Growing crops and raising animals: the land, the livestock, the machines, and the people who make food happen every single day.
Top pay: highest pay, longest training
Large-Animal Veterinarian: Keeps cattle, horses, pigs, sheep, and goats healthy, often driving from farm to farm with a truck full of medical gear. Typical pay $120k.
Mid pay: solid pay, degree or apprenticeship
Farm & Ranch Manager: Runs a large farm or ranch for an owner or company, deciding what to plant, when to harvest, how to spend money, and who does what. Typical pay $88k.
Agricultural Pilot: Flies small planes or helicopters just a few feet above fields to spray crops, seed rice, or fight pests. Typical pay $100k.
Farmer / Rancher (Owner-Operator): Owns and runs their own farm or ranch, taking on the risk and reward of growing crops or raising livestock. Typical pay $75k.
Vineyard Manager: Grows wine grapes, managing everything from pruning and irrigation to deciding the exact day to pick. Typical pay $80k.
Livestock Auctioneer: Sells cattle, horses, and other animals at high-speed auctions using a rapid-fire chant. Typical pay $60k.
Farrier: Trims horses' hooves and fits and nails on custom horseshoes, part blacksmith and part animal specialist. Typical pay $60k.
Custom Harvester: Owns combines and trucks and travels from Texas to Canada each summer, harvesting wheat and other crops for farmers who hire them. Typical pay $60k.
Cattle Order Buyer: Buys cattle at auctions and from ranches on behalf of feedlots and packers, judging animals by eye and negotiating price. Typical pay $72k.
Dairy Herd Manager: Oversees the health, breeding, feeding, and milking of hundreds or thousands of dairy cows. Typical pay $62k.
Farm Labor Contractor: Recruits, hires, transports, and pays crews of seasonal farmworkers for growers who need help at harvest. Typical pay $58k.
Farm Crew Supervisor: Leads a crew of farmworkers in the field, assigning tasks and keeping work safe, fast, and high quality. Typical pay $59k.
Cattle Feedyard Manager: Runs a feedyard where thousands of cattle are fed and cared for before going to market. Typical pay $85k.
Hay Broker: Buys hay from farmers and arranges trucks to deliver it to dairies, horse barns and feedlots, often hundreds of miles away. Typical pay $65k.
Starter: fastest way in
Artificial Insemination Technician: Breeds cattle and other livestock using artificial insemination so farmers can get calves from top-quality bulls. Typical pay $45k.
Farm Equipment Mechanic: Repairs and maintains tractors, combines, sprayers, and irrigation systems, which are now as much computer as machine. Typical pay $52k.
Agricultural Equipment Operator: Drives tractors, combines, and sprayers to plant, fertilize, and harvest crops. Typical pay $40k.
Ranch Hand / Cowboy: Works cattle and other livestock on ranches: feeding, moving herds, branding, and fixing fence. Typical pay $37k.
Crop Farmworker: Plants, tends, and harvests fruits, vegetables, and other crops by hand. Typical pay $36k.
Commercial Beekeeper: Manages hundreds or thousands of beehives, trucking them around the country to pollinate crops and harvesting honey. Typical pay $45k.
Sheep Shearer: Travels from ranch to ranch shearing wool off sheep with electric clippers, fast and without nicking the animal. Typical pay $40k.
Feedlot Pen Rider: Rides horseback through feedlot pens every day to spot sick cattle early and move them for treatment. Typical pay $37k.
Swine Production Technician: Cares for pigs on a modern hog farm, from breeding and farrowing to raising piglets. Typical pay $37k.
Dairy Milking Technician: Milks and cares for dairy cows, keeping the milking parlor clean and the herd healthy. Typical pay $37k.
Contract Poultry Grower: Owns barns and raises chickens or turkeys under contract for a large poultry company. Typical pay $50k.
Irrigator: Moves water across farm fields, setting pipes, ditches, pivots, and drip lines so crops get the right amount. Typical pay $40k.
Bison Rancher: Raises American bison on large pastures for meat, managing animals that are much wilder and stronger than cattle. Typical pay $48k.
Poultry Catcher: Works on night crews that catch thousands of chickens or turkeys by hand in big barns and load them into crates for the trip to the processing plant. Typical pay $36k.
Viticulture Technician: Collects the data a vineyard runs on: sampling grapes, scouting for pests, checking soil moisture and recording it all for the vineyard manager. Typical pay $50k.
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.