Agricultural Equipment Operators
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: Agricultural Equipment Operator (Ag Equipment Operator), Agricultural Equipment Operators, Agricultural Farm Equipment Operator, Agricultural Plow Operator, Agriculture Equipment Operator, Baler
Median pay
$41,730
per year, U.S.
Pay range (10th–90th)
$33,500 – $58,650
People employed
28,500
Holland code
RCI
Realistic · Conventional · Investigative
Updated October 2026 · Data: O*NET 31.0 and BLS OEWS May 2025 · How we match careers
Is this career right for you?
These are the things that stand out in this job compared with other U.S. jobs (O*NET 31.0 work context). Answer honestly.
- 1.Are you OK working more than 40 hours a week?
- 2.Are you comfortable following clear instructions?
- 3.Would you rather not deal with customers or the public?
- 4.Are you OK working outdoors in all kinds of weather?
- 5.Do you prefer doing your own work rather than directing others?
- 6.Are you happy working mostly on your own, with little contact with others?
- 7.Do you want variety, with new tasks often?
- 8.Are you OK with hours that change?
The hard parts
- Work outdoors in all weather
Agricultural Equipment Operators pay by state
Highest-paying states
Annual median pay by state (40 states with published data). Source: BLS OEWS May 2025.
What agricultural equipment operators do
- 01Load and unload crops or containers of materials, manually or using conveyors, handtrucks, forklifts, or transfer augers.
- 02Mix specified materials or chemicals, and dump solutions, powders, or seeds into planter or sprayer machinery.
- 03Spray fertilizer or pesticide solutions to control insects, fungus and weed growth, and diseases, using hand sprayers.
- 04Observe and listen to machinery operation to detect equipment malfunctions.
- 05Manipulate controls to set, activate, and adjust mechanisms on machinery.
- 06Load hoppers, containers, or conveyors to feed machines with products, using forklifts, transfer augers, suction gates, shovels, or pitchforks.
Skills that matter most
- Active Listening
- Critical Thinking
- Speaking
- Monitoring
- Reading Comprehension
- Active Learning
Knowledge
- English Language
- Mechanical
- Public Safety and Security
- Mathematics
- Transportation
Work styles that stand out
- Dependability
Education and first steps
Share of workers by required education, as reported to O*NET.
How people get started
- Usually needs a high school diploma (O*NET Job Zone 2).
- Related work experience: none.
- On-the-job training: anything beyond short demonstration, up to and including 1 month.
Most common answers from O*NET 31.0 Education, Training and Experience.
Interest fit (Holland code)
O*NET occupational interest scores, scale 1–7. Take the Free Career Test to compare with your own.
Career changes
Change from agricultural equipment operators
- Milling and Planing Machine Setters, Operators, and Tenders, Metal and Plastic83% · +27%
- Machine Feeders and Offbearers82% · −1%
- Extruding, Forming, Pressing, and Compacting Machine Setters, Operators, and Tenders82% · +10%
- Separating, Filtering, Clarifying, Precipitating, and Still Machine Setters, Operators, and Tenders81% · +24%
- Excavating and Loading Machine and Dragline Operators, Surface Mining81% · +38%
Change into agricultural equipment operators
Jobs whose skills carry over best (skill match, their median pay).
- Landscaping and Groundskeeping Workers79% · $39,150
- Helpers--Extraction Workers78% · $47,730
- Logging Equipment Operators78% · $49,740
- Industrial Truck and Tractor Operators77% · $46,420
- Conveyor Operators and Tenders76% · $42,420
Majors that lead here
- Agricultural Power Machinery Operation
From the NCES CIP 2020 to SOC 2018 crosswalk.