Farm Equipment Operator

You know that feeling when you look down at your hands and feel proud of your accomplishments for the day? A job as a Farm Equipment Operator will give you that feeling in spades. That’s because, simply put, the farm wouldn’t run without a Farm Equipment Operator. The crops would not be planted, nurtured, or harvested, and the animals would have no fresh hay.

That’s a lot of responsibility, but you love every minute of it. Sure, it’s dirty, dusty, callous-inducing work, but it’s also gratifying. Your days as a Farm Equipment Operator start early and often end late, but those hours are filled with fresh air, Mother Nature’s elements on your skin, and the kind of physical labor that will keep you from ever setting foot in a gym.

The farm equipment you operate includes a variety of tractors with a variety of uses. You spend your days attaching spreaders, rakes, and balers to the back of your tractor, and maneuvering them through the fields. You drive combines during harvest, and drag seed spreaders when it’s time to plant. Other machines and attachments help you till the soil, fertilize, plant, harvest, buck hay bales, cut, rake, husk, shell, thresh, and gin the crops.

Of course, things don’t always progress according to plan so you remain flexible as you deal with rain on harvest day and broken machinery pretty much every other day. To minimize machinery problems, you maintain equipment, clean it after each job, and make repairs when necessary.