Also called: Custom Combine Operator, Harvest Crew Owner
Owns combines and trucks and travels from Texas to Canada each summer, harvesting wheat and other crops for farmers who hire them.
You start in Texas in May and follow the ripening wheat north through Kansas, Nebraska, the Dakotas, and Montana. Days are long: grease the combines at dawn, cut grain until the dew sets in at night, sleep in a camper. It's like a summer-long road trip with giant machines.
Crew members earn seasonal wages plus room and board; owners' profits vary with fuel and machine costs.
Approximate: anchored on Bureau of Labor Statistics data for a broader job group.
High school diploma, about 0 years after high school. Learned on the job, often starting as a seasonal crew member; a CDL is needed to haul grain.
Ways in: On-the-job training, Certification. Training cost: Get paid while you train.
Majors to look at: Agricultural Systems Management, Diesel Technology (trade school).
Growing slowly. A niche, family-run industry; no BLS figure.
Low risk in 5 years, medium in 10. Self-driving combines and grain carts are coming, so fewer seat-time jobs by 2036; running the crew and fixing breakdowns stays human.
Age 18+. One way to start: Contact custom harvest crews (U.S. Custom Harvesters lists members) in spring for summer crew jobs
Classes: Ag mechanics or welding, Business class, Driver's education.
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