AI exposure by occupation, O*NET 45-2091.00
Will AI replace Agricultural Equipment Operators?
Agricultural Equipment Operators: AI does not yet handle any of the role's 17 tasks; most of the work is hands-on, and the part AI can address mostly needs an efficient-tier model.
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Every task, scored
The 17 tasks O*NET 30.3 lists for Agricultural Equipment Operators, from most to least exposed. None reaches 60, the level at which AI already handles a task.
| Task | AI exposure | Evidence | Model tier |
|---|---|---|---|
| Mix specified materials or chemicals, and dump solutions, powders, or seeds into planter or sprayer machinery. | Estimated | Efficient | |
| Direct and monitor the activities of work crews engaged in planting, weeding, or harvesting activities. | Estimated | Frontier | |
| Operate towed machines such as seed drills or manure spreaders to plant, fertilize, dust, and spray crops. | Estimated | Efficient | |
| Walk beside or ride on planting machines while inserting plants in planter mechanisms at specified intervals. | Estimated | Efficient | |
| Adjust, repair, and service farm machinery and notify supervisors when machinery malfunctions. | Estimated | Efficient | |
| Irrigate soil, using portable pipes or ditch systems, and maintain ditches or pipes and pumps. | Estimated | Efficient | |
| Spray fertilizer or pesticide solutions to control insects, fungus and weed growth, and diseases, using hand sprayers. | Estimated | No tier | |
| Observe and listen to machinery operation to detect equipment malfunctions. | Estimated | No tier | |
| Manipulate controls to set, activate, and adjust mechanisms on machinery. | Estimated | No tier | |
| Operate or tend equipment used in agricultural production, such as tractors, combines, and irrigation equipment. | Estimated | No tier | |
| Weigh crop-filled containers, and record weights and other identifying information. | Estimated | No tier | |
| Guide products on conveyors to regulate flow through machines, and to discard diseased or rotten products. | Estimated | No tier | |
| Position boxes or attach bags at discharge ends of machinery to catch products, removing and closing full containers. | Estimated | No tier | |
| Attach farm implements such as plows, discs, sprayers, or harvesters to tractors, using bolts and hand tools. | Estimated | No tier | |
| Load and unload crops or containers of materials, manually or using conveyors, handtrucks, forklifts, or transfer augers. | Estimated | No tier | |
| Load hoppers, containers, or conveyors to feed machines with products, using forklifts, transfer augers, suction gates, shovels, or pitchforks. | Estimated | No tier | |
| Drive trucks to haul crops, supplies, tools, or farm workers. | Estimated | No tier |
Observed: scored from AI use recorded in the Anthropic Economic Index (June 2026 release), 0 of 17 tasks. Estimated: scored from the task's O*NET 30.3 work activity, 17 of 17. Importance is O*NET's 1 to 5 rating of how central the task is. Model tier is the lowest tier that can do the task under the published rubric; "No tier" marks hands-on work.
The model tier this role needs
An efficient-tier model or lower covers 29% of the role's importance-weighted task work. 35% of the work is something AI can address at some tier, and 65% is hands-on.
Efficient, standard and frontier tiers come from the JobRoute model tier reference. The recommended tier is the lowest one that covers 80% of the work AI can address. How the method works.
Wages, employment and outlook
- US employment
- 28,500
- Median annual wage
- $41,730
- Middle half of earners
- $36,810 to $48,100
- Projected change, 2024 to 2034
- +7.7%
Employment and wages: BLS Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics, May 2025, national. Projection: BLS Employment Projections 2024 to 2034.
Adjacent roles
The occupations that reuse the most of this role's skills, with the usual time to move. These are the first places to look when you plan to redeploy or retrain people in this role.
- Farm Equipment Mechanics and Service Technicians 70% skill overlap, about 11 months to move Exposure22
- Operating Engineers and Other Construction Equipment Operators 70% skill overlap, about 11 months to move Exposure18
- Agricultural Technicians 69% skill overlap, about 11 months to move Exposure65
- Logging Equipment Operators 69% skill overlap, about 11 months to move Exposure19
- Agricultural Engineers 69% skill overlap, about 11 months to move Exposure56
Skill overlap and transition time from the JobRoute role adjacency graph on O*NET 30.3 skills.
Questions about Agricultural Equipment Operators and AI
Will AI replace Agricultural Equipment Operators?
Not on current evidence. None of the 17 tasks O*NET lists for this occupation reaches a task exposure of 60, the level at which JobRoute counts a task as handled by AI, and the role's importance-weighted exposure is 23 out of 100. JobRoute scores tasks, not whole jobs, so the score shows how much of the work changes rather than whether the job disappears.
What is the AI exposure of Agricultural Equipment Operators?
23 out of 100 on JobRoute's task exposure measure, the importance-weighted average of the role's O*NET task scores. Higher means more of the work is AI-doable today. 0 of the 17 task scores are observed in the Anthropic Economic Index (June 2026 release), and the other 17 are estimated from each task's O*NET work activity.
Which Agricultural Equipment Operators tasks can AI already do?
None reaches 60 yet. The most exposed task is: Mix specified materials or chemicals, and dump solutions, powders, or seeds into planter or sprayer machinery, at 50 out of 100.
What AI model tier does this role need?
An efficient-tier model or lower covers 29% of the role's importance-weighted task work, and 65% is hands-on work that no model tier covers. JobRoute assigns each task the lowest tier that can do it under a published rubric and recommends the lowest tier that covers 80% of the work AI can address.
How many people work as Agricultural Equipment Operators, and what do they earn?
28,500 people in the United States, with a median annual wage of $41,730 (BLS Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics, May 2025). BLS Employment Projections expect a change of +7.7% from 2024 to 2034.
How to cite
Data version 2026-11-02, JobRoute method v1.0.0. Download all occupations or this occupation as JSON. Methodology.
JobRoute (2026). AI exposure: Agricultural Equipment Operators. Data version 2026-11-02, method v1.0.0. Built on O*NET 30.3, BLS OEWS May 2025 and the Anthropic Economic Index (June 2026). CC BY 4.0. https://www.jobroute.ai/jobs/agricultural-equipment-operators
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