MightyRecruiterAgricultural equipment operators help to maintain the quality and production of farms, crops and livestock by driving and controlling machinery. They are responsible for tilling soil, cultivating crops, baling harvests and bucking hay. They also utilize stationary equipment for tasks including the shelling, husking, ginning and threshing of harvested plants.
If you want to attract all-star candidates, be sure to leverage the skills section of your agricultural equipment operator job description. Include the fact that a competitive applicant will have a good mix of technical experience and working knowledge of food production and crop harvesting processes. He or she will also be responsible for monitoring, repairing and troubleshooting equipment.
Additionally, the ideal operator is able to communicate clearly with managers in order to make decisions regarding machinery and streamline production. Use our agricultural equipment operator job description template to get an idea of what to include in your posting.
Agricultural Equipment Operator Job Summary
Are you the type of motivated person who cannot be confined to a career in a cubicle? If you love to work with your hands and operate machinery that supports the critical processes of crop production and harvest, you may be an ideal fit for our agricultural equipment operator job opening. A high-school education is preferred but not mandatory. As an important member of our team, you will receive valuable on-the-job training and ample opportunities to become an agricultural expert with seasonal projects and tasks. We offer a mix of fast-paced and relaxed environments where you are surrounded by a crew of friendly and hard-working professionals.
Job Responsibilities
- Safely operate and control different kinds of farm equipment using current GPS technology, including trucks, tractors, loaders and skid steers
- Drive dozer to move harvests and separate feed material into specific storage units based on the quality and grade of product
- Troubleshoot, service and repair agricultural machinery and report problems and needs to management, noting physical and mechanical issues on a checklist; record meter reading at the beginning of each shift
- Irrigate and till soil and plant, cultivate and bale crops such as hay, wheat, corn and barley
- Assist with post-harvest tasks including ginning, shelling, husking and threshing of grains
- Use forklifts, transfer augers, pitchforks, shovels, suction gates and other equipment to load hoppers and conveyors to feed machines
- Control insect populations, weed growth and crop diseases by spraying pesticides and fertilizers
- Confer with management and prioritize work requests to ensure machinery is organized and operational when it is needed
Job Skills & Qualifications
Reqiured:
- Driver’s license: must be 16 or older to drive trucks and tractors
- Fluency in English
- Ability to handle heavy objects and machinery
- Strong desire to learn and engage in agricultural production processes
Preferred:
- High school diploma or equivalent
- One year of previous experience operating farm equipment
Agricultural Equipment Operator Job Responsibilities
Finding the right agricultural equipment operator means knowing how to attract qualified candidates, and your agricultural equipment operator job description is the key to accomplishing that goal. The most complex and wordiest part of the document tends to be the job responsibilities section. That’s because it mirrors the work history section of a resume in both its form and content. Jobseekers rely on this section to determine whether or not they have the ability to perform the daily duties of the role, so clarity and specificity are vital.
As you write your agricultural equipment operator job responsibilities, maintain an active voice to help avoid wordiness. It’s also important to start each bullet point with a clear verb that gives the reader a specific action to envision. That way, jobseekers can better understand the core actions they will have to take on a daily basis if you hire them. Limit yourself to 6-8 total duties to keep the focus on the major, role-defining tasks of the job, and consult these examples as you write your agricultural equipment operator job description.
- Operate and tend to the equipment used in industrial-scale farming operations
- Adjust and maintain the equipment within the parameters of its daily operations
- Report and document malfunctions on work orders to provide details to repair crews
- Maintain forestry, hunting or agricultural equipment
- Confer with management about decisions involving the maintenance and function of agricultural equipment
Agricultural Equipment Operator Job Specifications
Discovering the right candidate for your open position means providing candidates with the information they need to decide whether they are a fit for the job. The job responsibilities section is important for that, but so is the skills and qualifications section of your agricultural equipment operator job description. It is this section that holds the agricultural equipment operator job specifications that create the rubric for the job’s minimum qualifications.
Make this section easy to navigate by doing the research to make sure it is complete. Consult resources that provide you with multiple perspectives on the required skill set, such as certifications and physical capability, and make time to have someone who knows the role intimately review your list to spot any accidental omissions if you can.
It is also important to make sure you groom the style of the agricultural equipment operator job description so that the wording is clear. Do this by revising this section into active language and by focusing on specific, detailed words that allow you to sidestep explanation by simply listing the skills your company needs in a candidate.
- Agricultural power equipment certification
- Strongly developed operation monitoring and intervention skills
- The ability to lift more than 50 lbs. repeatedly
- Well-developed manual dexterity and arm-hand steadiness
