Description
Plan, direct, and coordinate daily operations of crop and/or livestock farms, including production, personnel, finances, and marketing. Hire, train, and supervise workers; oversee planting, cultivation, harvesting, animal care, regulatory compliance, budgets, procurement, and sales.
- • Collect and record growth, yield, herd, and environmental data.
- • Allocate labor, equipment, and inputs; resolve issues such as pests, weather, or equipment failures.
- • Determine crop rotations, varieties, and planting schedules based on soils, markets, and budgets.
- • Set growing conditions for fields and farm greenhouses or tunnels; manage care schedules.
- • Program and regulate irrigation systems and environmental controls.
- • Prepare and submit required federal, state, and certification reports.
- • Inspect fields, facilities, and equipment; schedule or perform maintenance and repairs.
- • Maintain financial, operational, production, and employment records.
- • Coordinate purchasing, inventory, logistics, and marketing activities.
- • Direct crop production: planning, tilling, planting, fertilizing, cultivating, spraying, and harvesting.
- • Analyze soils and tissue tests to plan fertilization and amendments.
- • Implement integrated pest and disease management, emphasizing reduced chemical use.
- • Conduct crop scouting to assess maturity, condition, pests, and disease.
- • Evaluate market conditions and sales channels; set acreage and harvest plans.
- • Negotiate contracts for sale, storage, processing, and shipment of products.
- • Obtain financing and procure land, machinery, seed, feed, and supplies.
- • Hire, schedule, supervise, and train farm workers and contractors.
- • Monitor field operations, chemical use, harvest activities, and milking, breeding, or grading for safety and quality compliance.
- • Develop and enforce policies for operations, maintenance, biosecurity, and worker safety.
- • Supervise construction and upkeep of buildings, fences, drainage, wells, and roads.
- • Monitor environmental conditions to optimize plant growth and animal welfare.
- • Plan and manage breeding, calving or farrowing, and raising of livestock using sound genetics.
- • Conduct or oversee herd health checks; coordinate veterinary care and parasite control.
- • Select and maintain breeding stock and replacement animals.
- • Manage pasture rotation, feed rations, and forage production.
- • Coordinate post-harvest handling, storage, food safety, and quality assurance.
- • Operate or oversee operation of tractors, harvesters, milking systems, and other equipment.
- • Implement conservation practices for soil, water, and nutrient management.
- • Use farm management software and precision agriculture tools to guide decisions.
- • Liaise with regulators, auditors, lenders, and buyers; represent the farm to the community.
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Tasks & skills:
O*NET occupational data (work activities, skills, knowledge).
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This site includes information from O*NET by the U.S. Department of Labor, Employment and Training Administration (USDOL/ETA), used under the CC BY 4.0 license. Career Clutch has modified some of this information for student readability. USDOL/ETA has not approved, endorsed, or tested these modifications. O*NET® is a trademark of USDOL/ETA.
Last reviewed: Jan 2026
