Farmworkers and Laborers, Crop Onet SOC Code 45-2092.02 Career Description: Manually plant, cultivate, and harvest vegetables, fruits, nuts 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; cleaning, packing, and loading harvested products. May construct trellises, repair fences and farm buildings, or participate in irrigation activities. Related Clusters: Programs of Study Farmworkers and Laborers, Crop

Career Summary:

• Experience- No previous work-related skill, knowledge, or experience is needed for these occupations. For example, a person can become a cashier even if he/she has never worked before.
• Education- These occupations may require a high school diploma or GED certificate. Some may require a formal training course to obtain a license.
• Job Training- Employees in these occupations need anywhere from a few days to a few months of training. Usually, an experienced worker could show you how to do the job.
• Examples- These occupations involve following instructions and helping others. Examples include taxi drivers, amusement and recreation attendants, counter and rental clerks, cashiers, and waiters/waitresses.

• Set up and operate irrigation equipment.
• Operate tractors, tractor-drawn machinery, and self-propelled machinery to plow, harrow and fertilize soil, or to plant, cultivate, spray and harvest crops.
• Repair and maintain farm vehicles, implements, and mechanical equipment.
• Harvest fruits and vegetables by hand.
• Apply pesticides, herbicides or fertilizers to crops.
• Inform farmers or farm managers of crop progress.
• Identify plants, pests, and weeds to determine the selection and application of pesticides and fertilizers.
• Direct and monitor the work of casual and seasonal help during planting and harvesting.
• Clear and maintain irrigation ditches.
• Record information about crops, such as pesticide use, yields, or costs.
• Dig and plant seeds, or transplant seedlings by hand.
• Repair farm buildings, fences, and other structures.
• Participate in the inspection, grading, sorting, storage, and post-harvest treatment of crops.
• Load agricultural products into trucks, and drive trucks to market or storage facilities.

• Control Precision - The ability to quickly and repeatedly adjust the controls of a machine or a vehicle to exact positions.
• Multilimb Coordination - The ability to coordinate two or more limbs (for example, two arms, two legs, or one leg and one arm) while sitting, standing, or lying down. It does not involve performing the activities while the whole body is in motion.

• Handling and Moving Objects - Using hands and arms in handling, installing, positioning, and moving materials, and manipulating things.

• Realistic - Realistic occupations frequently involve work activities that include practical, hands-on problems and solutions. They often deal with plants, animals, and real-world materials like wood, tools, and machinery. Many of the occupations require working outside, and do not involve a lot of paperwork or working closely with others.
• Second Interest High-Point - Secondary-Cutoff/Rank Descriptiveness

• Moral Values - Workers on this job are never pressured to do things that go against their sense of right and wrong.
• Independence - Workers on this job do their work alone.

Wage and salary data provided by:

• Bureau of Labor Statistics, Tennessee Department of Labor website
• TN Department of Labor & Workforce Development website
• Bureau of Economic Analysis website