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Agricultural Equipment Operators vs Machine Feeders and Offbearers

Side-by-side · O*NET · BLS · AI-exposure research · Anthropic Economic Index

A factual, source-backed comparison of Agricultural Equipment Operators and Machine Feeders and Offbearers on the dimensions both occupations carry. Every figure is a position within an independent published dataset — not a verdict on which job is better, safer, or more “future-proof.”

Agricultural Equipment Operators Machine Feeders and Offbearers
Median pay · BLS OEWS
$42,580
$39,700
Employment · BLS OEWS
30,940
46,690
AI exposure (percentile) · task overlap, not automation
23rd pct
3rd pct

At a glance

Dimension Agricultural Equipment Operators Machine Feeders and Offbearers
Median pay $42,580 $39,700
Employment 30,940 46,690
Employment outlook (2024–34) · BLS projection Growing fast (+7.7%) Declining (-13.0%)
Annual openings · BLS projection 10,500 4,700
Typical education · O*NET Usually requires a high school diploma or GED, though some occupations may not. Usually requires a high school diploma or GED, though some occupations may not.
AI exposure · published exposure studies Low · 23rd pct Low · 3rd pct
Global GenAI gradient · ILO ISCO-08 · via crosswalk 23rd pct · 17% of tasks 8th pct · 12% of tasks
Observed AI use · Anthropic Economic Index — —
Mostly remote-capable · Dingel–Neiman No No

Pay and employment are BLS OEWS estimates; outlook and openings are BLS 2024–2034 projections; AI exposure and observed-use figures come from separate research and reflect exposure and usage, not predictions that either job will disappear. Compare like with like.

Skills

Shared: Operation and Control, Control Precision, Multilimb Coordination, Operations Monitoring, Near Vision, English Language, Problem Sensitivity, Far Vision, Oral Comprehension, Arm-Hand Steadiness, Rate Control, Reaction Time, Troubleshooting, Oral Expression, Manual Dexterity, Static Strength, Trunk Strength, Speech Clarity, Active Listening, Quality Control Analysis, Deductive Reasoning, Information Ordering, Finger Dexterity, Speech Recognition, Perceptual Speed, Selective Attention, Auditory Attention, Mechanical, Public Safety and Security, Mathematics.

Specific to Agricultural Equipment Operators

  • Depth Perception
  • Response Orientation
  • Hearing Sensitivity
  • Equipment Maintenance
  • Repairing
  • Extent Flexibility
  • Critical Thinking
  • Social Perceptiveness

Specific to Machine Feeders and Offbearers

  • Production and Processing
  • Monitoring
  • Category Flexibility
  • Flexibility of Closure
  • Reading Comprehension
  • Speaking
  • Written Expression
  • Wrist-Finger Speed

Knowledge, skills & abilities O*NET rates as important for each occupation. “Shared” are common to both; the columns list what is distinctive to each (top by the order O*NET surfaces).

Tools & technology

Shared: Spreadsheet software .

Specific to Agricultural Equipment Operators

Specific to Machine Feeders and Offbearers

Full profiles

This page is a summary. See the complete source-backed profile for Agricultural Equipment Operators or Machine Feeders and Offbearers — tasks, the full skill graph, tools, work context, preparation, wages by percentile, industries, AI exposure and the AI work map.

More comparisons

Related occupations you can place side by side on the same sourced scale.

Sources for this page

Every figure above traces to a named public dataset and the exact release below — not hand-written opinion. See the full methodology for what each measure does and does not mean.

Data compiled June 2, 2026. Figures are estimates, not advice.

Cite this page
Plain

Singulariki. "Agricultural Equipment Operators vs Machine Feeders and Offbearers." Singulariki: a source-backed encyclopedia of work. Built from O*NET 30.3; BLS Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics (OEWS) May 2024; BLS Employment Projections 2024–2034; Microsoft “Working with AI” working-with-ai; “GPTs are GPTs” (Eloundou et al.) arXiv 2303.10130; AI Occupational Exposure (AIOE) Felten, Raj & Seamans; ILO / Gmyrek et al. GenAI exposure gradient 2025; IBS O*NET-SOC ↔ ISCO-08 occupation crosswalk 2022; Frey & Osborne (2013) frey-osborne-automation; Dingel & Neiman (2020) dingel-neiman-workathome. Accessed June 7, 2026. https://singulariki.com/compare/agricultural-equipment-operators-vs-machine-feeders-and-offbearers

APA

Singulariki. (2026). Agricultural Equipment Operators vs Machine Feeders and Offbearers. Singulariki: a source-backed encyclopedia of work. Retrieved June 7, 2026, from https://singulariki.com/compare/agricultural-equipment-operators-vs-machine-feeders-and-offbearers

BibTeX 
@misc{singulariki-agricultural-equipment-operators-vs-machine-feeders-and-offbearers,
  title  = {Agricultural Equipment Operators vs Machine Feeders and Offbearers},
  author = {{Singulariki}},
  year   = {2026},
  note   = {O*NET 30.3; BLS Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics (OEWS) May 2024; BLS Employment Projections 2024–2034; Microsoft “Working with AI” working-with-ai; “GPTs are GPTs” (Eloundou et al.) arXiv 2303.10130; AI Occupational Exposure (AIOE) Felten, Raj & Seamans; ILO / Gmyrek et al. GenAI exposure gradient 2025; IBS O*NET-SOC ↔ ISCO-08 occupation crosswalk 2022; Frey & Osborne (2013) frey-osborne-automation; Dingel & Neiman (2020) dingel-neiman-workathome. Accessed June 7, 2026},
  url    = {https://singulariki.com/compare/agricultural-equipment-operators-vs-machine-feeders-and-offbearers}
}

Citations name the underlying public dataset releases — they reflect what this page is built from, not just the URL.