Career
Farmworkers, farm, ranch, and aquacultural animals
Care for livestock and farm animals.
$36,670
Median pay
-3.2%
Job growth, 2025–35
26,600
Openings a year
No formal educational credential
Typical education
None required
Typical time after high school
Here's what you actually need to know.
The work
What people in this job do
- Feed and water livestock and monitor food and water supplies.
- Herd livestock to pastures for grazing or to scales, trucks, or other enclosures.
- Examine animals to detect illness, injury, or disease, and to check physical characteristics, such as rate of weight gain.
- Provide medical treatment, such as administering medications and vaccinations, or arrange for veterinarians to provide more extensive treatment.
- Mark livestock to identify ownership and grade, using brands, tags, paint, or tattoos.
The outlook
How the forecast changed this year
The deeper question
What kind of person does this path ask you to become?
What this work centers on
O*NET interest profile, scored 1–7.
The work
Do you want most of your days spent on objects & tools, then information & systems?
Responsibility
Are you willing to be the one responsible for this?
“Feed and water livestock and monitor food and water supplies.”
Development
What would you need to build over the next 5–10 years?
Critical Thinking, Monitoring, Active Listening, Judgment and Decision Making.
Trade-offs
What does it ask of you in exchange?
No degree beyond high school, though short-term on-the-job training is typical, for a median of $36,670 a year and 26,600 openings nationally each year.
Paths in
Degrees that lead here
- ApicultureCIP 01.0310
Paths across
Careers that use similar skills
- Animal Breeders$51,130 · +3.0%
- Farmworkers and Laborers, Crop, Nursery, and Greenhouse$35,660 · -2.4%
- Agricultural Equipment Operators$41,730 · +8.6%
- Meat, Poultry, and Fish Cutters and Trimmers$38,300 · +5.7%
- Slaughterers and Meat Packers$40,130 · +2.0%
Ask anything about this career.
“Would this make sense if I don't want to sit at a desk all day?” Answers will come from the sources on this page, with citations. Coming soon.
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Sources
- BLS Employment Projections, 2025–35, U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics. Retrieved 2026-10-01.
- BLS Employment Projections, 2024–34 (archived), U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics. Retrieved 2026-10-01.
- O*NET 31.0 Database (August 2026), National Center for O*NET Development / U.S. Department of Labor. Retrieved 2026-10-01.
- CIP 2020 to SOC 2018 Crosswalk, NCES and BLS. Retrieved 2026-10-01.