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Farmworkers and Laborers, Crop, Nursery, and Greenhouse

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.

What you’d do

  • 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.
  • Harvest fruits and vegetables by hand.
  • Set up and operate irrigation equipment.
  • Inform farmers or farm managers of crop progress.

Skills that matter

  • Operations Monitoring
  • Speaking
  • Active Listening
  • Critical Thinking
  • Monitoring
  • Operation and Control

How to get there

Little to some preparation: usually a high school diploma or GED, though some jobs do not need one

Also called

  • Greenhouse Worker
  • Grower
  • Harvester
  • Nursery Worker
  • Farm Laborer
  • Farmer

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