Also called: Precision Ag Technician, Ag Technology Specialist
Sets up and troubleshoots GPS guidance, yield monitors, variable-rate seeders, and farm software.
You install GPS receivers on tractors, create prescription maps that tell a planter to drop more seeds in good soil and fewer in bad, and help farmers make sense of their yield data. In busy season, your phone rings constantly with 'the screen went blank' calls.
Often employed by equipment dealers or co-ops.
Approximate: anchored on Bureau of Labor Statistics data for a broader job group.
Associate's degree (2-year), about 2 years after high school. Associate or bachelor's in precision agriculture or ag systems; many community colleges offer programs.
Ways in: 2-year college, 4-year college, On-the-job training. Training cost: Under $15k.
Majors to look at: Precision Agriculture, Agricultural Systems Technology, Agronomy.
Growing much faster than average. No BLS category; adoption of precision tech is rising fast.
Low risk in 5 years, medium in 10. Farm tech gets more plug-and-play and AI-run; field troubleshooting stays, but fewer setup specialists are needed per farm.
Classes: Ag mechanics CTE, Computer science, Algebra II.
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.