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Farm worker

Farm workers raise livestock and plant and harvest crops, using agricultural machinery.

Potential salary
£13,000 to £25,000
Working hours
46 to 48 variable
  • the ability to work well with others
  • to be thorough and pay attention to detail
  • physical skills like movement, coordination, dexterity and grace
  • excellent verbal communication skills
  • thinking and reasoning skills
  • the ability to work on your own
  • patience and the ability to remain calm in stressful situations
  • the ability to work well with your hands
  • to be flexible and open to change
  • to be able to carry out basic tasks on a computer or hand-held device

Your day-to-day duties will vary, depending on the time of year but may include:

  • feeding and looking after livestock
  • treating animals and crops to prevent disease
  • operating milking machinery on dairy farms
  • ploughing fields, sowing seeds and harvesting crops
  • operating and repairing farm machinery like tractors, ploughs and combine harvesters
  • maintaining farm buildings
  • trimming hedges, clearing drainage ditches and mending fences and walls

You may need to wear protective clothing.

You could work on a farm.

Your working environment may be outdoors in all weathers, dusty and dirty.

With qualifications and experience, you could progress to supervisor or unit manager on a large farm. You may have to move between farms to gain experience and promotion.

You could also become an agricultural contractor, supplying services to several farms, servicing machinery or working in agricultural equipment and supplies.

You can find out more about careers in farming and agriculture from Tasty Careers.

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