Farmworkers and Laborers, Crop, Nursery, and Greenhouse
Agriculture, Food and Natural ResourcesO*NET 45-2092.00United States
Manually plant, cultivate, and harvest vegetables, fruits, nuts, horticultural specialties, and field crops. Use hand tools, such as shovels, trowels, hoes, tampers, pruning hooks, shears, and knives.
- Median annual earnings
- $34,205
- Projected change
- +2.7%
- Typical education
- High school diploma or less
- Employment
- 602.82K jobs
50th percentile, United States
2025 to 2035
67.5% of the workforce
Growing to 619.26K by 2035
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These courses and certificates are connected through catalog career relationships and Lightcast skill tags.
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The work
What farmworkers and laborers, crop, nursery, and greenhouse do
Tasks reported for this occupation, ordered by how often they come up in the role.
- Record information about crops, such as pesticide use, yields, or costs.
- Direct and monitor the work of casual and seasonal help during planting and harvesting.
- Harvest plants, and transplant or pot and label them.
- Participate in the inspection, grading, sorting, storage, and post-harvest treatment of crops.
- Repair and maintain farm vehicles, implements, and mechanical equipment.
- Harvest fruits and vegetables by hand.
- Set up and operate irrigation equipment.
- Inform farmers or farm managers of crop progress.
- Identify plants, pests, and weeds to determine the selection and application of pesticides and fertilizers.
- Operate tractors, tractor-drawn machinery, and self-propelled machinery to plow, harrow and fertilize soil, or to plant, cultivate, spray and harvest crops.
- Load agricultural products into trucks, and drive trucks to market or storage facilities.
- Clean work areas, and maintain grounds and landscaping.
Pay and outlook
What the job pays and where it is heading
Annual earnings range
Reported earnings by percentile, United States
- 10th percentile
- $15,658
- 25th percentile
- $24,971
- 50th percentile
- $34,205
- 75th percentile
- $39,165
- 90th percentile
- $50,598
The gold marker shows the median. Half earn more than $34,205 and half earn less.
Employment outlook
2025 to 2035 projection
+2.7%average or slower
2025602,824 jobs
2035 projected619,263 jobs
16,439 more positions over the decade, before replacement hiring.
Preparation
Education levels
What people currently working in the career hold. These are not entry requirements.
- High school diploma or less
- 67.5%
- Bachelor's degree
- 16.8%
- Master's or Professional degree
- 8.1%
- Some college
- 5.3%
- Associate degree
- 2%
- Certificate
- 0.3%
Skills
Skills employers ask for
Technical skills appearing most often in job postings for this occupation.
How the work gets done
Core competencies
Broad capabilities associated with strong performance in this occupation.
- Speaking
- Talking to others to convey information effectively.
- Operations Monitoring
- Watching gauges, dials, or other indicators to make sure a machine is working properly.
- Active Listening
- Giving full attention to what other people are saying, taking time to understand the points being made, asking questions as appropriate, and not interrupting at inappropriate times.
- Reading Comprehension
- Understanding written sentences and paragraphs in work-related documents.
- Operation and Control
- Controlling operations of equipment or systems.
- Critical Thinking
- Using logic and reasoning to identify the strengths and weaknesses of alternative solutions, conclusions, or approaches to problems.
- Repairing
- Repairing machines or systems using the needed tools.
- Time Management
- Managing one's own time and the time of others.
- Writing
- Communicating effectively in writing as appropriate for the needs of the audience.
- Monitoring
- Monitoring/Assessing performance of yourself, other individuals, or organizations to make improvements or take corrective action.
- Social Perceptiveness
- Being aware of others' reactions and understanding why they react as they do.
- Equipment Maintenance
- Performing routine maintenance on equipment and determining when and what kind of maintenance is needed.
- Active Learning
- Understanding the implications of new information for both current and future problem-solving and decision-making.
- Troubleshooting
- Determining causes of operating errors and deciding what to do about it.
- Quality Control Analysis
- Conducting tests and inspections of products, services, or processes to evaluate quality or performance.
- Systems Analysis
- Determining how a system should work and how changes in conditions, operations, and the environment will affect outcomes.
- Coordination
- Adjusting actions in relation to others' actions.
- Persuasion
- Persuading others to change their minds or behavior.
- Learning Strategies
- Selecting and using training/instructional methods and procedures appropriate for the situation when learning or teaching new things.
- Complex Problem Solving
- Identifying complex problems and reviewing related information to develop and evaluate options and implement solutions.
In the market
Job titles and employers
Recent job postings in United StatesCommon job titles
- 01Irrigation Technicians3,443 postings
- 02Farm Workers2,704 postings
- 03Farm Hands998 postings
- 04Greenhouse Workers953 postings
- 05Horticulturists538 postings
- 06Farm Laborers432 postings
- 07Irrigation Specialists428 postings
- 08Irrigators399 postings
- 09Farm Assistants325 postings
- 10Nursery Workers303 postings
- 11Horticultural Assistants257 postings
- 12Grain Elevator Operators220 postings
- 13Irrigation Service Technicians213 postings
- 14Agricultural Workers208 postings
- 15Growers190 postings
- 16Agricultural Equipment Operators152 postings
- 17Farmers151 postings
- 18Landscape Irrigation Technicians129 postings
- 19Farm Technicians127 postings
- 20Herdsperson Trainees/Laborers120 postings
Top employers
- 01State of Michigan529 postings
- 02Brightview343 postings
- 03Smithfield Foods200 postings
- 04GPAC184 postings
- 05Hansen Agri-PLACEMENT168 postings
- 06Yellowstone Landscape106 postings
- 07Walmart94 postings
- 08Employment Security Dept67 postings
- 09Murphy Family Ventures48 postings
- 10Massey Services47 postings
- 11Hormel45 postings
- 12Ruppert Landscape40 postings
- 13Bartlett39 postings
- 14Growmark36 postings
- 15Tyson Foods36 postings
- 16Wilbur-Ellis33 postings
- 17Bartlett Grain Company32 postings
- 18Landscape Workshop32 postings
- 19Comfama30 postings
- 20Supreme Enterprises30 postings
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