Plant breeder vs plant breeder scientist

The differences between plant breeders and plant breeder scientists can be seen in a few details. Each job has different responsibilities and duties. It typically takes 1-2 years to become both a plant breeder and a plant breeder scientist. Additionally, a plant breeder has an average salary of $78,129, which is higher than the $73,225 average annual salary of a plant breeder scientist.

The top three skills for a plant breeder include harvest, greenhouse and data management. The most important skills for a plant breeder scientist are laboratory procedures, USDA, and disease resistance.

Plant breeder vs plant breeder scientist overview

	Plant Breeder	Plant Breeder Scientist
Yearly salary	$78,129	$73,225
Hourly rate	$37.56	$35.20
Growth rate	8%	8%
Number of jobs	8,845	50,535
Job satisfaction	-	-
Most common degree	Bachelor's Degree, 62%	Bachelor's Degree, 61%
Average age	40	40
Years of experience	2	2

Plant breeder vs plant breeder scientist salary

Plant breeders and plant breeder scientists have different pay scales, as shown below.

	Plant Breeder	Plant Breeder Scientist
Average salary	$78,129	$73,225
Salary range	Between $51,000 And $119,000	Between $44,000 And $119,000
Highest paying City	Philadelphia, PA	Cambridge, MA
Highest paying state	Massachusetts	Connecticut
Best paying company	Nufarm	Bristol-Myers Squibb
Best paying industry	-	-

Differences between plant breeder and plant breeder scientist education

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

	Plant Breeder	Plant Breeder Scientist
Most common degree	Bachelor's Degree, 62%	Bachelor's Degree, 61%
Most common major	Plant Sciences	Plant Sciences
Most common college	Cornell University	Cornell University

Plant breeder vs plant breeder scientist demographics

Here are the differences between plant breeders' and plant breeder scientists' demographics:

	Plant Breeder	Plant Breeder Scientist
Average age	40	40
Gender ratio	Male, 75.0% Female, 25.0%	Male, 41.7% Female, 58.3%
Race ratio	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%	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 plant breeder and plant breeder scientist duties and responsibilities

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.

Plant breeder scientist example responsibilities.

Develop and manage third party claim investigations and contractor remedial oversight for various insurance companies.
Conduct technology comparison study to assess applicability of a wide range of chromatography products to support specific HTS assays.
Analyze parallel synthesis libraries using high-throughput LC/MS methods with UV/ELS detection including mass determination, purity evaluation, and quantification.

Plant breeder vs plant breeder scientist skills

Common plant breeder skills

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

Common plant breeder scientist skills

Laboratory Procedures, 26%
USDA, 23%
Disease Resistance, 22%
GC, 15%
PCR, 14%

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Life, Physical, and Social Science Industry
Plant Breeder
Plant Breeder vs Plant Breeder Scientist

Updated January 8, 2025

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