What does a ranch hand 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.
Ranch hand responsibilities
Here are examples of responsibilities from real ranch hand resumes:
- Manage habitat, predators, whitetail and several species of exotic animals.
- Assist with lessons and summer camps which include helping riders groom, tack up and mount.
- Relocate wheel line sprinklers used to irrigate crops.
- Halter training fillies and colts, handling mares, studs and foals
- Operate a backhoe to dig dirt and move large oil field equipment.
- Clean livestock stalls and sheds using disinfectant solutions, brushes, and shovels.
- Order fertilizer treatments for fields and perform bailing duties and repair of baling equipment.
- Assemble explosive components into gun section and then assemble sections into complete wireline gun.
- Oversee the cutting, baling and hauling of over 2,000 tons of hay each summer.
- Help to finish ranch house doors and trim, and clean corrals out with bobcat.
- Place tack and/or halters on horses to accustom them to the feel of the equipment.
- Care for horses, muck stalls, halter break foals, assist veterinarian on farm calls
- Work on a family farm burning fields, spraying chemicals, mowing land, and pulling trailers.
- Turn outs, grooming (except clipping), trailering, mucking out pens/stalls, bathing, feeding.
- Operate heavy equipment, give medical attention to cattle, build and repair fences, various farming and harvest activities.
Ranch hand skills and personality traits
We calculated that 15% of Ranch Hands are proficient in Harvest, Farm Work, and Farm Machinery. They’re also known for soft skills such as Dexterity, Physical strength, and Mechanical skills.
We break down the percentage of Ranch Hands that have these skills listed on their resume here:
- Harvest, 15%
Drive and control farm equipment to till soil and to plant, cultivate, harvest crops, and hay baling.
- Farm Work, 12%
Do all ranch and farm work including maintain equipment run equipment, Take care of livestock and take care of grounds/crops.
- Farm Machinery, 9%
Performed necessary maintenance on farm machinery and operated assorted farm vehicles and machinery to plow fields.
- Physical Characteristics, 7%
Examine horses to detect illness, injury, or disease, and to check physical characteristics.
- Cattle Ranch, 6%
Fed and cared for up to eight private horses on a four thousand acre horse and cattle ranch.
- Farm Animals, 4%
Administer vacations to farm animals maintain property up keep and regularly maintenance trackers and equipment.
Most ranch hands use their skills in "harvest," "farm work," and "farm machinery" to do their jobs. You can find more detail on essential ranch hand responsibilities here:
Dexterity. One of the key soft skills for a ranch hand to have is dexterity. You can see how this relates to what ranch hands do because "agricultural workers need excellent hand-eye coordination to harvest crops and operate farm machinery." Additionally, a ranch hand resume shows how ranch hands use dexterity: "operated back-hoe, forklift and dump truck. "
Physical strength. Many ranch hand duties rely on physical strength. "agricultural workers must be strong enough to lift heavy objects, including tools and crops.," so a ranch hand will need this skill often in their role. This resume example is just one of many ways ranch hand responsibilities rely on physical strength: "required to work long hours doing very physical labor in all conditions imaginable. "
Mechanical skills. ranch hands are also known for mechanical skills, which are critical to their duties. You can see how this skill relates to ranch hand responsibilities, because "agricultural workers must be able to operate complex farm machinery." A ranch hand resume example shows how mechanical skills is used in the workplace: "maintain and repair equipment, welding and mechanical repairs on ranch. "
The three companies that hire the most ranch hands are:
- D.R. Horton4 ranch hands jobs
- Montana4 ranch hands jobs
- CARE2 ranch hands jobs
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Compare different ranch hands
Ranch hand vs. Groom
A groom is primarily in charge of maintaining the hygiene and appearance of pets. Typically working at grooming shops, a groom liaises with pet owners to identify their preferences, observe the pet's condition to identify its needs, and explain the extent of procedures to pet owners. They may bathe and cut a pet's hair or nails, even brush its teeth and recommend care procedures to clients. Furthermore, as a groom, it is essential to be proactive and alert as some pets' behaviors are unpredictable.
There are some key differences in the responsibilities of each position. For example, ranch hand responsibilities require skills like "harvest," "farm work," "farm machinery," and "physical characteristics." Meanwhile a typical groom has skills in areas such as "pet," "clipping," "animal handling," and "pet care." This difference in skills reveals the differences in what each career does.
The education levels that grooms earn slightly differ from ranch hands. In particular, grooms are 0.1% less likely to graduate with a Master's Degree than a ranch hand. Additionally, they're 0.0% more likely to earn a Doctoral Degree.Ranch hand vs. Milker
In addition to the difference in salary, there are some other key differences worth noting. For example, ranch hand responsibilities are more likely to require skills like "harvest," "farm machinery," "physical characteristics," and "cattle ranch." Meanwhile, a milker has duties that require skills in areas such as "milking," "dairy farm," "calf," and "milk cows." These differences highlight just how different the day-to-day in each role looks.
Milkers earn a higher average salary than ranch hands. But milkers earn the highest pay in the finance industry, with an average salary of $40,793. Additionally, ranch hands earn the highest salaries in the health care with average pay of $28,651 annually.In general, milkers achieve similar levels of education than ranch hands. They're 1.4% less likely to obtain a Master's Degree while being 0.0% less likely to earn a Doctoral Degree.Ranch hand vs. Cowboy
There are many key differences between these two careers, including some of the skills required to perform responsibilities within each role. For example, a ranch hand is likely to be skilled in "harvest," "farm work," "farm machinery," and "cattle ranch," while a typical cowboy is skilled in "customer service," "food preparation," "cdl," and "general maintenance."
Most cowboys achieve a similar degree level compared to ranch hands. For example, they're 1.0% more likely to graduate with a Master's Degree, and 0.9% more likely to earn a Doctoral Degree.Ranch hand vs. Field worker
Types of ranch hand
Updated January 8, 2025
