Agriculture & ForestryO*NET: 45-2092.00
Will AI Replace Farmworkers and Laborers, Crop, Nursery, and Greenhouse?
Manually plant, cultivate, and harvest vegetables, fruits, nuts, horticultural specialties, and field crops. Use hand tools, such as shovels, trowels, hoes, tampers, pruning hooks, shears, and knives. Duties may include tilling soil and applying fertilizers; transplanting, weeding, thinning, or pruning crops; applying pesticides; or cleaning, grading, sorting, packing, and loading harvested products. May construct trellises, repair fences and farm buildings, or participate in irrigation activities.
78out of 100
High Risk
AI Risk Score
78/100
Risk Level
High
Job Zone
2/5
Entry
Total Tasks Analyzed
12
🤖 What AI Can Do
- ▸Record information about crops, such as pesticide use, yields, or costs.
- ▸Direct and monitor the work of casual and seasonal help during planting and harvesting.
- ▸Participate in the inspection, grading, sorting, storage, and post-harvest treatment of crops.
👤 What Requires Humans
- ▸Repair and maintain farm vehicles, implements, and mechanical equipment.
- ▸Load agricultural products into trucks, and drive trucks to market or storage facilities.
Task Breakdown
🤖AI Can Automate (3)
- Record information about crops, such as pesticide use, yields, or costs.
- Direct and monitor the work of casual and seasonal help during planting and harvesting.
- Participate in the inspection, grading, sorting, storage, and post-harvest treatment of crops.
👤Requires Humans (2)
- Repair and maintain farm vehicles, implements, and mechanical equipment.
- Load agricultural products into trucks, and drive trucks to market or storage facilities.
⚡AI-Assisted (7)
- Harvest plants, and transplant or pot and label them.
- Harvest fruits and vegetables by hand.
- Set up and operate irrigation equipment.
- Inform farmers or farm managers of crop progress.
- Identify plants, pests, and weeds to determine the selection and application of pesticides and fertilizers.
- Operate tractors, tractor-drawn machinery, and self-propelled machinery to plow, harrow and fertilize soil, or to plant, cultivate, spray and harvest crops.
- Clean work areas, and maintain grounds and landscaping.
Key Skills Analysis
Speaking
Importance: 3.00/5.00
Operations MonitoringAI-Vulnerable
Importance: 3.00/5.00
Active Listening
Importance: 2.88/5.00
Reading ComprehensionAI-Vulnerable
Importance: 2.75/5.00
WritingAI-Vulnerable
Importance: 2.75/5.00
Critical ThinkingAI-Resistant
Importance: 2.75/5.00
Monitoring
Importance: 2.75/5.00
Social PerceptivenessAI-Resistant
Importance: 2.75/5.00
Operation and Control
Importance: 2.75/5.00
Repairing
Importance: 2.75/5.00
Time ManagementAI-Resistant
Importance: 2.75/5.00
Active LearningAI-Resistant
Importance: 2.62/5.00
Equipment Maintenance
Importance: 2.62/5.00
Troubleshooting
Importance: 2.62/5.00
Quality Control AnalysisAI-Vulnerable
Importance: 2.62/5.00
Related Occupations
Agricultural Equipment Operators
48/100 — Medium Risk
Farmworkers, Farm, Ranch, and Aquacultural Animals
78/100 — High Risk
Graders and Sorters, Agricultural Products
76/100 — High Risk
Landscaping and Groundskeeping Workers
84/100 — Critical Risk
Pesticide Handlers, Sprayers, and Applicators, Vegetation
86/100 — Critical Risk
Future-Proof Your Career
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Frequently Asked Questions
Based on our analysis, Farmworkers and Laborers, Crop, Nursery, and Greenhouse have a high risk of AI replacement with a score of 78/100. Many routine tasks in this role can be automated, but human oversight remains important.
Last updated: 2026-03-28· Data from O*NET 30.2 & Frey/Osborne automation research