Farmworker and Laborer: 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.
Annual openings
1,340
BLS median wage
$38,170
Typical education
High school (GED)
10-year growth
+4%
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 certification is required or expected for this job.
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.
Work style
- With kids/peopleOccasionally
- On a computerOccasionally
- Outdoors / on-siteOccasionally
- With your handsOccasionally
Interests it draws on
- Agriculture and Sustainability
- Farming
Automation exposure
High exposure
Many tasks are repeatable, so technology could reshape the day-to-day over time.
A typical day
- Repair and maintain farm vehicles, implements, and mechanical equipment.
- Set up and operate irrigation equipment.
- Inform farmers or farm managers of crop progress.
- Identify plants, pests, and weeds to determine the selection and application of pesticides and fertilizers.
- Record information about crops, such as pesticide use, yields, or costs.
- Load agricultural products into trucks, and drive trucks to market or storage facilities.