Description
Manually plant, cultivate, and harvest vegetables, fruits, nuts, horticultural specialties, and field crops. Use hand tools, such as shovels, trowels, hoes, tampers, pruning hooks, shears, and knives. Duties may include tilling soil and applying fertilizers; transplanting, weeding, thinning, or pruning crops; applying pesticides; or cleaning, grading, sorting, packing, and loading harvested products. May construct trellises, repair fences and farm buildings, or participate in irrigation activities.
Interests
- Realistic
- Conventional
Work Values
- Support
- Relationships
- Achievement
Work Styles
- Attention to Detail
- Dependability
- Cooperation
- Integrity
- Adaptability/Flexibility
Tasks
- Record information about crops, such as pesticide use, yields, or costs.
- Direct and monitor the work of casual and seasonal help during planting and harvesting.
- Participate in the inspection, grading, sorting, storage, and post-harvest treatment of crops.
- Harvest plants, and transplant or pot and label them.
- Repair and maintain farm vehicles, implements, and mechanical equipment.
Work Activities
- Performing General Physical Activities
- Handling and Moving Objects
- Getting Information
- Identifying Objects, Actions, and Events
- Communicating with Supervisors, Peers, or Subordinates
Detailed Work Activities
- Performing general physical activities includes doing activities that require considerable use of your arms and legs and moving your whole body, such as climbing, lifting, balancing, walking, stooping, and handling materials.
- Using hands and arms in handling, installing, positioning, and moving materials, and manipulating things.
- Observing, receiving, and otherwise obtaining information from all relevant sources.
- Identifying information by categorizing, estimating, recognizing differences or similarities, and detecting changes in circumstances or events.
- Providing information to supervisors, co-workers, and subordinates by telephone, in written form, e-mail, or in person.
- Using either control mechanisms or direct physical activity to operate machines or processes (not including computers or vehicles).
- Running, maneuvering, navigating, or driving vehicles or mechanized equipment, such as forklifts, passenger vehicles, aircraft, or watercraft.
- Keeping up-to-date technically and applying new knowledge to your job.
- Inspecting equipment, structures, or materials to identify the cause of errors or other problems or defects.
- Analyzing information and evaluating results to choose the best solution and solve problems.
Technology Skills
- Electronic mail software
- Presentation software
- Data base user interface and query software
- Spreadsheet software
- Mobile location based services software
Abilities
- Trunk Strength
- Arm-Hand Steadiness
- Control Precision
- Extent Flexibility
- Manual Dexterity
Skills
- Operations Monitoring
- Speaking
Knowledge
This information is currently unavailable.
Most Common Education Level
The “Most Common Education Level” refers to the level of education held by the majority of workers in a given occupation. For example, if the highest percentage of workers in a role have an Associate’s Degree, that suggests this is the typical educational requirement. Knowing this helps you plan how many years of education you may need to pursue that career.
Certificates
Certificate name
Landscape Industry Certified Horticultural TechnicianCertifying Organization
National Association of Landscape Professionals
Type
Core
Certificate name
Certified Irrigation ContractorCertifying Organization
Irrigation Association
Type
Core
Certificate name
Certified Arborist Municipal SpecialistCertifying Organization
International Society of Arboriculture
Type
Specialty
Certificate name
Associate Professional HorticulturistCertifying Organization
American Society for Horticultural Science
Type
Core
Income Percentile
The income percentiles show how earnings are distributed within a profession. The 10th percentile means that 10% of workers earned less than that amount. The median (50th percentile) indicates that half of workers earned more, and half earned less. The 90th percentile reflects what the top 10% of earners in the field make.
| Income Percentile | Annual Income |
|---|---|
| Low (10%) | $26,542 |
| Median (50%) | $34,199 |
| High (90%) | $45,907 |
Income by Experience
This table shows how income typically grows with experience—from entry level (0–2 years), to mid-level (3–5 years), to senior level (6–8 years), to expert level (8+ years).
| Experience | Income |
|---|---|
Entry Level  | $38,607 |
| Mid Level | $43,640 |
| Senior Level | $46,246 |
| Expert Level | $59,830 |
Employability
There are currently 497,300 jobs in this career path. Over the next 10 years, that number is expected to decrease to 485,400 positions, reflecting a projected decline of -2%.
The Projected Job Growth figure refers to the expected increase or decrease in employment within a specific career field over a certain period of time.
Projected Job Growth of -2%
Related Careers
The career information and data on this site incorporates information from O*NET Web Services, Lightcast, CareerOneStop, and the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS). For more details regarding the data sources and the specific information sourced, click here.
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