Management · Holland code ERC

Farmers, Ranchers, and Other Agricultural Managers

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.

Also called: Aquaculture Director, Farm Manager, Greenhouse Manager, Ranch Manager, Farm Operations Technical Director, Fish Hatchery Manager, Harvesting Manager, Hatchery Manager.

O*NET 11-9013.00

At a glance

US median annual pay: $89,900; Middle half earn $66,300 to $118,860. BLS OEWS, May 2025.
Preparation needed: Job Zone 4 of 5; Considerable preparation. Zone 1 is little or none; zone 5 is graduate-level.
US employment outlook, 2024 to 2034: -1% · Decline; 836,100 jobs in 2024, projected 825,000. BLS Occupational Outlook Handbook, which groups this with similar roles as "Farmers, ranchers, and other agricultural managers".

What the work involves

The tasks workers in this occupation rate as most important, from the O*NET survey.

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.

Skills and knowledge it leans on

Skills

Active Listening3.9 / 5
Critical Thinking3.9 / 5
Reading Comprehension3.8 / 5
Speaking3.6 / 5
Active Learning3.4 / 5
Monitoring3.4 / 5

Knowledge areas

Administration and Management4.1 / 5
Production and Processing3.9 / 5
Biology3.8 / 5
Mathematics3.6 / 5
Personnel and Human Resources3.4 / 5
English Language3.4 / 5

Importance ratings on O*NET’s 1 to 5 scale. Higher means the occupation depends on it more.

Who tends to enjoy it

How strongly this occupation draws on each of the six Holland interest types, which is the same profile the career interests test compares you against.

Realistic69
Investigative29
Artistic1
Social27
Enterprising75
Conventional59

The same work abroad

Other countries classify jobs differently, so these are the closest matches through the international ISCO-08 standard, not exact equivalents.

European occupation titles (ESCO)

aquaculture production manager · DE Führungskraft in der Aquakulturproduktion · FR responsable de production aquacole
aquaculture recirculation manager · DE Führungskraft Aquakultur-Kreislaufanlagen · FR responsable de systèmes aquacoles en recirculation
vineyard manager · DE Weingutmanager/Weingutmanagerin · FR directeur d’exploitation viticole/directrice d’exploitation viticole
horticulture production manager · DE Produktionsleiter im Bereich Gartenbau/Produktionsleiterin im Bereich Gartenbau · FR responsable de production horticole
crop production manager · DE Produktionsleiter im Bereich Pflanzenbau/Produktionsleiterin im Bereich Pflanzenbau · FR responsable de production agricole
farm manager · DE landwirtschaftlicher Betriebsleiter/landwirtschaftliche Betriebsleiterin · FR responsable d’exploitation agricole

Closest UK occupation groups (SOC 2020)

Groundsmen and greenkeepers (5114)30,700 employed
Managers and proprietors in agriculture and horticulture (1211)40,300 employed
Managers and proprietors in forestry, fishing and related services (1212)18,600 employed

Employment is the UK Annual Population Survey for April 2025 to March 2026, all workers in the group, which can be broader than this one occupation.

Pay across Europe, for the whole group

Median annual earnings of all employees in “Skilled agricultural, forestry and fishery workers”. This is the broad ISCO group this occupation falls in, not the occupation itself, so treat it as context for the wage level, not as a salary for this job.

Median annual earnings, Skilled agricultural, forestry and fishery workers, by country
Country	Median pay
Germany	€31,000
Sweden	€30,144
Italy	€27,723
Netherlands	€26,642
Ireland	€25,686
France	€22,942
Spain	€20,465
Portugal	€9,509
Poland	€8,061

Eurostat Structure of Earnings Survey, businesses with ten or more employees outside public administration, in euro and not adjusted for the cost of living. Reference years differ between sources: the US, Japan and Europe figures on this page come from different survey years, so compare them as rough levels, not to the euro or yen.

Exposure to AI

This occupation sits in the middle third of the 774 occupations scored, with an exposure score of -0.14. The scores are standardized across those occupations, so 0 is the average and a score of 1 is about one standard deviation above it.

Our note on reading it: the dataset links AI applications to the abilities that occupations require, so the score reflects overlap between the two. It is a comparison between occupations, not a forecast about jobs. It does not say whether exposure means tasks are replaced or workers get more done with the tools, and it says little about one employer or one role.

Source: Felten, E., Raj, M., & Seamans, R. (2021). Occupational, industry, and geographic exposure to artificial intelligence: A novel dataset and its potential uses. Strategic Management Journal, 42(12), 2195-2217. Matched to this page by 6-digit SOC code (11-9013).

Is it a fit for you?

Interest is one input, alongside ability, pay and what is hiring near you. The career interests test takes about thirteen minutes and ranks occupations by how closely their profile matches yours.

Take the career interests test