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45-2091.00 · Task explorer

Agricultural Equipment Operators: reported tasks and exploration worksheet

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. May perform tasks such as crop baling or hay bucking. May operate stationary equipment to perform post-harvest tasks such as husking, shelling, threshing, and ginning.

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Read the task inventory

This source lists 17 tasks, including 8 marked Core and 9 marked Supplemental. Labels and dates are retained below. Employers can combine or divide these responsibilities differently; explore the task itself before assuming it belongs in every version of the role.

Task source dates: 08/2019.

17 tasks shown

Core · Task 13369 · 08/2019 · Incumbent

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

Core · Task 13358 · 08/2019 · Incumbent

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

Core · Task 13363 · 08/2019 · Incumbent

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

Core · Task 13356 · 08/2019 · Incumbent

Observe and listen to machinery operation to detect equipment malfunctions.

Core · Task 13360 · 08/2019 · Incumbent

Manipulate controls to set, activate, and adjust mechanisms on machinery.

Core · Task 13359 · 08/2019 · Incumbent

Operate or tend equipment used in agricultural production, such as tractors, combines, and irrigation equipment.

Core · Task 13355 · 08/2019 · Incumbent

Adjust, repair, and service farm machinery and notify supervisors when machinery malfunctions.

Core · Task 13364 · 08/2019 · Incumbent

Attach farm implements such as plows, discs, sprayers, or harvesters to tractors, using bolts and hand tools.

Supplemental · Task 13362 · 08/2019 · Incumbent

Load hoppers, containers, or conveyors to feed machines with products, using forklifts, transfer augers, suction gates, shovels, or pitchforks.

Supplemental · Task 13361 · 08/2019 · Incumbent

Direct and monitor the activities of work crews engaged in planting, weeding, or harvesting activities.

Supplemental · Task 13365 · 08/2019 · Incumbent

Operate towed machines such as seed drills or manure spreaders to plant, fertilize, dust, and spray crops.

Supplemental · Task 13368 · 08/2019 · Incumbent

Weigh crop-filled containers, and record weights and other identifying information.

Supplemental · Task 13367 · 08/2019 · Incumbent

Walk beside or ride on planting machines while inserting plants in planter mechanisms at specified intervals.

Supplemental · Task 13366 · 08/2019 · Incumbent

Drive trucks to haul crops, supplies, tools, or farm workers.

Supplemental · Task 13370 · 08/2019 · Incumbent

Guide products on conveyors to regulate flow through machines, and to discard diseased or rotten products.

Supplemental · Task 13371 · 08/2019 · Incumbent

Position boxes or attach bags at discharge ends of machinery to catch products, removing and closing full containers.

Supplemental · Task 13357 · 08/2019 · Incumbent

Irrigate soil, using portable pipes or ditch systems, and maintain ditches or pipes and pumps.

Make the shortlist useful

  1. Choose one to three activities that tell you something different about the work. Avoid selecting several ways of describing the same interest.
  2. For each, write an example you can discuss or a question that would change your understanding of the role.
  3. Keep source task IDs with your notes so you can return to the same description. Do not include private employer or customer information.

The exported worksheet distinguishes the reported task from your own notes. It supports exploration, not a hiring decision or a validated assessment.

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Source and practice material

Occupational context uses the O*NET® 31.0 Database from the U.S. Department of Labor, Employment and Training Administration, under CC BY 4.0. View the occupation.

Skill Workbench selected and adapted the occupational information and added its own fictional cases, calculations, guidance and worksheets. USDOL/ETA has not approved, endorsed or tested these additions. O*NET® is a trademark of USDOL/ETA.