Career Explorer Management
Human edge, steady
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.
In the middle of the pack: more resilient than 53% of the 831 careers we score. AI exposure is low (the Bureau of Labor Statistics rates it moderate), and US jobs are projected to change by -3.4% by 2035, expected to shrink. The work leans on creative vision and ethical judgement.
AI struggles with much of this work. Hiring is expected to grow slower than average, or to shrink.
- Median pay (2025)
- $89,900
- Job growth to 2035
- -3.4%
- Openings a year
- 70,800
- People doing it (2025)
- 789,000
- Usual route in
- High school diploma
Where people already use AI for this work
- Compile records, documentation, or other data
- Develop operational or technical procedures or standards
- Determine resource needs of projects or operations
From Microsoft Research, Working with AI (2025).
Work AI rarely helps with
- Manage agricultural or forestry operations
- Maintain operational records
- Develop contingency or emergency response plans
What the work looks like
- 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.
From O*NET 31.0, US Department of Labor.
Careers using similar strengths, with a stronger outlook
- Animal trainersHuman edge, growing, Index 94, +4.2%
- Chefs and head cooksHuman edge, growing, Index 93, +6.6%
- Food service managersHuman edge, growing, Index 87, +5.8%
- Private detectives and investigatorsGrows with AI, Index 58, +5.5%
Also known as: Aquaculture Director, Farm Manager, Greenhouse Manager, Ranch Manager, Farm Operations Technical Director, Fish Hatchery Manager, Harvesting Manager, Hatchery Manager.
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Sources: US Bureau of Labor Statistics Employment Projections 2025 to 2035; O*NET 31.0; Microsoft Research (2025); Anthropic Economic Index (2026); Eloundou and colleagues (Science, 2024); Felten, Raj and Seamans (2023). How we score. Updated 12 October 2026.