Farming, fishing and forestry
Agricultural equipment operator
Drive and control equipment to support agricultural activities such as tilling soil; planting, cultivating, and harvesting crops; feeding and herding livestock; or removing animal waste. May perform tasks such as crop baling or hay bucking. May operate stationary equipment to perform post-harvest tasks such as husking, shelling, threshing, and ginning.
Median pay
$41,730
Growth to 2035
+9%
faster than average
Openings a year
10,100
Time to qualify*
6 months
* From a bachelor's degree in an unrelated field.
Pay
Agricultural equipment operator
Getting in
- Typical entry education
- No formal educational credential
- On-the-job training
- Moderate-term on-the-job training
- Prior experience
- None
What the work is like
Dealing with the public
Unpleasant or angry people
Time pressure
Cost of a mistake
Freedom to make decisions
Repeating the same tasks
Time sitting
Time standing
Outdoors in all weather
Agricultural equipment operator: 84% usually work over 40 hours a week
Core tasks
- Load and unload crops or containers of materials, manually or using conveyors, handtrucks, forklifts, or transfer augers.
- Mix specified materials or chemicals, and dump solutions, powders, or seeds into planter or sprayer machinery.
- Spray fertilizer or pesticide solutions to control insects, fungus and weed growth, and diseases, using hand sprayers.
- Observe and listen to machinery operation to detect equipment malfunctions.
- Manipulate controls to set, activate, and adjust mechanisms on machinery.
- Operate or tend equipment used in agricultural production, such as tractors, combines, and irrigation equipment.
- Adjust, repair, and service farm machinery and notify supervisors when machinery malfunctions.
- Attach farm implements such as plows, discs, sprayers, or harvesters to tractors, using bolts and hand tools.
Also called: Baler Operator · Cutter Operator · Equipment Operator · Farm Equipment Operator · Hay Baler · Loader Operator · Packing Tractor Machine Operator · Rake Operator
Outlook and AI
Agricultural equipment operators held 66,900 jobs in 2025. BLS projects 72,600 by 2035 (+9%, faster than average; all jobs: +3.5%).
Compare with
- Agricultural equipment operator vs. Farmworkers and laborers, crop, nursery, and greenhouse
- Agricultural equipment operator vs. Machine feeders and offbearers
- Agricultural equipment operator vs. Separating, filtering, clarifying, precipitating, and still machine setters, operators, and tenders
- Agricultural equipment operator vs. Extruding, forming, pressing, and compacting machine setters, operators, and tenders
- Agricultural equipment operator vs. Milling and planing machine setters, operators, and tenders, metal and plastic
- Agricultural equipment operator vs. Crushing, grinding, and polishing machine setters, operators, and tenders
- Agricultural equipment operator vs. Conveyor operators and tenders
- Agricultural equipment operator vs. Industrial truck and tractor operators
- Agricultural equipment operator vs. Pesticide handlers, sprayers, and applicators, vegetation
- Agricultural equipment operator vs. Laborers and freight, stock, and material movers, hand