DETAILED OCCUPATION DATA
45-2091 Agricultural Equipment Operators
Occupational Description:
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.| Percentiles | |||||||||
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| Geography | Employment | Emp SE* | Mean | Mean SE* | 10th | 25th | Median | 75th | 90th |
| Minnesota | 780 | 181 | $18.28/hr | $0.48/hr | $13.92/hr | $16.05/hr | $17.93/hr | $20.43/hr | $23.60/hr |
| U S | 26,990 | 1,107 | $16.25/hr | $0.16/hr | $10.59/hr | $12.89/hr | $15.59/hr | $18.89/hr | $23.00/hr |
| *SE = Standard error, a measure of the statistical reliability of the estimate. | |||||||||
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| Occupation (click title for details) | OES | Projections | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Employment | Median Wage | % Change 2023 - 2025 | |
| Operating Engineers and Other Construction Equipment Operators | 10,240 | $33.03/hr | 5.1% |
| Automotive Body and Related Repairers | 2,570 | $20.67/hr | 2.1% |
| Farm Equipment Mechanics | 1,770 | $22.91/hr | 2.5% |
| Farmworkers and Laborers, Crop, Nursery, and Greenhouse | 940 | $16.44/hr | 0.2% |
| Crane and Tower Operators | 460 | $26.04/hr | 5.2% |
| Food and Tobacco Roasting, Baking, and Drying Machine Operators and Tenders | 430 | $18.07/hr | -0.2% |
| Cooling and Freezing Equipment Operators and Tenders | 420 | $21.89/hr | 1.9% |
| Riggers | 190 | $24.87/hr | 2.5% |
Tasks for Agricultural Equipment Operators
- Drives tractor with implements to plow, plant, cultivate, or harvest crops and to move trailers for crop harvest.
- Manipulates controls to set, activate, and regulate mechanisms on machinery such as self-propelled machines, conveyors, separators, cleaners, and dryers.
- Drives truck, or tractor with trailer attached, alongside crew loading crop or adjacent to harvesting machine.
- Observes and listens to machinery operation to detect equipment malfunction, and removes obstruction to avoid damage to product or machinery.
- Discards diseased or rotting product, and guides product on conveyor to regulate flow through machine.
- Attaches farm implements, such as plow, disc, sprayer, or harvester, to tractor, using bolts and mechanic's hand tools.
- Weighs crop-filled containers and records weights and other identifying information.
- Loads and unloads crops or containers of materials, manually or using conveyors, handtruck, forklift, or transfer auger.
- Mixes specified materials or chemicals and dumps solutions, powders, or seeds into planter or sprayer machinery.
- Irrigates soil, using portable pipe or ditch system, and maintains ditch or pipe and pumps.
- Walks beside or rides on planting machine while inserting plants in planter mechanism at specified intervals.
- Adjusts, repairs, lubricates, and services farm machinery, and notifies supervisor or appropriate personnel when machinery malfunctions.
- Loads hoppers, containers, or conveyor to feed machine with products, using suction gates, shovel, or pitchfork.
- Thins, hoes, weeds, or prunes row crops, fruit trees, or vines, using hand implements.
- Oversees work crew engaged in planting, weeding, or harvesting activities.
- Hand picks fruit, such as apples, oranges, or strawberries.
- Positions boxes or attaches bags at discharge end of machinery to catch products, places lids on boxes, and closes sacks.
- Sprays fertilizer or pesticide solutions, using hand sprayer, to control insects, fungus and weed growth, and diseases.
- Drives truck to haul harvested crops, supplies, tools, or farm workers.
