Farm Worker Job Description

Salary Range

$33,140 - $53,290

Experience

No experience required

Work Environment

Outdoor agricultural settings

What Does a Farm Worker Do?

Farm workers do the hands-on labor that keeps crops and animals on schedule: planting, thinning, weeding, irrigating, picking and packing, or feeding, milking and moving livestock. The work follows the season and the farm, so one worker might spend spring setting irrigation lines in a vegetable field, summer hand-harvesting berries and fall running a grain cart behind the combine. On dairy, hog and poultry operations the routine is daily and year-round. Most farm workers report to a crew leader or farm manager and spend nearly every hour outdoors or in barns.

Farm Worker Duties and Responsibilities

The primary responsibilities of a farm worker include:

• Plant seeds and transplants by hand or from a mechanical planter, then thin and weed the rows as the crop comes up.
• Lay out, move and repair drip tape, sprinkler lines and irrigation pipe, and report leaks or clogged emitters.
• Hand-harvest fruit, vegetables or nursery stock at the ripeness the crew leader specifies, filling bins or crates to the required standard.
• Drive tractors, ATVs and farm trucks to haul bins, mow, disc fields or pull trailers.
• Feed, water and check livestock or poultry, noting animals that are off feed, limping or showing signs of illness.
• Milk cows, clean stalls, spread bedding and wash down the parlor and barns on dairy operations.
• Sort, grade and pack produce in the field or packing shed, culling damaged or undersized pieces.
• Mend fences, gates and sheds, and grease and clean equipment at the end of the day.
• Follow posted re-entry intervals and wear the required protective gear when working in fields treated with pesticides.

Required Skills and Qualifications

To succeed as a farm worker, you will need the following skills and qualifications:

• Stamina for long days of bending, lifting and repetitive hand work in heat, cold and rain
• Safe operation of tractors, ATVs and power take-off equipment, with guards and shields kept in place
• Knowing what a ripe, marketable crop looks like and picking to grade without bruising it
• Basic animal handling, including moving cattle calmly through gates and chutes
• Simple repairs with hand tools, fencing pliers and a grease gun
• Pesticide safety training under the federal Worker Protection Standard, which employers are required to provide
• A state pesticide applicator certification for workers who mix or apply restricted-use products
• Working steadily as part of a crew, and in many regions, speaking both Spanish and English

Education and Training

There is no formal education requirement for most farm work. Training happens on the job, often on the first day, with a crew leader showing how to pick, cut or handle animals and the pace the farm expects. Employers must give you pesticide safety training under the federal Worker Protection Standard before you work in treated areas. If you want to move up, agricultural courses through high school programs, community colleges or cooperative extension help, and anyone who will apply restricted-use pesticides needs a state applicator certification. Experienced hands often become equipment operators, irrigators, crew leaders, herd managers or farm managers.

Salary and Job Outlook

Farm worker positions remain essential to agriculture. Workers who develop equipment operation skills or specialize in areas like organic farming, irrigation, or livestock management can advance to supervisory or farm management roles.

Farm Worker Pay Range

Highest-Paying States for Farm Workers

The states with the highest median pay for this occupation are California ($53,090), Hawaii ($46,650), Washington ($43,930), North Carolina ($43,790), Ohio ($43,540). Pay is lowest in Tennessee ($33,080), Michigan ($28,950), West Virginia ($24,960).

Applying for a Farm Worker Job

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• How to describe your work experience
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