Farmworkers and Laborers, Crop, Nursery, and Greenhouse
Farming, Fishing, and Forestry
Farmworkers and Laborers in crop, nursery, and greenhouse settings play a vital role in cultivating and harvesting the fresh produce and plants that nourish communities and sustain ecosystems. Their work ensures the availability of healthy food and vibrant greenery, contributing to both local economies and environmental stewardship. Daily tasks may include planting, tending, and harvesting crops by hand, maintaining soil health, and assisting with irrigation or pest management. This role offers fulfillment through hands-on connection with nature, the satisfaction of nurturing growth, and the pride of providing essential goods that support healthy living.
What you might do
- Manually plant, cultivate, and harvest crops
- Use hand tools for various farming tasks
- Till soil and apply fertilizers
- Transplant, weed, thin, or prune crops
- Apply pesticides as needed
- Clean, grade, sort, pack, and load harvested products
AI & the future of this role
While some aspects (e.g., harvesting, weeding) can be automated with specialized robots, the job requires adaptability to diverse crops, unpredictable environments, and delicate manual tasks that remain costly or impractical to fully automate at scale. However, incremental automation (e.g., robotic harvesters, drones) is rapidly reducing human labor needs.
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Includes O*NET® 30.3 Database information by USDOL/ETA under CC BY 4.0; modified by LostInCareer. Wage/outlook from BLS. Attribution details