Also called: Farm Machinery Engineer, Harvester Design Engineer
Designs tractors, combines, planters and sprayers for companies like John Deere and CNH.
You design a new header for a combine that picks up soybeans with fewer losses. In the fall you travel to Iowa harvest fields to watch prototypes work and talk with farmers about what they'd change.
Approximate: anchored on Bureau of Labor Statistics data for a broader job group.
Bachelor's degree (4-year), about 4 years after high school. Bachelor's in agricultural or mechanical engineering.
Ways in: 4-year college. Training cost: $15k – $60k.
Majors to look at: Agricultural Engineering, Biological & Agricultural Engineering, Biosystems Engineering, Mechanical Engineering.
Growing much faster than average (about 9% over 10 years). Tracks mechanical engineers.
Medium risk for 10 years. AI generates designs and runs virtual tests; field trials and talking with farmers stay human.
Classes: Physics, CAD class, Ag mechanics CTE, AP Calculus.
Official data: O*NET occupation 17-2141.
Career Universe is an early version. Pay, training and AI-risk figures are estimates to start your own research, not verified facts. The research was written with AI research assistants, checked by validation scripts and spot-checked by hand. Check anything important with schools, employers and official sources. How the numbers work.