Farmworkers and Laborers, Crop, Nursery, and Greenhouse
What Farmworkers and Laborers, Crop, Nursery, and Greenhouse Do
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.
See full salary breakdown & percentiles →
Career Outlook
National employment outlook, 2024–2034.
- Related work experience
- None
- On-the-job training
- Short-term on-the-job training
- Self-employed
- 7.9%
Source: BLS Employment Projections — 2024-2034.
How Much Preparation Does This Take?
Job Zone 2 of 5Job Zone 1-2: Very Little to Some Preparation Needed
- Experience
- Some occupations may need little or no previous experience; others require several months to a year of experience.
- Education
- Usually requires a high school diploma or GED, though some occupations may not.
- Job training
- Ranges from a few days to one year of on-the-job training.
Source: O*NET Job Zones.
Key Knowledge Areas
Subject-matter areas this occupation draws on most, per O*NET.
- Food Productionimportance 2.8/5
- Biologyimportance 2.8/5
- Mechanicalimportance 2.7/5
- Administration and Managementimportance 2.7/5
- Chemistryimportance 2.6/5
- Mathematicsimportance 2.6/5
- English Languageimportance 2.5/5
- Production and Processingimportance 2.4/5
Work Environment
What the day-to-day work setting is like, per O*NET.
- Face-to-Face Discussions with Individuals and Within Teams4.6/5
- Outdoors, Exposed to All Weather Conditions4.5/5
- Spend Time Making Repetitive Motions4.0/5
- Spend Time Using Your Hands to Handle, Control, or Feel Objects, Tools, or Controls3.9/5
- Exposed to Very Hot or Cold Temperatures3.8/5
- Time Pressure3.7/5
Careers With Similar Skills
Occupations whose Transferable Skills profile most closely matches this one — a mathematical comparison, not observed data about people actually moving between these careers.
- Mixing and Blending Machine Setters, Operators, and Tenders94% skill match
- Water and Wastewater Treatment Plant and System Operators94% skill match
- Roustabouts, Oil and Gas94% skill match
- Landscaping and Groundskeeping Workers94% skill match
- Packaging and Filling Machine Operators and Tenders93% skill match
- Farmworkers, Farm, Ranch, and Aquacultural Animals93% skill match
- Motorboat Operators93% skill match
- Crushing, Grinding, and Polishing Machine Setters, Operators, and Tenders93% skill match
Transferable Skills
Cross-functional skills this occupation draws on most, per O*NET — the kind that carry over to other careers.
- Operations Monitoringimportance 3.0/5
- Social Perceptivenessimportance 2.8/5
- Operation and Controlimportance 2.8/5
- Repairingimportance 2.8/5
- Time Managementimportance 2.8/5
- Equipment Maintenanceimportance 2.6/5
- Troubleshootingimportance 2.6/5
- Quality Control Analysisimportance 2.6/5
Software & Technologies
Tools and software used in this occupation, per O*NET.
Hot Technologies
Other Software Used
- BCL Landview Systems WinCrop
- Farm Works Software Trac
- Global positioning system GPS software
- IBM Lotus Notes
- Web browser software
Work Style
Personal work characteristics that matter most for this occupation, per O*NET.
- Dependability
- Perseverance
- Attention to Detail
- Integrity
- Stress Tolerance
- Cautiousness
- Cooperation
Career Interests
This occupation’s RIASEC interest profile, per O*NET — how strongly it fits each of the six Holland interest types.
- RealisticHigh
- ConventionalMedium
- EnterprisingLow
- InvestigativeLow
- SocialLow
- ArtisticLow
This page includes information from the O*NET 30.3 Database by the U.S. Department of Labor, Employment and Training Administration (USDOL/ETA). Used under the CC BY 4.0 license. O*NET® is a trademark of USDOL/ETA.
Where This Career Is Most Concentrated
Metro areas where farmworkers and laborers, crop, nursery, and greenhouse make up the largest share of local employment, relative to the national average (BLS location quotient).
- 1Salinas, CA84.30× national avg
- 2Visalia, CA73.29× national avg
- 3Bakersfield-Delano, CA56.27× national avg
- 4Hanford-Corcoran, CA47.27× national avg
- 5Yuma, AZ37.54× national avg
Possible Career Moves
A computed starting point, not observed job-change data — see the full list for why each one might fit.
- Landscaping and Groundskeeping WorkersCareer Change
- Farmworkers, Farm, Ranch, and Aquacultural AnimalsLateral Move
- Pesticide Handlers, Sprayers, and Applicators, VegetationCareer Change
- Forest and Conservation WorkersLateral Move
See the full career path from Farmworkers and Laborers, Crop, Nursery, and Greenhouse →