Example Career: Farmers, Ranchers, and Other Agricultural Managers

Career Description

Plan, direct, or coordinate the management or operation of farms, ranches, greenhouses, aquacultural operations, nurseries, timber tracts, or other agricultural establishments. May hire, train, and supervise farm workers or contract for services to carry out the day-to-day activities of the managed operation. May engage in or supervise planting, cultivating, harvesting, and financial and marketing activities.

What Job Titles Farmers, Ranchers, and Other Agricultural Managers Might Have

• Greenhouse Manager
• Grower
• Nursery Manager
• Production Manager
• Aquaculture Director

What Farmers, Ranchers, and Other Agricultural Managers Do

• Collect and record growth, production, and environmental data.
• Manage nurseries that grow horticultural plants for sale to trade or retail customers, for display or exhibition, or for research.
• Direct and monitor trapping and spawning of fish, egg incubation, and fry rearing, applying knowledge of management and fish culturing techniques.
• Direct and monitor the transfer of mature fish to lakes, ponds, streams, or commercial tanks.
• Determine how to allocate resources and to respond to unanticipated problems, such as insect infestation, drought, and fire.
• Determine plant growing conditions, such as greenhouses, hydroponics, or natural settings, and set planting and care schedules.
• Devise and participate in activities to improve fish hatching and growth rates, and to prevent disease in hatcheries.
• Position and regulate plant irrigation systems, and program environmental and irrigation control computers.
• Prepare reports required by state and federal laws.
• Inspect facilities and equipment for signs of disrepair, and perform necessary maintenance work.
• Maintain financial, operational, production, or employment records for farms or ranches.
• Coordinate clerical, record-keeping, inventory, requisitioning, and marketing activities.
• Direct the breeding or raising of stock, such as cattle, poultry, or honeybees, using recognized breeding practices to ensure stock improvement.
• Negotiate with buyers for the sale, storage, or shipment of crops or livestock.
• Coordinate the selection and maintenance of brood stock.
• Analyze soil to determine types or quantities of fertilizer required for maximum crop production.
• Provide information to customers on the care of trees, shrubs, flowers, plants, and lawns.
• Analyze market conditions to determine acreage allocations.
• Supervise the construction of farm or ranch structures, such as buildings, fences, drainage systems, wells, or roads.
• Replace chemical insecticides with environmentally friendly practices, such as adding pest-repelling plants to fields.
• Conduct inspections to determine crop maturity or condition or to detect disease or insect infestation.
• Conduct or supervise stock examinations to identify diseases or parasites.
• Determine types or quantities of crops, plants, or livestock to be grown and raised, based on budgets, federal incentives, market conditions, executive directives, projected sales volumes, or soil conditions.
• Determine, administer, and execute policies relating to operations administration and standards, facility maintenance, and safety.
• Direct crop production operations, such as planning, tilling, planting, fertilizing, cultivating, spraying, and harvesting.
• Evaluate marketing or sales alternatives for products.
• Hire, supervise, and train support workers.
• Monitor activities, such as irrigation, chemical application, harvesting, milking, breeding, and grading, to ensure adherence to safety regulations or standards.
• Monitor environments to ensure maintenance of optimum animal or plant life.

What Farmers, Ranchers, and Other Agricultural Managers Should Be Good At

• Oral Comprehension - The ability to listen to and understand information and ideas presented through spoken words and sentences.
• Oral Expression - The ability to communicate information and ideas in speaking so others will understand.
• Problem Sensitivity - The ability to tell when something is wrong or is likely to go wrong. It does not involve solving the problem, only recognizing there is a problem.
• Written Expression - The ability to communicate information and ideas in writing so others will understand.
• Category Flexibility - The ability to generate or use different sets of rules for combining or grouping things in different ways.
• Written Comprehension - The ability to read and understand information and ideas presented in writing.
• Deductive Reasoning - The ability to apply general rules to specific problems to produce answers that make sense.
• Inductive Reasoning - The ability to combine pieces of information to form general rules or conclusions (includes finding a relationship among seemingly unrelated events).
• Information Ordering - The ability to arrange things or actions in a certain order or pattern according to a specific rule or set of rules (e.g., patterns of numbers, letters, words, pictures, mathematical operations).
• Near Vision - The ability to see details at close range (within a few feet of the observer).
• Speech Clarity - The ability to speak clearly so others can understand you.
• Speech Recognition - The ability to identify and understand the speech of another person.

What Farmers, Ranchers, and Other Agricultural Managers Should Be Interested In

• Enterprising - Enterprising occupations frequently involve starting up and carrying out projects. These occupations can involve leading people and making many decisions. Sometimes they require risk taking and often deal with business.
• Realistic - Realistic occupations frequently involve work activities that include practical, hands-on problems and solutions. They often deal with plants, animals, and real-world materials like wood, tools, and machinery. Many of the occupations require working outside, and do not involve a lot of paperwork or working closely with others.
• Conventional - Conventional occupations frequently involve following set procedures and routines. These occupations can include working with data and details more than with ideas. Usually there is a clear line of authority to follow.

What Farmers, Ranchers, and Other Agricultural Managers Need to Learn

• Administration and Management - Knowledge of business and management principles involved in strategic planning, resource allocation, human resources modeling, leadership technique, production methods, and coordination of people and resources.
• Production and Processing - Knowledge of raw materials, production processes, quality control, costs, and other techniques for maximizing the effective manufacture and distribution of goods.
• Personnel and Human Resources - Knowledge of principles and procedures for personnel recruitment, selection, training, compensation and benefits, labor relations and negotiation, and personnel information systems.
• Sales and Marketing - Knowledge of principles and methods for showing, promoting, and selling products or services. This includes marketing strategy and tactics, product demonstration, sales techniques, and sales control systems.
• Biology - Knowledge of plant and animal organisms, their tissues, cells, functions, interdependencies, and interactions with each other and the environment.
• Customer and Personal Service - Knowledge of principles and processes for providing customer and personal services. This includes customer needs assessment, meeting quality standards for services, and evaluation of customer satisfaction.
• Mathematics - Knowledge of arithmetic, algebra, geometry, calculus, statistics, and their applications.
• Chemistry - Knowledge of the chemical composition, structure, and properties of substances and of the chemical processes and transformations that they undergo. This includes uses of chemicals and their interactions, danger signs, production techniques, and disposal methods.
• Economics and Accounting - Knowledge of economic and accounting principles and practices, the financial markets, banking and the analysis and reporting of financial data.
• Transportation - Knowledge of principles and methods for moving people or goods by air, rail, sea, or road, including the relative costs and benefits.
• Education and Training - Knowledge of principles and methods for curriculum and training design, teaching and instruction for individuals and groups, and the measurement of training effects.
• English Language - Knowledge of the structure and content of the English language including the meaning and spelling of words, rules of composition, and grammar.
• Mechanical - Knowledge of machines and tools, including their designs, uses, repair, and maintenance.