Career: Crop Farmers
You might grow heirloom tomatoes in Pennsylvania or acres of wheat in Kansas. Either way, you’ll have to know what your plants need, from water to fertilizer. And that’s not all. You’ll also need to know how to run a business, finding buyers and hiring workers.
Farming involves a thousand different tasks, but there’s satisfaction in making things grow and knowing that you’re helping to feed the people of the world.
Crop farmers till, plant, fertilize, cultivate, harvest, and sell a variety of fruits, vegetables, grains, and cotton.
Did You Know?
- Since many farms are still family-owned, farming jobs are largely inherited.
Are You Ready To...?
- Install a drip irrigation system
- Cut down old trees, making room for a new variety of apple
- Drive hours to sell your crop at a farmers’ market in the city
- Take out a loan to buy a new sprayer
- Pick bugs off your organic cabbage crop by hand
- Keep records of purchases and sales for tax purposes
- Maintain a computerized customer database
It Helps to Be...
Flexible. You’ll be doing everything from pulling out weeds to taste-testing your own product.
Make High School Count
- Take science courses such as biology and chemistry. These will help you understand how plants grow, as well as how pesticides and fertilizers work.
- Learn more about food in consumer and family studies classes.
- Start building the skills you’ll need to run a business. Pay attention in English and math and sign up for classes in computers, business, and accounting.
- Join FFA or participate in 4-H programs.
- Work on a local farm.
Did You Know?
- Farmers’ markets, where farmers can sell their crops directly to customers, have saved many small farms.
Outlook
Government economists predict that small farms will continue to go out of business through 2016. However, there is some good news: Many of today’s farmers are expected to retire in the coming years, and they will need to be replaced. At the same time, fewer people are choosing farming as a career.
Some small-scale farmers have found specialties, such as organic produce, that help them succeed. Corn farmers should also profit from the growing use of ethanol.
Compensation
The earnings of crop farmers vary widely depending on farm size and crops grown. According to the United States Bureau of Labor Statistics, farm, ranch, and other agricultural managers who are paid to run the businesses earned an average yearly income of $62,400 in 2008. Farmers and ranchers who own or rent the properties earned an average of $49,140.
