EXPLORE A CAREER FAMILY · SOC 45

Farming, Fishing, and ForestryFind the work that fits.

Explore occupations involving agricultural production, fishing, forestry and related field work.

National occupation wages · across employer industries

OEWS excludes most agricultural employment and self-employment. Available employee wage figures must not be described as pay for all farm, fishing or forestry workers.

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14 careers · Page 1 of 1

Occupational wages · May 2025
Farming, Fishing, and Forestry

Agricultural Equipment Operators

Drive and control equipment to support agricultural activities such as tilling soil; planting, cultivating, and harvesting crops; feeding and herding livestock; or removing animal waste. May perform tasks such as crop baling or hay bucking. May operate stationary equipment to perform post-harvest tasks such as husking, shelling, threshing, and ginning.

National median annual wage$41,730Source occupation group · May 2025
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Farming, Fishing, and Forestry

Agricultural Inspectors

Inspect agricultural commodities, processing equipment, and facilities, and fish and logging operations, to ensure compliance with regulations and laws governing health, quality, and safety.

National median annual wage$49,940Source occupation group · May 2025
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Farming, Fishing, and Forestry

Agricultural Workers, All Other

All agricultural workers not listed separately.

National median annual wage$39,850Source occupation group · May 2025
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Farming, Fishing, and Forestry

Animal Breeders

Select and breed animals according to their genealogy, characteristics, and offspring. May require knowledge of artificial insemination techniques and equipment use. May involve keeping records on heats, birth intervals, or pedigree.

National median annual wage$51,130Source occupation group · May 2025
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Farming, Fishing, and Forestry

Fallers

Use axes or chainsaws to fell trees using knowledge of tree characteristics and cutting techniques to control direction of fall and minimize tree damage.

National median annual wage$52,100Source occupation group · May 2025
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Farming, Fishing, and Forestry

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.

National median annual wage$35,660Source occupation group · May 2025
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Farming, Fishing, and Forestry

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.

National median annual wage$36,670Source occupation group · May 2025
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Farming, Fishing, and Forestry

First-Line Supervisors of Farming, Fishing, and Forestry Workers

Directly supervise and coordinate the activities of agricultural, forestry, aquacultural, and related workers.

National median annual wage$59,320Source occupation group · May 2025
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Farming, Fishing, and Forestry

Fishing and Hunting Workers

Hunt, trap, catch, or gather wild animals or aquatic animals and plants. May use nets, traps, or other equipment. May haul catch onto ship or other vessel.

National median annual wage$36,630Source occupation group · May 2025
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Farming, Fishing, and Forestry

Forest and Conservation Workers

Under supervision, perform manual labor necessary to develop, maintain, or protect areas such as forests, forested areas, woodlands, wetlands, and rangelands through such activities as raising and transporting seedlings; combating insects, pests, and diseases harmful to plant life; and building structures to control water, erosion, and leaching of soil. Includes forester aides, seedling pullers, tree planters, and gatherers of nontimber forestry products such as pine straw.

National median annual wage$43,680Source occupation group · May 2025
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Farming, Fishing, and Forestry

Graders and Sorters, Agricultural Products

Grade, sort, or classify unprocessed food and other agricultural products by size, weight, color, or condition.

National median annual wage$35,730Source occupation group · May 2025
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Farming, Fishing, and Forestry

Log Graders and Scalers

Grade logs or estimate the marketable content or value of logs or pulpwood in sorting yards, millpond, log deck, or similar locations. Inspect logs for defects or measure logs to determine volume.

National median annual wage$46,330Source occupation group · May 2025
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Farming, Fishing, and Forestry

Logging Equipment Operators

Drive logging tractor or wheeled vehicle equipped with one or more accessories, such as bulldozer blade, frontal shear, grapple, logging arch, cable winches, hoisting rack, or crane boom, to fell tree; to skid, load, unload, or stack logs; or to pull stumps or clear brush. Includes operating stand-alone logging machines, such as log chippers.

National median annual wage$49,740Source occupation group · May 2025
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Farming, Fishing, and Forestry

Logging Workers, All Other

All logging workers not listed separately.

National median annual wage$50,840Source occupation group · May 2025
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About these career references

Occupation descriptions are adapted from the O*NET® 31.0 Database by the U.S. Department of Labor, Employment and Training Administration (USDOL/ETA), under CC BY 4.0. Wages.fyi organizes the profiles into career-family guides and adds navigation and explanatory context. USDOL/ETA has not approved, endorsed, or tested these modifications. O*NET® is a trademark of USDOL/ETA. Database license and attribution requirements.

Where shown, occupational wages use the BLS Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics reference available through official O*NET wage exports. A detailed career may share a broader wage group. Missing values remain unavailable; percentiles are not career levels or starting-salary promises. Read the methodology.