Will AI replace 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. The percentage shown is a task-exposure model, not a prediction of certain job loss.

O*NET 30.3 · 45-2091.00 · modeled exposure, not guaranteed job loss

MODERATE TASK EXPOSURE

36%

Estimated share of representative tasks exposed to current AI capabilities.

Category#

Trades & Physical

Field & Physical

Modeled pay midpoint$

$90,500/yr

Directional estimate — verify locally

Time until impact⌁

2–4 years

Earliest 2027 · widespread 2029–2031

Task-level replaceability ⓘ

Representative tasks ranked from highest to lowest AI exposure.

◇Load and unload crops or containers of materials, manually or using conveyors, handtrucks, forklifts, or transfer augers.46%

⚙Mix specified materials or chemicals, and dump solutions, powders, or seeds into planter or sprayer machinery.35%

▥Spray fertilizer or pesticide solutions to control insects, fungus and weed growth, and diseases, using hand sprayers.23%

✦Physical dexterity in unpredictable settings22%

✦Safety responsibility and on-site judgment18%

Impact timeline ⓘ

How AI assistance may move from early support to wider adoption.

2027Next2029–2031

Early impactAI begins supporting load and unload crops or containers of materials, manually or using conveyors, handtrucks, forklifts, or transfer augers..

Role reshapingRepeatable tasks become faster and more automated.

Wider adoptionThe role centers more on physical dexterity in unpredictable settings.

2–4 yearsdirectional confidence window

HOW AI CHANGES THIS JOBtyping the logic in plain English

01>Start with the real work done by Agricultural Equipment Operators.

02>AI can help with: Load and unload crops or containers of materials, manually or using conveyors, handtrucks, forklifts, or transfer augers.

03>If a task is repetitive and easy to check, AI pressure goes up.

04>But a person is still needed for: Physical dexterity in unpredictable settings.

05>Likely result: AI is more likely to change this job than remove it.

06>Important: 36% is estimated task exposure—not a 36% chance of losing the job.

What AI can do

Load and unload crops or containers of materials, manually or using conveyors, handtrucks, forklifts, or transfer augers.MEDIUM

Mix specified materials or chemicals, and dump solutions, powders, or seeds into planter or sprayer machinery.LOW MATCH

Spray fertilizer or pesticide solutions to control insects, fungus and weed growth, and diseases, using hand sprayers.LOW MATCH

How estimates work →

Your human moat

◆

Physical dexterity in unpredictable settings

HIGH MOAT

Combined with safety responsibility and on-site judgment, this keeps a human in the loop.

Strength8.9

Similar-role comparison

RoleRisk

Agricultural Equipment Operators36%

Maids and Housekeeping Cleaners36%

Tree Trimmers and Pruners35%

Ship Engineers38%

Why this score?

✓The model evaluates 3 representative core tasks.

✓The role mixes repeatable work with human judgment.

✓Occupation and task language comes from O*NET 30.3.

✓The strongest human advantage is physical dexterity in unpredictable settings.

Research basis

O*NET 30.3 occupation tasks plus the ILO 2025 exposure framework. Scores are directional estimates.

Read ILO research →

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Will AI replace Agricultural Equipment Operators?

Physical dexterity in unpredictable settings

Why this score?

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