Agriculture Equipment Operator
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.
Annual openings
179
BLS median wage
$37,290
Typical education
High school (GED)
10-year growth
+8%
Career requirements
What does this career require?
The education, credentials, and on-the-job competencies Colorado employers expect for this role.
Typical education
High school (GED)
Credential requirement
No specific credential listed yet
Work experience
No previous work experience is required.
Is this work a fit?
What the work actually feels like
How people in this career tend to spend their time, the interests it draws on, and a look at a typical day.
Automation exposure
Moderate exposure
Some routine tasks may shift as tools improve, but the role is likely to adapt.
A typical day
- Adjust, repair, and service farm machinery and notify supervisors when machinery malfunctions.
- Observe and listen to machinery operation to detect equipment malfunctions.
- Operate or tend equipment used in agricultural production, such as tractors, combines, and irrigation equipment.
- Attach farm implements such as plows, discs, sprayers, or harvesters to tractors, using bolts and hand tools.
- Manipulate controls to set, activate, and adjust mechanisms on machinery.
- Load and unload crops or containers of materials, manually or using conveyors, handtrucks, forklifts, or transfer augers.