Agriculture, Food & Environment

Agricultural Manager

Run a farm, ranch, or greenhouse for its owners, planning crops, hiring crews, and watching the budget

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What does an Agricultural Manager do?

Agricultural managers oversee daily work on farms, orchards, nurseries, and ranches, often for landowners or companies. They plan planting, buy supplies, supervise workers, and keep records. BLS projects employment to decline 1.3% from 2024 to 2034. They need both farm know-how and business skills.

A day in the life

6:30 AMMeet crew leaders and hand out the day's field assignments
8:00 AMWalk the fields or barns to check crop growth and animal health
10:30 AMCall suppliers to price seed, fertilizer, and fuel
1:00 PMUpdate budgets and harvest records on the computer
3:00 PMReview safety and pesticide rules with new workers
5:00 PMCheck the weather and plan tomorrow's planting or harvest

What's great

  • Mix of outdoor work and office planning
  • Lead a team and see results each season
  • Choose crops, livestock, or greenhouse work
  • Use science and business skills together

The hard parts

  • Long days at planting and harvest
  • Weather and prices can wreck a season
  • Owners expect results even in a bad year
  • Jobs may mean moving to farm country

What is an Agricultural Manager's salary and outlook?

$41k – $102k
Salary Range
Bachelor's degree
Typical Education
Declining

Typical pay in this guide runs from about $40,800 to $102,000 a year, with a midpoint around $68,000. These are planning figures for students, not a job offer or an official wage.

CareerLens rates the outlook as Declining.

The U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics projects employment for Farmers, ranchers, and other agricultural managers (SOC 11-9013) to decline 1.3% from 2024 to 2034. Bureau of Labor Statistics projections.

How do you become an Agricultural Manager?

A common path is Bachelor's degree in agriculture, agribusiness, or plant or animal science. The ladder often runs from Farm Crew Leader to Farm Manager, then Regional Farm Operations Manager, and Director of Agricultural Operations. Other routes: Work up from farmhand or crew leader with years of experience; Associate degree in agriculture plus farm management experience; Master's degree in agricultural economics; Farm management short courses through university extension.

  • Work up from farmhand or crew leader with years of experience
  • Associate degree in agriculture plus farm management experience
  • Master's degree in agricultural economics
  • Farm management short courses through university extension

Career path

Entry level
Farm Crew Leader
Mid career
Farm Manager
Senior
Regional Farm Operations Manager
Executive
Director of Agricultural Operations

Will AI replace an Agricultural Manager?

How much will AI change this job?

Quite a bit

AI will help with some tasks in this job, while the most important parts stay human.

AI helps farm managers plan smarter, but hands-on work stays human.

Agricultural managers are starting to use AI tools to track weather, soil, and crop data. This helps them make better decisions faster. But running a farm still needs human judgment, physical work, and care for animals and land.

AI can help with

  • Predicting weather patterns and best planting times
  • Tracking crop health using sensor and satellite data
  • Managing budgets and supply orders more efficiently

What stays human

  • Making final decisions during unexpected problems like storms
  • Caring for animals and noticing health issues
  • Building relationships with workers, buyers, and local communities

Skills to build now

  • Join FFA or a school gardening or farm club
  • Practice math skills through budgeting or measuring projects
  • Learn basic science about soil, weather, and plant growth

Based on public research from Anthropic and OpenAI, drafted with AI, checked automatically, and read by a person. How we know

This describes how the work may change. It is not a prediction that the job will disappear.