ resume templates to create your Farm Worker resume.

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Farm Worker Resume

Most farm workers list "harvest," "mowing," and "farm equipment" as skills on their resumes. We go into more details on the most important farm worker responsibilities here:

  • The most important skills for a farm worker to have in this position are dexterity. In this excerpt that we gathered from a farm worker resume, you'll understand why: "agricultural workers need excellent hand-eye coordination to harvest crops and operate farm machinery." According to resumes we found, dexterity can be used by a farm worker in order to "learned how to handle all farm equipment (tractors, forklifts, large trucks, cultivators, etc. )"
  • While it may not be the most important skill, we found that many farm worker duties rely on listening skills. This example from a farm worker explains why: "agricultural workers need to work well with others." This resume example is just one of many ways farm workers are able to utilize listening skills: "followed safety procedures and communicated with supervisor. "
  • Another skill that is quite popular among farm workers is physical strength. This skill is very critical to fulfilling every day responsibilities as is shown in this example from a farm worker resume: "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: "experience using farm equipment physical strength from moving hay bails and other farm related items"
  • A thorough review of lots of resumes revealed to us that "mechanical skills" is important to completing farm worker responsibilities. This resume example shows just one way farm workers use this skill: "agricultural workers must be able to operate complex farm machinery" Here's an example of how this skill is used from a resume that represents typical farm worker tasks: "set up augers, bin sites, mechanical repairs, and service equipment. "
  • See the full list of farm worker skills.

    After discovering the most helpful skills, we moved onto what kind of education might be helpful in becoming a farm worker. We found that 35.7% of farm workers have graduated with a bachelor's degree and 2.4% of people in this position have earned their master's degrees. While some farm workers have a college degree, you may find it's also true that generally it's possible to be successful in this career with only a high school degree. In fact, our research shows that one out of every four farm workers were not college graduates.

    The farm workers who went onto college to earn a more in-depth education generally studied business and general studies, while a small population of farm workers studied criminal justice and animal science.

    Once you've obtained the level of education you're comfortable with, you might start applying to companies to become a farm worker. We've found that most farm worker resumes include experience from Tyson Foods, Hormel Foods, and Cobb-Vantress. Of recent, Tyson Foods had 25 positions open for farm workers. Meanwhile, there are 14 job openings at Hormel Foods and 12 at Cobb-Vantress.

    But if you're interested in companies where you might earn a high salary, farm workers tend to earn the biggest salaries at FAT CATS CAFE, Blue Bird, and Regions Bank. Take FAT CATS CAFE for example. The median farm worker salary is $32,415. At Blue Bird, farm workers earn an average of $32,040, while the average at Regions Bank is $31,677. You should take into consideration how difficult it might be to secure a job with one of these companies.

    View more details on farm worker salaries across the United States.

    If you earned a degree from the top 100 educational institutions in the United States, you might want to take a look at Iowa State University, Johnson Farms, and Tate. These three companies have hired a significant number of farm workers from these institutions.

    In general, farm workers fulfill roles in the manufacturing and agriculture industries. While employment numbers are high in those industries, the farm worker annual salary is the highest in the manufacturing industry with $27,329 as the average salary. Meanwhile, the health care and professional industries pay $26,667 and $26,371 respectively. This means that farm workers who are employed in the manufacturing industry make 11.3% more than farm workers who work in the agriculture Industry.

    The three companies that hire the most prestigious farm workers are:

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    What Cowboys Do

    A ranch hand is a person who takes care of livestock animals in a ranch. Ranch hands perform the ranch husbandry job, which involves keeping them healthy, feeding them, and overseeing breeding. The primary duty they serve is to assist in the day-to-day operations in the ranch. They prepare livestock animals for slaughter or sale. They must have experience in cattle handling and/or animal husbandry. They should also be adaptable, enthusiastic, and know ranch equipment and maintenance.

    In this section, we compare the average farm worker annual salary with that of a cowboy. Typically, cowboys earn a $2,246 higher salary than farm workers earn annually.

    While the salaries between these two careers can be different, they do share some of the same responsibilities. Employees in both farm workers and cowboys positions are skilled in farm equipment, repair equipment, and cdl.

    There are some key differences in responsibilities as well. For example, a farm worker responsibilities require skills like "harvest," "mowing," "farm machinery," and "farm work." Meanwhile a typical cowboy has skills in areas such as "medical treatment," "customer service," "food preparation," and "general maintenance." This difference in skills reveals how truly different these two careers really are.

    Cowboys tend to reach similar levels of education than farm workers. In fact, cowboys are 0.2% more likely to graduate with a Master's Degree and 0.8% more likely to have a Doctoral Degree.

    What Are The Duties Of a Stable Hand?

    The next role we're going to look at is the stable hand profession. Typically, this position earns a higher pay. In fact, they earn a $1,239 higher salary than farm workers per year.

    Not everything about these jobs is different. Take their skills, for example. Farm workers and stable hands both include similar skills like "mowing," "farm equipment," and "manual labor" on their resumes.

    But both careers also use different skills, according to real farm worker resumes. While farm worker responsibilities can utilize skills like "harvest," "farm machinery," "farm work," and "beef cattle," some stable hands use skills like "facility maintenance," "general upkeep," "water," and "water buckets."

    When it comes to the differences in education between the two professions, stable hands tend to reach similar levels of education than farm workers. In fact, they're 0.7% less likely to graduate with a Master's Degree and 0.8% less likely to earn a Doctoral Degree.

    How a Ranch Hand Compares

    Let's now take a look at the ranch hand profession. On average, these workers make higher salaries than farm workers with a $971 difference per year.

    Using farm workers and ranch hands resumes, we found that both professions have similar skills such as "harvest," "mowing," and "farm equipment," but the other skills required are very different.

    Some important key differences between the two careers are a few of the skills necessary to fulfill responsibilities. Some examples from farm worker resumes include skills like "beef cattle," "milking," "cdl," and "skid loader," whereas a ranch hand might be skilled in "cattle ranch," "perform routine maintenance," "snakes," and "rakes. "

    Ranch hands make a very good living in the health care industry with an average annual salary of $28,651. Whereas farm workers are paid the highest salary in the manufacturing industry with the average being $27,329.

    When it comes to education, ranch hands tend to earn similar education levels than farm workers. In fact, they're 0.8% less likely to earn a Master's Degree, and 0.1% less likely to graduate with a Doctoral Degree.

    Description Of a Field Hand

    Now, we'll look at field hands, who generally average a higher pay when compared to farm workers annual salary. In fact, the difference is about $2,803 per year.

    According to resumes from both farm workers and field hands, some of the skills necessary to complete the responsibilities of each role are similar. These skills include "mowing," "farm equipment," and "shovels. "

    While some skills are shared by these professions, there are some differences to note. "harvest," "farm machinery," "farm work," and "beef cattle" are skills that have shown up on farm workers resumes. Additionally, field hand uses skills like frac tanks, oilfield equipment, shop hand, and rakes on their resumes.

    In general, field hands reach similar levels of education when compared to farm workers resumes. Field hands are 0.2% less likely to earn their Master's Degree and 0.2% more likely to graduate with a Doctoral Degree.