Headline risk
4%
Very Low RiskFarmworkers, farm, ranch, and aquacultural animals
United States AI Work Index tracks this occupation on the shared structural baseline and then layers on local demand resilience, wages, and confidence.
Why This Score
Share of job tasks that overlap with current AI capabilities
Median annual wage
Projected employment change over 10 years
Typical preparation needed for this occupation
Occupation profile
Attend to live farm, ranch, open range or aquacultural animals that may include cattle, sheep, swine, goats, horses and other equines, poultry, rabbits, finfish, shellfish, and bees. Attend to animals produced for animal products, such as meat, fur, skins, feathers, eggs, milk, and honey. Duties may include feeding, watering, herding, grazing, milking, castrating, branding, de-beaking, weighing, catching, and loading animals. May maintain records on animals; examine animals to detect diseases and injuries; assist in birth deliveries; and administer medications, vaccinations, or insecticides as appropriate. May clean and maintain animal housing areas. Includes workers who shear wool from sheep and collect eggs in hatcheries.
Task evidence
100% weighted task match · 0% effective coverage
Scores combine AI task overlap, human advantages, and local demand. How it works
United States Now
Median Wage
USD 36,150
Employment 2024
224.6K
Projected Change (2024–34)
-5.0%
Openings (2024–34)
31.2K
Wage distribution
Demand outlook
Overall employment of agricultural workers is projected to grow 3 percent from 2024 to 2034, decline.
Role Profile
Tasks
- 1. Feed and water livestock and monitor food and water supplies. AI use: 0%
- 2. Examine animals to detect illness, injury, or disease, and to check physical characteristics, such as rate of weight gain. AI use: 0%
- 3. Inspect, maintain, and repair equipment, machinery, buildings, pens, yards, and fences. AI use: 0%
- 4. Move equipment, poultry, or livestock from one location to another, manually or using trucks or carts. AI use: 0%
- 5. Segregate animals according to weight, age, color, and physical condition. AI use: 0%
- 6. Herd livestock to pastures for grazing or to scales, trucks, or other enclosures. AI use: 0%
Technologies
Work context
Worker profile
Median age 56.1 · 810K employed
Under 25: 4% · 25–54: 41% · 55+: 54%
Related
No direct US role match is available yet for this occupation.
Source coverage
10/11 source families · O*NET 30.2 / OEWS 2024 / ORS 2025 / OOH 2025-08-28 / Projections 2024-34 / CPS 2025 / Anthropic task penetration
Mapping quality
title_match · employment series present
Narrative & sources
Agricultural workers maintain crops and tend livestock.
Agricultural workers usually do their tasks outdoors in all kinds of weather. Most work full time, and some work more than 40 hours per week.
Most agricultural workers do not need a formal educational credential to enter these occupations; however, animal breeders typically need a high school diploma. Agricultural workers typically receive on-the-job training.
The median annual wage for agricultural workers was $35,980 in May 2024.
Overall employment of agricultural workers is projected to grow 3 percent from 2024 to 2034, decline.
Published limitations
This page shows the local country layer, not realised individual job outcomes. The global structural baseline is shared across countries; only the local demand and wage layer changes here.
Built from O*NET occupation descriptions, task statements, technology skills, work context, Job Zones, Anthropic task penetration, BLS OEWS wages, BLS projection tables, BLS ORS requirements, BLS OOH narrative content, BLS skills data, and BLS CPS occupation age tables.