Occupation Summary

Agricultural Technicians

O*NET 19-4012.00

Description:

Work with agricultural scientists in plant, fiber, and animal research, or assist with animal breeding and nutrition. Set up or maintain laboratory equipment and collect samples from crops or animals. Prepare specimens or record data to assist scientists in biology or related life science experiments. Conduct tests and experiments to improve yield and quality of crops or to increase the resistance of plants and animals to disease or insects.

Annual Wages:
$43,172.00
Employment Rate:
Employment is expected to increase by %.
Education Level:
High School Diploma - or the equivalent (for example, GED). According to O*Net, the majority of people employed in this occupation have this level of education.
Endorsement:
Business and Industry, Science Technology Engineering and Math (STEM)

  1. Record data pertaining to experimentation, research, or animal care.
  2. Prepare data summaries, reports, or analyses that include results, charts, or graphs to document research findings and results.
  3. Conduct insect or plant disease surveys.
  4. Perform general nursery duties, such as propagating standard varieties of plant materials, collecting and germinating seeds, maintaining cuttings of plants, or controlling environmental conditions.
  5. Operate farm machinery, including tractors, plows, mowers, combines, balers, sprayers, earthmoving equipment, or trucks.
  6. Perform crop production duties, such as tilling, hoeing, pruning, weeding, or harvesting crops.
  7. Devise cultural methods or environmental controls for plants for which guidelines are sketchy or nonexistent.
  8. Maintain or repair agricultural facilities, equipment, or tools to ensure operational readiness, safety, and cleanliness.
  9. Transplant trees, vegetables, or horticultural plants.
  10. Supervise or train agricultural technicians or farm laborers.
  11. Prepare or present agricultural demonstrations.
  12. Assess comparative soil erosion from various planting or tillage systems, such as conservation tillage with mulch or ridge till systems, no-till systems, or conventional tillage systems with or without moldboard plows.
  13. Conduct studies of nitrogen or alternative fertilizer application methods, quantities, or timing to ensure satisfaction of crop needs and minimization of leaching, runoff, or denitrification.
  14. Record environmental data from field samples of soil, air, water, or pests to monitor the effectiveness of integrated pest management (IPM) practices.
  15. Measure or weigh ingredients used in laboratory testing.
  16. Set up laboratory or field equipment as required for site testing.
  17. Prepare laboratory samples for analysis, following proper protocols to ensure that they will be stored, prepared, and disposed of efficiently and effectively.
  18. Examine animals or crop specimens to determine the presence of diseases or other problems.
  19. Collect animal or crop samples.
  20. Supervise pest or weed control operations, including locating and identifying pests or weeds, selecting chemicals and application methods, or scheduling application.
  21. Respond to general inquiries or requests from the public.
  22. Prepare land for cultivated crops, orchards, or vineyards by plowing, discing, leveling, or contouring.
  23. Perform laboratory or field testing, using spectrometers, nitrogen determination apparatus, air samplers, centrifuges, or potential hydrogen (pH) meters to perform tests.
  24. Perform tests on seeds to evaluate seed viability.
  25. Prepare culture media, following standard procedures.
  26. Determine the germination rates of seeds planted in specified areas.


National Industry Employment Patterns


Industry % of Agricultural Technicians employed Annual Growth Rate
Colleges, universities, and professional schools 16.4 0.67
Scientific research and development services 9.9 1.12
Management, scientific, and technical consulting services 8.1 1.34
Architectural, engineering, and related services 5.2 1.06
Animal slaughtering and processing 2 0.00


Labor Market Information


2023 Statewide average hourly wage $20.76
2023 National average hourly wage $22.50




TEXAS COUNTY MAP BY WORKFORCE DEVELOPMENT AREA
Region Employment Projected Employment 2032 Projected
Annual Openings 2032
Annual
Growth Rate
Average Income
Texas (all regions) Unavailable Unavailable Unavailable Unavailable Unavailable
* Due to confidentiality rules, not all regions may have the data displayed. The sum of all the regions may not be equal to the state total.


Top 10 Relevant Knowledge Areas Relevant Importance Levels
Food Production
Knowledge of techniques and equipment for planting, growing, and harvesting food products (both plant and animal) for consumption, including storage/handling techniques.
72.20%
Biology
Knowledge of plant and animal organisms, their tissues, cells, functions, interdependencies, and interactions with each other and the environment.
71.00%
Chemistry
Knowledge of the chemical composition, structure, and properties of substances and of the chemical processes and transformations that they undergo. This includes uses of chemicals and their interactions, danger signs, production techniques, and disposal methods.
68.00%
Mechanical
Knowledge of machines and tools, including their designs, uses, repair, and maintenance.
67.20%
Mathematics
Knowledge of arithmetic, algebra, geometry, calculus, statistics, and their applications.
63.00%
Administration and Management
Knowledge of business and management principles involved in strategic planning, resource allocation, human resources modeling, leadership technique, production methods, and coordination of people and resources.
60.20%
English Language
Knowledge of the structure and content of the English language including the meaning and spelling of words, rules of composition, and grammar.
59.20%
Education and Training
Knowledge of principles and methods for curriculum and training design, teaching and instruction for individuals and groups, and the measurement of training effects.
57.40%
Public Safety and Security
Knowledge of relevant equipment, policies, procedures, and strategies to promote effective local, state, or national security operations for the protection of people, data, property, and institutions.
57.40%
Building and Construction
Knowledge of materials, methods, and the tools involved in the construction or repair of houses, buildings, or other structures such as highways and roads.
55.00%


Top 10 Relevant Skill Areas Relevant Importance Levels
Reading Comprehension
Understanding written sentences and paragraphs in work-related documents.
67.60%
Active Listening
Giving full attention to what other people are saying, taking time to understand the points being made, asking questions as appropriate, and not interrupting at inappropriate times.
65.00%
Critical Thinking
Using logic and reasoning to identify the strengths and weaknesses of alternative solutions, conclusions, or approaches to problems.
65.00%
Active Learning
Understanding the implications of new information for both current and future problem-solving and decision-making.
62.40%
Monitoring
Monitoring/Assessing performance of yourself, other individuals, or organizations to make improvements or take corrective action.
62.40%
Writing
Communicating effectively in writing as appropriate for the needs of the audience.
62.40%
Judgment and Decision Making
Considering the relative costs and benefits of potential actions to choose the most appropriate one.
62.40%
Operations Monitoring
Watching gauges, dials, or other indicators to make sure a machine is working properly.
60.00%
Time Management
Managing one's own time and the time of others.
60.00%
Speaking
Talking to others to convey information effectively.
60.00%


Top 10 Relevant Abilities Relevant Importance Levels
Problem Sensitivity
The ability to tell when something is wrong or is likely to go wrong. It does not involve solving the problem, only recognizing that there is a problem.
75.00%
Oral Expression
The ability to communicate information and ideas in speaking so others will understand.
75.00%
Oral Comprehension
The ability to listen to and understand information and ideas presented through spoken words and sentences.
75.00%
Near Vision
The ability to see details at close range (within a few feet of the observer).
72.40%
Written Comprehension
The ability to read and understand information and ideas presented in writing.
70.00%
Written Expression
The ability to communicate information and ideas in writing so others will understand.
67.60%
Deductive Reasoning
The ability to apply general rules to specific problems to produce answers that make sense.
67.60%
Inductive Reasoning
The ability to combine pieces of information to form general rules or conclusions (includes finding a relationship among seemingly unrelated events).
65.00%
Information Ordering
The ability to arrange things or actions in a certain order or pattern according to a specific rule or set of rules (e.g., patterns of numbers, letters, words, pictures, mathematical operations).
65.00%
Category Flexibility
The ability to generate or use different sets of rules for combining or grouping things in different ways.
62.40%


  • Operating Vehicles, Mechanized Devices, or Equipment
    -- Running, maneuvering, navigating, or driving vehicles or mechanized equipment, such as forklifts, passenger vehicles, aircraft, or watercraft.
  • Identifying Objects, Actions, and Events
    -- Identifying information by categorizing, estimating, recognizing differences or similarities, and detecting changes in circumstances or events.
  • Documenting/Recording Information
    -- Entering, transcribing, recording, storing, or maintaining information in written or electronic/magnetic form.
  • Communicating with Supervisors, Peers, or Subordinates
    -- Providing information to supervisors, co-workers, and subordinates by telephone, in written form, e-mail, or in person.
  • Getting Information
    -- Observing, receiving, and otherwise obtaining information from all relevant sources.
Other Activities


  • Relationships
    - Occupations that satisfy this work value allow employees to provide service to others and work with co-workers in a friendly non-competitive environment. Corresponding needs are Co-workers, Moral Values and Social Service.
  • Support
    - Occupations that satisfy this work value offer supportive management that stands behind employees. Corresponding needs are Company Policies, Supervision: Human Relations and Supervision: Technical.

No certifications found.


Tools

Agricultural tractors: Agricultural tractors;

Air compressors: Air compressors;

Air samplers or collectors: Air samplers;

Animal husbandry equipment: Spray-dip machines; Animal chutes; Animal head-locks; Dipping vats;

Animal weighing scales: Livestock scales;

Bench scales: Electronic bench scales; Weight meters;

Benchtop centrifuges: Benchtop centrifuges;

Binocular light compound microscopes: Compound binocular light microscopes;

Blood collection syringes: Blood collection syringes;

Cargo trucks: Heavy cargo trucks;

Combine harvesters: Combine harvesters;

Conveyor screw: Grain augers;

Cultivators: Cultivators; Chisel cultivators; Sweep cultivator shovels;

Desktop computers: Desktop computers;

Disks: Disks;

Dry heat or hot air sterilizers: Soil sterilizers;

Drying cabinets or ovens: Drying ovens;

Dusters: Power dusters;

Electronic counters: Electronic counters;

Entomological catching equipment: Insect collectors;

Fertilizer spreaders or distributors: Fertilizer or seed spreaders; Granule applicators;

Fog or mist generators: Aerosol foggers; Aerosol generators;

Forced air or mechanical convection general purpose incubators: Laboratory mechanical convection incubators;

Forestry saws: Reach pole saws; Pruning shears;

Gas welding or brazing or cutting apparatus: Gas welders;

Graders or land levelers: Bed shapers;

Handheld refractometers or polarimeters: Portable refractometers;

Harrows: Harrows;

Harvesters: Harvesters;

Haymaking machinery: Rakes; Balers;

Height gauges: Animal measuring sticks;

Hypodermic injection apparatus: Vaccination syringes;

Incubators or brooders for poultry: Egg incubators; Egg setters or hatchers;

Infrared lamps: Infrared lamps;

Laboratory separators: Laboratory separators;

Ladders: Ladders;

Laser printers: Laser printers;

Light trucks or sport utility vehicles: Light trucks;

Livestock identification equipment: Animal tatooers;

Medical syringes with needle: Hypodermic syringes;

Metal inert gas welding machine: Metal inert gas MIG welders;

Milk cooling tanks: Milk cooling equipment;

Milking machines: Milking machines;

Moisture meters: Moisture meters; Soil moisture neutron probes;

Mowers: Mowers;

Nitrogen or nitrate or nitrite analyzer: Nitrogen test meters;

Notebook computers: Notebook computers;

Personal computers: Personal computers;

Personal digital assistant PDAs or organizers: Personal digital assistants PDA;

pH meters: pH meters;

Plant samples analysis equipment: Pollen collectors;

Planters: Planters; Planting sleds;

Ploughs: Plows;

Power saws: Power saws;

Refrigerated and heated reach in environmental or growth chambers: Temperature controlled reach-in growth chambers;

Reverse osmosis equipment: Reverse osmosis systems;

Sample holders: Sample vials;

Shielded metal arc welding or stick welding machine: Shielded arc welding tools;

Spectrometers: Spectrometers;

Sprayers: Chemical sprayers; Crop sprayers;

Steam autoclaves or sterilizers: Steam autoclaves; Steam sterilizers;

Surface thermometers: Surface thermometers;

Tablet computers: Tablet computers;

Temperature or humidity surface observing apparatus: Temperature gauges;

Threshing machines: Threshers;

Track bulldozers: Tracked bulldozers;

Trenching machines: Trenchers;

Vacuum blood collection tubes or containers: Vacuum blood collection tubes;

Veterinary castration instruments: Callicrate banding systems; Elastrator bands;

Veterinary injection or suction unit: Artificial insemination syringes;

Water samplers: Water samplers;

Weather stations: Weather instruments;


Technology

Analytical or scientific software: Statistical software;

Data base user interface and query software: Microsoft Access;

Desktop publishing software: Desktop publishing software;

Electronic mail software: Email software; Microsoft Outlook;

Enterprise resource planning ERP software: SAP software;

Geographic information system: Geographic information system GIS systems;

Internet browser software: Web browser software;

Mobile location based services software: Global positioning system GPS software;

Office suite software: Microsoft Office software;

Operating system software: Microsoft operating system;

Presentation software: Microsoft PowerPoint;

Spreadsheet software: Spreadsheet software; Microsoft Excel;

Word processing software: Microsoft Word; Word processing software;


Related O*NET occupational titles for Agricultural Technicians include:
  • 51-8099.01 Biofuels Processing Technicians
  • 19-4021.00 Biological Technicians
  • 19-4031.00 Chemical Technicians
  • 11-9013.00 Farmers, Ranchers, and Other Agricultural Managers
  • 45-1011.00 First-Line Supervisors of Farming, Fishing, and Forestry Workers
  • 19-4013.00 Food Science Technicians
  • 19-1012.00 Food Scientists and Technologists
  • 19-4071.00 Forest and Conservation Technicians
  • 29-2012.00 Medical and Clinical Laboratory Technicians
  • 19-4012.01 Precision Agriculture Technicians


Contact Texas Workforce Commission
Labor Market and Career Information  |  101 E. 15th Street, Annex Room 0252  |  Austin, Texas 78778
Official Website  |  1-800-822-PLAN (7526)  |  512.936.3200

** The information in this report may be derived from many sources like O*NET, BLS (Bureau of Labor Statistics), OOH (Occupational Outlook Handbook), and Career One Stop.