Skills it runs on
The capabilities O*NET rates most important for this occupation — the human ground the work is built on.
See all skills →Agricultural Equipment Operators
Occupation · SOC 45-2091.00
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.
Also called: Equipment Operator · Farm Equipment Operator · Loader Operator · Rake Operator · Baler Operator · Cutter Operator · Hay Baler · Packing Tractor Machine Operator · Sprayer · Windrower Operator · Agricultural Equipment Operator (Ag Equipment Operator) · Agricultural Farm Equipment Operator
Job family: Farming, Fishing, and Forestry Occupations
Take this to your AI
A source-stamped Markdown brief of this occupation — paste it into an agent, or fetch
/roles/role-45-2091-00/context.md directly.
AI work map
A fast read on where AI already shows up in this occupation, where it stays a copilot, where humans remain in the loop, and what the labor market is doing. Built from observed Claude.ai conversations mapped to O*NET tasks and from published research — measures of usage and exposure, not advice or predictions that the job is going away.
Market signal
Independent published positions, read together — not a forecast.
- Growing fast employment outlook (+7.7% by 2034)
- 10,500 openings/yr
- Low AI exposure
- Median pay $42,580/yr
- Work is mostly on-site (not teleworkable)
9th-percentile task overlap — yet about 10,500 openings a year (+7.7% projected, BLS) . What exposure means →
AI & job outlook
What today's research says about this occupation's exposure to AI, how AI is actually being used in it, and where employment is headed. These are positions within published studies — measures of exposure and usage, not predictions that this job will disappear.
Exposure to current AI
Each study uses its own scale, so the raw scores are not comparable across rows — the percentile (this job's rank among all U.S. occupations with data) is the comparable figure, and sizes the bars.
| Measure | Rank vs all occupations | Percentile | Score |
|---|---|---|---|
| Overall AI exposure (Felten et al.) Low | 13th | -1.1 | |
| LLM task exposure, γ (OpenAI / Eloundou) Low | 3rd | 0.0 | |
| AI assistant applicability (Microsoft) Low | 23rd | 0.1 |
OpenAI's exposure study scores tasks three ways: with a language model alone (α 0.0), with simple added tooling (β 0.0), and including AI-powered software (γ 0.0). Higher means more of the job's tasks could be done at least twice as fast — not that they will be automated away.
This job mostly cannot be done remotely (Dingel–Neiman) — its hands-on tasks sit outside what software-based AI reaches.
Job outlook
Independent U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics employment projection for 2024–2034 — a labor-market forecast, not an AI-impact forecast.
| Outlook | Growing fast · +7.7% by 2034 |
| Projected annual openings | 10,500 |
| Employment 2024 → 2034 | 65,200 → 70,300 |
“Annual openings” counts new jobs plus replacements for workers who leave the occupation, so it can be large even when growth is modest.
Where this work sits on the global GenAI gradient
The ILO's 2025 global study scores generative-AI exposure on the international ISCO-08 occupation system, not US SOC. Bridged through the published (and approximate, many-to-many) IBS O*NET-SOC ↔ ISCO-08 crosswalk, this US occupation corresponds to the international 6 occupations below. Exposure here means how much of the work's tasks today's AI can attempt — task overlap, not automation, adoption, or jobs lost.
Agricultural Equipment Operators sits at the 23rd percentile of 427
occupations on the global GenAI task-exposure gradient
. Each dot is one occupation; the
ringed one is this work. Exposure is task overlap, not automation or jobs lost.
17% mean task exposure (2025)
23rd percentile of 427 placed occupations
−0 pts shift 2023 → 2025
| International occupation (ISCO-08) | Task exposure (2025) | Most tasks fall in |
|---|---|---|
| Mixed Crop and Animal Producers · 6130 | 19% | Not exposed |
| Gardeners, Horticultural and Nursery Growers · 6113 | 18% | Not exposed |
| Field Crop and Vegetable Growers · 6111 | 18% | Not exposed |
| Mixed Crop Growers · 6114 | 17% | Not exposed |
| Tree and Shrub Crop Growers · 6112 | 17% | Not exposed |
| Mobile Farm and Forestry Plant Operators · 8341 | 12% | Not exposed |
Read the whole six-band gradient on the GenAI exposure gradient page. The crosswalk is approximate: a US occupation can map to several international ones, and the ILO scores describe the international occupation, not this exact US role.
Tasks
All 17 tasks O*NET lists for this occupation, ordered by importance. Each links to its own page with AI-exposure and observed-use detail.
- Load and unload crops or containers of materials, manually or using conveyors, handtrucks, forklifts, or transfer augers. Core · importance 4.5
- Mix specified materials or chemicals, and dump solutions, powders, or seeds into planter or sprayer machinery. Core · importance 4.4
- Spray fertilizer or pesticide solutions to control insects, fungus and weed growth, and diseases, using hand sprayers. Core · importance 4.3
- Observe and listen to machinery operation to detect equipment malfunctions. Core · importance 4.3
- Manipulate controls to set, activate, and adjust mechanisms on machinery. Core · importance 4.3
- Load hoppers, containers, or conveyors to feed machines with products, using forklifts, transfer augers, suction gates, shovels, or pitchforks. Supplemental · importance 4.2
- Direct and monitor the activities of work crews engaged in planting, weeding, or harvesting activities. Supplemental · importance 4.2
- Operate or tend equipment used in agricultural production, such as tractors, combines, and irrigation equipment. Core · importance 4.2
- Operate towed machines such as seed drills or manure spreaders to plant, fertilize, dust, and spray crops. Supplemental · importance 4.2
- Adjust, repair, and service farm machinery and notify supervisors when machinery malfunctions. Core · importance 4.0
- Weigh crop-filled containers, and record weights and other identifying information. Supplemental · importance 4.0
- Drive trucks to haul crops, supplies, tools, or farm workers. Supplemental · importance 4.0
- Walk beside or ride on planting machines while inserting plants in planter mechanisms at specified intervals. Supplemental · importance 4.0
- Guide products on conveyors to regulate flow through machines, and to discard diseased or rotten products. Supplemental · importance 4.0
- Irrigate soil, using portable pipes or ditch systems, and maintain ditches or pipes and pumps. Supplemental · importance 4.0
- Position boxes or attach bags at discharge ends of machinery to catch products, removing and closing full containers. Supplemental · importance 4.0
- Attach farm implements such as plows, discs, sprayers, or harvesters to tractors, using bolts and hand tools. Core · importance 3.9
Emerging tasks
Newer responsibilities O*NET has flagged as growing for this occupation.
- Operate drones to monitor crop health, growth and pest infestations, and apply targeted treatments.
Work activities
- Maintain forestry, hunting, or agricultural equipment.
- Confer with managers to make operational decisions.
- Inspect equipment or facilities to determine condition or maintenance needs.
- Operate irrigation systems.
- Prepare materials or solutions for animal or plant use.
- Operate farming equipment.
- Direct activities of agricultural, forestry, or fishery employees.
- Load materials into equipment for processing.
- Apply chemical solutions to plants to protect against disease or insects or to enhance growth.
- Attach equipment extensions or accessories.
- Plant crops, trees, or other plants.
- Measure physical characteristics of forestry or agricultural products.
- Record agricultural or forestry inventory data.
- Load agricultural or forestry products for shipment.
- Operate conveyors or other industrial material moving equipment.
Knowledge, skills & abilities
O*NET importance rating, from 1 (not important) to 5 (extremely important).
Transferable skills
| Operation and Control | 3.9 | |
| Operations Monitoring | 3.8 | |
| Troubleshooting | 3.1 | |
| Equipment Maintenance | 3.0 | |
| Repairing | 3.0 | |
| Quality Control Analysis | 3.0 | |
| Social Perceptiveness | 2.9 |
Abilities
| Control Precision | 3.9 | |
| Multilimb Coordination | 3.9 | |
| Near Vision | 3.6 | |
| Problem Sensitivity | 3.4 | |
| Far Vision | 3.4 | |
| Depth Perception | 3.4 | |
| Oral Comprehension | 3.3 | |
| Arm-Hand Steadiness | 3.3 | |
| Response Orientation | 3.3 | |
| Rate Control | 3.3 | |
| Reaction Time | 3.3 | |
| Oral Expression | 3.1 | |
| Manual Dexterity | 3.1 | |
| Static Strength | 3.1 | |
| Trunk Strength | 3.1 | |
| Hearing Sensitivity | 3.1 | |
| Speech Clarity | 3.1 | |
| Deductive Reasoning | 3.0 | |
| Information Ordering | 3.0 | |
| Finger Dexterity | 3.0 | |
| Extent Flexibility | 3.0 | |
| Speech Recognition | 3.0 | |
| Inductive Reasoning | 2.9 | |
| Perceptual Speed | 2.9 | |
| Visualization | 2.9 | |
| Selective Attention | 2.9 | |
| Auditory Attention | 2.9 |
Knowledge
| English Language | 3.4 | |
| Mechanical | 2.9 | |
| Public Safety and Security | 2.8 | |
| Mathematics | 2.8 |
Essential skills
| Active Listening | 3.0 | |
| Critical Thinking | 2.9 |
Skills in demand
Skills employers ask for in job postings for this occupation (Lightcast), with whether each is a common or specialized skill.
Tools & technology
| Example | Category | |
|---|---|---|
| Microsoft Access | Data base user interface and query software | Hot technology |
| Microsoft Excel | Spreadsheet software | Hot technology |
| Microsoft PowerPoint | Presentation software | Hot technology |
| Farm Management Software Hay and Crop Manager | Enterprise resource planning ERP software | |
| Martens Farms Farm Site Mate | Map creation software | |
| Martens Farms Farm Trac | Data base user interface and query software |
Work context
How characteristic each condition is of the job, on O*NET's 1–5 context scale (higher = more present in day-to-day work). Each condition links to how it varies across all occupations.
How to get in
- Job zone
- Zone 2 — Job Zone 1-2: Very Little to Some Preparation Needed
- Education
- Usually requires a high school diploma or GED, though some occupations may not.
- Typical entry-level education
- No formal educational credential · BLS, the typical path — not a requirement
- Related experience
- Some occupations may need little or no previous experience; others require several months to a year of experience. For example, landscaping and groundskeeping workers might require very little training or previous experience, while agricultural equipment operators can benefit from on-the job training.
- Preparation level
- SVP (Below 6.0) — total schooling plus on-the-job experience.
What to study: Agriculture, Agriculture Operations, and Related Sciences . Fields of study crosswalked to this occupation (NCES CIP–SOC), not a requirement.
Education of current workers
Share of people in this occupation at each level of education.
| Less than a High School Diploma | 56.8% | |
| High School Diploma | 19.1% | |
| Post-Secondary Certificate | 14.4% | |
| Some College Courses | 9.5% | |
| Associate's Degree (or other 2-year degree) | 0.1% |
Interests & work styles
The interests and personal qualities O*NET associates with people who do this work.
Career interests (Holland / RIASEC)
| Realistic | 7.0 | |
| Conventional | 3.7 | |
| Investigative | 2.5 | |
| Enterprising | 1.3 |
Interest areas
| Agriculture | 6.3 | |
| Transportation/Machine Operation | 6.3 | |
| Physical/Manual Labor | 5.3 | |
| Mechanics/Electronics | 4.3 | |
| Nature/Outdoors | 3.5 | |
| Engineering | 2.5 | |
| Life Science | 1.4 | |
| Animal Service | 1.4 |
Work styles
| Dependability | 2.3 | |
| Attention to Detail | 1.8 | |
| Cautiousness | 1.5 | |
| Perseverance | 1.3 |
Wages & employment
U.S. · annual wages (BLS OEWS)
| 10th percentile | $31,240 |
| 25th percentile | $36,640 |
| Median (50th) | $42,580 |
| 75th percentile | $48,690 |
| 90th percentile | $57,790 |
| People employed | 30,940 |
Industries that employ this occupation
Where these workers are employed, by number of jobs (national, BLS OEWS). Pay shown is the occupation's national median, not industry-specific.
| Industry | Workers | National median pay |
|---|---|---|
| Agriculture, Forestry, Fishing and Hunting · Sector | 16,020 | $37,940 |
| Wholesale Trade · Sector | 9,560 | $46,200 |
| Manufacturing · Sector | 1,820 | $46,460 |
| Transportation and Warehousing · Sector | 930 | $46,680 |
| Administrative and Support and Waste Management and Remediation Services · Sector | 700 | $43,150 |
| Retail Trade · Sector | 670 | $47,110 |
| Landscaping Services · National industry | 280 | $39,580 |
| Temporary Help Services · National industry | 200 | $41,600 |
| Management of Companies and Enterprises · Sector | 160 | $41,790 |
| Professional, Scientific, and Technical Services · Sector | 120 | $38,220 |
| Real Estate and Rental and Leasing · Sector | 40 | $54,200 |
| Construction · Sector | 30 | $52,870 |
Where this work is most concentrated
Industries where this occupation is far more common than in the economy as a whole. The location quotient is how many times more concentrated it is here (a value of 5 means five times its economy-wide share).
| Industry | Concentration | Workers |
|---|---|---|
| Agriculture, Forestry, Fishing and Hunting · Sector | 188.57× | 16,020 |
| Wholesale Trade · Sector | 7.89× | 9,560 |
| Landscaping Services · National industry | 1.52× | 280 |
| Manufacturing · Sector | 0.71× | 1,820 |
| Transportation and Warehousing · Sector | 0.63× | 930 |
| Administrative and Support and Waste Management and Remediation Services · Sector | 0.39× | 700 |
| Temporary Help Services · National industry | 0.38× | 200 |
| Management of Companies and Enterprises · Sector | 0.28× | 160 |
Related occupations
Part of the Agriculture career cluster.
- Farmworkers and Laborers, Crop, Nursery, and Greenhouse · 45-2092.00 Compare →
- Machine Feeders and Offbearers · 53-7063.00 Compare →
- Separating, Filtering, Clarifying, Precipitating, and Still Machine Setters, Operators, and Tenders · 51-9012.00 Compare →
- Extruding, Forming, Pressing, and Compacting Machine Setters, Operators, and Tenders · 51-9041.00 Compare →
- Milling and Planing Machine Setters, Operators, and Tenders, Metal and Plastic · 51-4035.00 Compare →
- Crushing, Grinding, and Polishing Machine Setters, Operators, and Tenders · 51-9021.00 Compare →
- Conveyor Operators and Tenders · 53-7011.00 Compare →
- Industrial Truck and Tractor Operators · 53-7051.00 Compare →
- Pesticide Handlers, Sprayers, and Applicators, Vegetation · 37-3012.00 Compare →
- Laborers and Freight, Stock, and Material Movers, Hand · 53-7062.00 Compare →
- Industrial Machinery Mechanics · 49-9041.00 Compare →
- Operating Engineers and Other Construction Equipment Operators · 47-2073.00 Compare →
Side-by-side comparisons place two occupations’ pay, preparation, skills, and AI exposure on the same page — same data, same scale, no forecast.
What you can do with this
Options the data surfaces for Agricultural Equipment Operators — not advice or a forecast. Each is a real cross-link you can follow into the evidence.
Skills that travel
Capabilities this work builds that are used across many other occupations.
Adjacent roles
Occupations O*NET rates as related — the nearby moves on the map.
- Farmworkers and Laborers, Crop, Nursery, and Greenhouse Compare →
- Machine Feeders and Offbearers Compare →
- Separating, Filtering, Clarifying, Precipitating, and Still Machine Setters, Operators, and Tenders Compare →
- Extruding, Forming, Pressing, and Compacting Machine Setters, Operators, and Tenders Compare →
- Milling and Planing Machine Setters, Operators, and Tenders, Metal and Plastic Compare →
Paths in
How people typically prepare for this work.
- No formal educational credential · typical entry level
- Job zone 2 — Job Zone 1-2: Very Little to Some Preparation Needed · preparation tier
- Agriculture, Agriculture Operations, and Related Sciences · field of study
Zoom out
On the global GenAI exposure gradient this work sits around the 23rd percentile of 427 international occupations.
Write a report on thisheadline · factoids · citation
Agricultural Equipment Operators show 9th-percentile AI task overlap — and about 10,500 annual U.S. openings
- Agricultural Equipment Operators rank in the 9th percentile (Low band) for AI task overlap across U.S. occupations — a measure of how much of the work today's AI can attempt, not how much is automated.Eloundou et al. (GPTs are GPTs) + Felten AIOE
- The occupation is projected to see about 10,500 U.S. job openings per year (2024–34), counting growth and replacement — a labor-demand projection made independently of AI.BLS Employment Projections 2024–34
- BLS projects employment to be growing fast (+7.7%) from 2024 to 2034.BLS Employment Projections 2024–34
- Median annual pay is $42,580, across about 30,940 U.S. workers.BLS OEWS (May 2024)
Copy the whole kit
Agricultural Equipment Operators show 9th-percentile AI task overlap — and about 10,500 annual U.S. openings • Agricultural Equipment Operators rank in the 9th percentile (Low band) for AI task overlap across U.S. occupations — a measure of how much of the work today's AI can attempt, not how much is automated. (Eloundou et al. (GPTs are GPTs) + Felten AIOE) • The occupation is projected to see about 10,500 U.S. job openings per year (2024–34), counting growth and replacement — a labor-demand projection made independently of AI. (BLS Employment Projections 2024–34) • BLS projects employment to be growing fast (+7.7%) from 2024 to 2034. (BLS Employment Projections 2024–34) • Median annual pay is $42,580, across about 30,940 U.S. workers. (BLS OEWS (May 2024)) Source: Singulariki — "Agricultural Equipment Operators". https://singulariki.com/roles/role-45-2091-00 Note: AI task overlap measures what today's AI can attempt, not automation, job loss, or a forecast.
AssetsShare imageMethodology & sourcesPress & newsroomThe newsroom
Every line is built only from figures this page already shows and cites. AI task overlap means what today's AI can attempt — not automation, job loss, or a forecast.
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.
- O*NET 30.3 U.S. Department of Labor / National Center for O*NET Development
- BLS Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics (OEWS) May 2024 U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics
- BLS Employment Projections 2024–2034 U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics
- Microsoft “Working with AI” working-with-ai Microsoft Research
- “GPTs are GPTs” (Eloundou et al.) arXiv 2303.10130 OpenAI / academic
- AI Occupational Exposure (AIOE) Felten, Raj & Seamans academic
- ILO / Gmyrek et al. GenAI exposure gradient 2025 International Labour Organization
- IBS O*NET-SOC ↔ ISCO-08 occupation crosswalk 2022 Institute for Structural Research (IBS)
- Dingel & Neiman (2020) dingel-neiman-workathome academic
Data compiled June 2, 2026. Figures are estimates, not advice.
Cite this page
Plain
Singulariki. "Agricultural Equipment Operators." 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; Dingel & Neiman (2020) dingel-neiman-workathome. Accessed June 7, 2026. https://singulariki.com/roles/role-45-2091-00
APA
Singulariki. (2026). Agricultural Equipment Operators. Singulariki: a source-backed encyclopedia of work. Retrieved June 7, 2026, from https://singulariki.com/roles/role-45-2091-00
BibTeX
@misc{singulariki-role-45-2091-00,
title = {Agricultural Equipment Operators},
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; Dingel & Neiman (2020) dingel-neiman-workathome. Accessed June 7, 2026},
url = {https://singulariki.com/roles/role-45-2091-00}
} Citations name the underlying public dataset releases — they reflect what this page is built from, not just the URL.