How To Become A Farm Worker: What It Is and Career Path

What is a farm worker and how to become one

Updated January 8, 2025

3 min read

If you want to be a Farm Worker, you will be employed for labor in agriculture, including harvesting. You will maintain crops such as vegetables, grains, fruits, nuts or look after livestock, and you will work under the supervision of an agricultural manager and receive on-the-job training. You can work on farms of all sizes, from small family farms to large industrial agriculture operations.

You will be responsible for maintaining ditches pipes and pumps, direct and monitoring work crews' activities, operating and service farm machinery, spray fertilizer or pesticide solutions to control environmental pests, feed livestock, and cleaning and disinfecting the yards. You need to be stable, persistent, genuine, practical, and thrifty. You need to like tasks that are physical, athletic, or mechanical. You must also be communicative and able to follow orders. You will make a salary of $26,000 per year.

ScoreFarm WorkerUS Average

Salary

2.1

Avg. Salary $26,598

Avg. Salary $59,228

Stability Level

6.6

Growth Rate 1%

Growth Rate 0.3%

Diversity

8.3

Race

American Indian and Alaska Native 1.15%

Asian 1.79%

Black or African American 4.11%

Hispanic or Latino 25.19%

Unknown 3.04%

White 64.73%

Gender

female 27.39%

male 72.61%

Age - 39

Race

American Indian and Alaska Native 3.00%

Asian 7.00%

Black or African American 14.00%

Hispanic or Latino 19.00%

White 57.00%

Gender

female 47.00%

male 53.00%

Age - 39

Stress Level

6.6

Stress level is high

7.1 - high

Complexity Level

6.4

Complexity Level is intermediate

7 - challenging

Work Life Balance

5.8

Work Life balance is fair

6.4 - fair

Key steps to become a farm worker

Explore farm worker education requirements

Most common farm worker degrees

Bachelor's

35.7 %

High School Diploma

34.1 %

Associate

15.8 %

Start to develop specific farm worker skills

Skills	Percentages
Harvest	24.59%
Mowing	10.96%
Farm Equipment	10.44%
Farm Machinery	6.81%
Farm Work	5.27%

Complete relevant farm worker training and internships

Accountants spend an average of 6-12 months on post-employment, on-the-job training. New farm workers learn the skills and techniques required for their job and employer during this time. The chart below shows how long it takes to gain competency as a farm worker based on U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics data and data from real farm worker resumes.

Research farm worker duties and responsibilities

General farm operations including health checks and care of calves, manage cleanliness of barns, milking
Manage regular routines of dairy calf sector, developing skill in feeding, housing, sanitation, parasite and disease control.
Care for domestic farm animals, lawn mowing, lifting supplies and feed, general grounds work.
Adhere to farm procedures for newborn calf management.

Prepare your farm worker resume

When your background is strong enough, you can start writing your farm worker resume.

You can use Zippia's AI resume builder to make the resume writing process easier while also making sure that you include key information that hiring managers expect to see on a farm worker resume. You'll find resume tips and examples of skills, responsibilities, and summaries, all provided by Zippi, your career sidekick.

Choose From 10+ Customizable Farm Worker Resume templates

Build a professional Farm Worker resume in minutes. Browse through our resume examples to identify the best way to word your resume. Then choose from 10+ resume templates to create your Farm Worker resume.

Apply for farm worker jobs

Now it's time to start searching for a farm worker job. Consider the tips below for a successful job search:

Browse job boards for relevant postings
Consult your professional network
Reach out to companies you're interested in working for directly
Watch out for job scams

How do farm workers rate their job?

-/5

5 Stars

4 Stars

3 Stars

2 Stars

1 Star

Farm Worker reviews

A zippia user wrote a review on Jun 2022

Pros

I think farmers are the most good care taker of plants as they are one of the living things which needs to be taken under consideration for their good living because they are the good source of food and living for other living things.

Cons

There’s nothing I dont like about farmers because they are so close to nature and loves nature more than others and are so grateful for that

A zippia user wrote a review on May 2021

Pros

Working with cattle

Cons

They wants alot work and they don't pay not even the minimum wage of 8.75 with the salary and they thinking we don't have a personal life and we need time off.

A zippia user wrote a review on Apr 2021

Pros

To take care of fresh good ,to organize the goods ,I to work by touch .on the market they clean good

Cons

To destroy goods when time is for harvesting ,I don't want to damage the goods

What is a farm worker and how to become one

Farm Worker career paths

Key steps to become a farm worker

Explore farm worker education requirements

Most common farm worker degrees

Start to develop specific farm worker skills

Complete relevant farm worker training and internships

Research farm worker duties and responsibilities

Prepare your farm worker resume

Choose From 10+ Customizable Farm Worker Resume templates

Apply for farm worker jobs

How Did You Land Your First Farm Worker Job

Average farm worker salary

How do farm workers rate their job?

Farm Worker reviews

Farm Worker jobs by state