22 tasks, each one witnessed by the sources that watched the job — and behind every one, a prompt you can use tonight.
You start early—often before sunrise—checking irrigation, walking fields to inspect plants, and fixing any irrigation or climate control equipment that’s acting up. Midday you might transplant or manually plant crops, prune, thin, weed, or construct trellises and repair fences.
Afternoons are for packing, grading, and loading products, updating inventory or orders in Excel or Farm Works Software Trac, and directing seasonal help during planting or harvest. Evenings often include cleaning work areas and logging crop progress to share with the farm manager.
Expect to use GPS (Global Positioning System) units in the field for mapping rows and equipment paths, and farm software like Farm Works Software Trac or BCL Landview Systems for field records and planning. Microsoft Excel and Word handle spreadsheets, reports, labels, and lists; Outlook and a web browser manage ordering and customer emails.
You’ll also use GPS-linked tools to set up irrigation runs and to mark where you planted or applied fertilizer/pesticide, so your records match actual field locations.
Use AI tools or apps only to suggest actions—like identifying pests from photos or predicting irrigation needs—but check suggestions against real plant inspections and label instructions. Always follow the pesticide or fertilizer label and local rules; AI can be wrong about chemical names or rates.
Keep human checks: compare AI outputs with your visual inspection, GPS field locations, and Farm Works or Excel records before acting. Treat AI as a helper, not a final decision-maker.
According to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) for 2025, 265,500 people worked in this occupation. The median wage is $35,660 per year; the lowest 10% make about $32,900, and the top 10% about $45,690 per year. These figures are BLS estimates and include all experience levels.
Actual pay varies by state, size of farm, crop type, and whether you do machinery repair, irrigation systems, or sales. Benefits and housing on the farm can change your total compensation.
Start hands-on: find a local farm that will let you work as seasonal help so you learn transplanting, pruning, irrigation setup, and packing. Take short courses in pesticide safety, or community college classes in horticulture or agricultural technology to learn pest ID and soil work.
Learn basic computer skills: Excel for inventory, Outlook for orders, and a GPS unit for field mapping. Volunteering or internships that include using Farm Works or Trac software will help you get hired.
They overlap: both prune, move container plants, and sell plants. But a farmer focuses on growing crops at scale—transplanting fields, setting irrigation systems, applying fertilizers/pesticides, and packing for delivery. Farm work often involves heavy field machinery and GPS-guided tasks.
A landscaper focuses on client yards and ornamental installation and usually does on-site design and maintenance. Garden center workers sell and advise customers about plant care—farmers may sell and deliver plants, but also manage the whole production cycle.