Farmworkers, Farm, Ranch, and Aquacultural Animals
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.
- Median pay
- $36,670
- Doing it now
- 202,100
- By 2035
- Down 3.2%
- Usually needs
- No formal educational credential
a year
across the country
26,600 openings a year
to get in
What the work involves
- Feed and water livestock and monitor food and water supplies.
- Drive trucks, tractors, and other equipment to distribute feed to animals.
- Examine animals to detect illness, injury, or disease, and to check physical characteristics, such as rate of weight gain.
- Provide medical treatment, such as administering medications and vaccinations, or arrange for veterinarians to provide more extensive treatment.
- Inspect, maintain, and repair equipment, machinery, buildings, pens, yards, and fences.
- Move equipment, poultry, or livestock from one location to another, manually or using trucks or carts.
- Clean stalls, pens, and equipment, using disinfectant solutions, brushes, shovels, water hoses, or pumps.
What to study
The fields of study the Department of Education links to this occupation, most widely taught first.
- Agricultural Production OperationsSee 68 colleges that teach it
Who it suits
O*NET scores every occupation on six interest dimensions. This one leans hardest on these three.
Hands-on and practical
Organised and precise
Analytical and curious
Careers like this one
Where this comes from: the description and the task list are O*NET, which the Department of Labor maintains. Pay, workforce size, outlook and the education normally needed are the Bureau of Labor Statistics Employment Projections programme, 2025 wages and 2025 to 2035 projections. Half of them earn more than $36,670 a year, which means half earn less, and what you would earn depends on where you work and how long you have been doing it. The fields of study come from the National Center for Education Statistics crosswalk.