For some, the call of the great outdoors is constant. Some of those who hear its call choose careers as farmers, ranchers, or other agricultural managers. These workers have the privilege of managing crops and livestock, from seed to tomato, from calf to bull. For a more hands-on approach to nurturing our land and its animals, you may want to be a farmer or rancher. These professionals are often their own bosses, overseeing a family business by raising food, servicing machinery, and doing their own marketing. Meanwhile, agricultural managers are more likely to aid in food production by hiring, supervising, and budgeting for a farm or group of farms, rather than doing the demanding physical labor of farm work themselves. Agricultural managers are also more likely to work for a corporation or the remote owners of an agricultural establishment. As a farmer, rancher, or agricultural manager, you will have long hours, working from sunrise to sunset in the harvest season. If raising livestock, you will need to tend to your flock every day. Agricultural workers must truly love working with nature and animals for the level of dedication required of this occupation. While many farmer, ranchers, and other agricultural managers gain valuable experience and skills from growing up in a farming family, more and more farmers are seeking out agricultural college degrees that enhance their understanding of plant and animal diseases, weather patterns, and technological advances in pesticides and other machinery. From year to year, members of this profession often experience fluctuations in salary depending on the success of their crop and livestock. In the long-term, a decline in farming, ranching, and other agricultural managing jobs is projected as technology continues to make farming more efficient. However, no one will ever truly be able to take the ‘farmer’ out of the farm.
What they do:
Directly supervise and coordinate the activities of agricultural, forestry, aquacultural, and related workers.
On the job, you would:
Assign tasks such as feeding and treatment of animals, and cleaning and maintenance of animal quarters.
Record the numbers and types of fish or shellfish reared, harvested, released, sold, and shipped.
Monitor workers to ensure that safety regulations are followed, warning or disciplining those who violate safety regulations.
Business
management
customer service
Manufactured or Agricultural Goods
manufacture and distribution of products
food production
Arts and Humanities
English language
Engineering and Technology
mechanical
Basic Skills
thinking about the pros and cons of different ways to solve a problem
keeping track of how well people and/or groups are doing in order to make improvements
Problem Solving
noticing a problem and figuring out the best way to solve it
Social
changing what is done based on other people's actions
teaching people how to do something
Verbal
listen and understand what people say
communicate by speaking
Ideas and Logic
notice when problems happen
group things in different ways
People interested in this work like activities that include leading, making decisions, and business.
They do well at jobs that need:
Dependability
Attention to Detail
Integrity
Leadership
Adaptability/Flexibility
Cooperation
You might use software like this on the job:
Spreadsheet software
Microsoft Excel
Presentation software
Microsoft PowerPoint
Data base user interface and query software
Database software
Valley Agricultural Software DairyCOMP 305
bachelor's degree or high school diploma/GED usually needed
In the military:
see titles from the Army.
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