Farmworkers, Farm, Ranch, and Aquacultural Animals

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.

OpenAI's exposure study scores tasks three ways: with a language model alone (α 0.0), with simple added tooling (β 0.1), and including AI-powered software (γ 0.1). 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.

How AI is actually used in this job

Among measured AI assistant conversations mapped to this occupation (Anthropic Economic Index, 2026-01-15), these task types came up most. These are shares of observed AI conversations — not shares of the job, of worker time, or of what could be automated.

Job outlook

Independent U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics employment projection for 2024–2034 — a labor-market forecast, not an AI-impact forecast.

“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 5 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.

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 22 tasks O*NET lists for this occupation, ordered by importance. Each links to its own page with AI-exposure and observed-use detail.

• Feed and water livestock and monitor food and water supplies. Core · importance 4.5
• Herd livestock to pastures for grazing or to scales, trucks, or other enclosures. Core · importance 4.4
• Examine animals to detect illness, injury, or disease, and to check physical characteristics, such as rate of weight gain. Core · importance 4.3
• Provide medical treatment, such as administering medications and vaccinations, or arrange for veterinarians to provide more extensive treatment. Core · importance 4.2
• Mix feed, additives, and medicines in prescribed portions. Supplemental · importance 4.2
• Shift animals between grazing areas to ensure that they have sufficient access to food. Supplemental · importance 4.2
• Mark livestock to identify ownership and grade, using brands, tags, paint, or tattoos. Core · importance 4.1
• Protect herds from predators, using trained dogs. Supplemental · importance 4.1
• Order food for animals, and arrange for its delivery. Supplemental · importance 4.1
• Perform duties related to livestock reproduction, such as breeding animals within appropriate timeframes, performing artificial inseminations, and helping with animal births. Supplemental · importance 4.1
• Patrol grazing lands on horseback or using all-terrain vehicles. Supplemental · importance 4.0
• Drive trucks, tractors, and other equipment to distribute feed to animals. Core · importance 4.0
• Inspect, maintain, and repair equipment, machinery, buildings, pens, yards, and fences. Core · importance 4.0
• Segregate animals according to weight, age, color, and physical condition. Core · importance 4.0
• Move equipment, poultry, or livestock from one location to another, manually or using trucks or carts. Core · importance 4.0
• Maintain growth, feeding, production, and cost records. Supplemental · importance 3.9
• Clean stalls, pens, and equipment, using disinfectant solutions, brushes, shovels, water hoses, or pumps. Core · importance 3.8
• Groom, clip, trim, or castrate animals, dock ears and tails, or shear coats to collect hair. Supplemental · importance 3.8
• Spray livestock with disinfectants and insecticides, or dip or bathe animals. Supplemental · importance 3.8
• Collect, inspect, and place eggs in incubators, operate machines for egg washing, candling, and grading, and pack eggs in cartons. Supplemental
• Milk animals such as cows and goats, by hand or using milking machines. Supplemental
• Trim and shear poultry beaks, toes, and wings using debeaking machines, heated hand shears, or hot wires. Supplemental

Work activities

• Care for animals.
• Operate farming equipment.
• Examine animals to detect illness, injury or other problems.
• Treat animal injuries or illnesses.
• Prepare materials or solutions for animal or plant use.
• Maintain forestry, hunting, or agricultural equipment.
• Transport animals, crops, or equipment.
• Clean equipment or facilities.
• Mark agricultural or forestry products for identification.
• Maintain inventories of materials, equipment, or products.
• Perform animal breeding procedures.
• Classify organisms based on their characteristics or behavior.
• Maintain operational records.

Knowledge, skills & abilities

O*NET importance rating, from 1 (not important) to 5 (extremely important).

Abilities

Essential skills

Knowledge

Transferable skills

Skills in demand

Skills employers ask for in job postings for this occupation (Lightcast), with whether each is a common or specialized skill.

• Deductive Reasoning Common Skill
• Critical Thinking Common Skill
• Biology Specialized Skill
• English Language Common Skill
• Information Ordering Specialized Skill
• Inductive Reasoning Common Skill
• Finger Dexterity Common Skill
• Active Listening Common Skill
• Speech Recognition Specialized Skill
• Reading Comprehension Common Skill
• Microsoft Word Common Skill
• Microsoft Excel Common Skill
• Mathematics Common Skill
• Complex Problem Solving Common Skill
• Time Management Common Skill
• Equipment Selection Specialized Skill
• Depth Perception Common Skill
• Active Learning Common Skill
• Visualization Specialized Skill
• Equipment Maintenance Specialized Skill
• Writing Common Skill
• Social Perceptiveness Common Skill
• Chemistry Specialized Skill
• Instructing Specialized Skill
• Psychology Specialized Skill
• Systems Analysis Specialized Skill
• Negotiation Common Skill
• Learning Strategies Specialized Skill
• Geography Specialized Skill
• Telecommunications Specialized Skill
• Physics Specialized Skill
• Foreign Language Common Skill
• Installation Specialized Skill

Tools & technology

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.

Interests & work styles

The interests and personal qualities O*NET associates with people who do this work.

Career interests (Holland / RIASEC)

Interest areas

Work styles

Wages & employment

U.S. · annual wages (BLS OEWS)

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.

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).

Related occupations

Part of the Agriculture career cluster.

• Animal Breeders · 45-2021.00 Compare →
• Farmworkers and Laborers, Crop, Nursery, and Greenhouse · 45-2092.00 Compare →
• Agricultural Equipment Operators · 45-2091.00 Compare →
• Meat, Poultry, and Fish Cutters and Trimmers · 51-3022.00 Compare →
• Slaughterers and Meat Packers · 51-3023.00 Compare →
• Graders and Sorters, Agricultural Products · 45-2041.00 Compare →
• Agricultural Technicians · 19-4012.00 Compare →
• First-Line Supervisors of Farming, Fishing, and Forestry Workers · 45-1011.00 Compare →
• Animal Caretakers · 39-2021.00 Compare →
• Laborers and Freight, Stock, and Material Movers, Hand · 53-7062.00 Compare →
• Farmers, Ranchers, and Other Agricultural Managers · 11-9013.00 Compare →
• Animal Scientists · 19-1011.00 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 Farmworkers, Farm, Ranch, and Aquacultural Animals — not advice or a forecast. Each is a real cross-link you can follow into the evidence.

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
• Anthropic Economic Index v4 (2026-01-15) + v2 (2025-03-27) Anthropic
• 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.

@misc{singulariki-role-45-2093-00,
  title  = {Farmworkers, Farm, Ranch, and Aquacultural Animals},
  author = {{Singulariki}},
  year   = {2026},
  note   = {O*NET 30.3; BLS Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics (OEWS) May 2024; BLS Employment Projections 2024–2034; Anthropic Economic Index v4 (2026-01-15) + v2 (2025-03-27); 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-45-2093-00}
}