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Crop production manager

Also called farm director, crop producer

Crop production managers plan the production, manage the enterprise and participate in the production process of crop production facilities.

Will there be jobs?Limited prospectsFewer people are expected to do this work by 2035.Market-oriented skilled agricultural workersWhat does it pay?Below averageFrom about €700 (Bulgaria) to €4,500 (Denmark) a month, depending on the country.Estimate · Market-oriented skilled agricultural workersWhat do I need to study?Upper secondary or vocational6 in 10 finished upper secondary or vocational training. 6 in 10 train through vocational routes.Market-oriented skilled agricultural workersWill AI change it?Very littleLevel 1 of 6. AI could help with only small parts of the tasks.Mixed crop growers · ILO

What you'd do

Mixed crop growers · ILO
  • Monitoring market activity and conditions, determining types and quantities of crops to be grown, and planning and coordinating production accordingly
  • Preparing soil by hand or machine, and spreading fertilizers and manure
  • Selecting and sowing seeds, and planting seedlings
  • Maintaining crops by cultivating soil, by transplanting, pruning or thinning crops, trees and shrubs, and by setting up and operating irrigation equipment
  • Growing flowers and vegetables by intensive cultivation
  • Producing saplings, bulbs and seeds
  • Harvesting crops and inspecting, cleaning, grading, packaging, storing and loading products for sale or delivery to market
  • Tending working animals and maintaining farm buildings, structures, equipment and water supply systems
  • Storing and carrying out some processing of produce
  • Promoting and marketing products, arranging the sale, purchase and transportation of produce and supplies and maintaining and evaluating records of activities and transactions
  • Training and supervising workers in production, maintenance duties and health and safety precautions, and hiring and discharging workers and contractors
Execute disease and pest control activitiesManage agricultural staffSupervise hygiene procedures in agricultural settingsMonitor fieldsManage production enterprise+ 10 more essential skills
What the work is like
  • Indoors and outdoors
  • A mix of sitting and standing
  • Lots of contact with people
  • Good freedom to decide
  • Often more than 40 hours a week
  • Deadlines most weeks
  • Some repetitive tasks
US data: based on the O*NET profile of the similar US job "First-Line Supervisors of Farming, Fishing, and Forestry Workers"

Will there be jobs?

Limited prospects

Fewer jobs than in most work will need filling by 2035.

People working as market-oriented skilled agricultural workers in the EU
7.88m6.98m4.89m 201520232035

Solid: measured. Dashed: forecast.

Jobs to fill, 2026–2035

More people will leave this work than new people are needed.

Jobs to fill per 100 people working now
Market-oriented skilled agricultural workers-3
All jobs29
Right now
6 of 27 countries report a shortage of mixed crop growers, 3 a surplus.
Mixed crop growers · EURES

What does it pay?

Below average

Pay depends a lot on the country: from about €700 a month (Bulgaria) to €4,500 (Denmark), before tax.

Pick a country at the top of the page to see typical pay there, for people under 30, and compared with all jobs.

Among skilled agricultural, forestry and fishery workers in the EU, women earn 16% more per hour than men. Skilled agricultural, forestry and fishery workers · Eurostat

What do I need to study?

Upper secondary or vocational

Upper secondary or vocational training in crop and livestock production is the usual route.

Highest qualification of market-oriented skilled agricultural workers (EU, 2025)
Degree 13%Vocational 46%General secondary 10%Basic schooling 30%
Field that teaches it
Crop and livestock production
Vocational route, EU
6 in 10 trainees in this field

Pick a country at the top of the page to see where to study and the official course finders.

Will AI change it?

Very little

AI could help with only small parts of the tasks.

How exposed is this job? ILO scale
Very low
Low
Some tasks
Moderate
Significant
High

Average task score 0.17 on a scale from 0 (AI can't do it) to 1 (AI could do it fully).

See the score for each of the 11 tasks
Promoting and marketing products, arranging the sale, purchase and transportation of produce and supplies and maintaining and evaluating records of activities and transactions0.42
Monitoring market activity and conditions, determining types and quantities of crops to be grown, and planning and coordinating production accordingly0.41
Training and supervising workers in production, maintenance duties and health and safety precautions, and hiring and discharging workers and contractors0.17
Harvesting crops and inspecting, cleaning, grading, packaging, storing and loading products for sale or delivery to market0.15
Storing and carrying out some processing of produce0.12
Maintaining crops by cultivating soil, by transplanting, pruning or thinning crops, trees and shrubs, and by setting up and operating irrigation equipment0.12
Producing saplings, bulbs and seeds0.12
Growing flowers and vegetables by intensive cultivation0.11
Selecting and sowing seeds, and planting seedlings0.11
Tending working animals and maintaining farm buildings, structures, equipment and water supply systems0.09
Preparing soil by hand or machine, and spreading fertilizers and manure0.08

Based on what AI could technically do when assessed in 2025. It is not a forecast for a future year, and not a forecast of job losses. Scores for mixed crop growers. Source: ILO (2025), adapted (credits).