Career & application guide

Agricultural Equipment Operators

Get to know the work, the skills that matter, and how to prepare your next application.

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What do agricultural equipment operators do?

Drive and control equipment to support agricultural activities such as tilling soil; planting, cultivating, and harvesting crops; feeding and herding livestock; or removing animal waste. May perform tasks such as crop baling or hay bucking. May operate stationary equipment to perform post-harvest tasks such as husking, shelling, threshing, and ginning.

This describes a U.S. occupation, not a live vacancy. Individual employers may use different titles and requirements.

Job titles to recognize in your search

O*NET reports these titles for this occupation. Compare the responsibilities in each posting before treating titles as equivalent.

  • Baler Operator
  • Cutter Operator
  • Equipment Operator
  • Farm Equipment Operator
  • Hay Baler
  • Loader Operator
  • Packing Tractor Machine Operator
  • Rake Operator

Core tasks to compare with a job posting

  • Load and unload crops or containers of materials, manually or using conveyors, handtrucks, forklifts, or transfer augers.
  • Mix specified materials or chemicals, and dump solutions, powders, or seeds into planter or sprayer machinery.
  • Spray fertilizer or pesticide solutions to control insects, fungus and weed growth, and diseases, using hand sprayers.
  • Observe and listen to machinery operation to detect equipment malfunctions.
  • Manipulate controls to set, activate, and adjust mechanisms on machinery.
  • Operate or tend equipment used in agricultural production, such as tractors, combines, and irrigation equipment.
  • Adjust, repair, and service farm machinery and notify supervisors when machinery malfunctions.
  • Attach farm implements such as plows, discs, sprayers, or harvesters to tractors, using bolts and hand tools.

Prepare an application for this occupation

  1. Check the employer’s requirements, location, schedule and any licenses against your situation.
  2. Choose two or three tasks above that match the posting and your actual experience.
  3. Build a resume evidence worksheet using the skills and software relevant to that employer.
  4. Practice explaining your contribution, decisions and results before an interview.

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