10 Unique Jobs in Agriculture: Shaping America’s Future was originally published on USDA Exposure (March, 2024)
At USDA, we celebrate farmers, ranchers and fishers who strengthen our Nation and fuel our economy by providing healthy food and other agricultural necessities.
As we recognize these important roles in the industry, it is an exciting opportunity to learn about unique and less known career opportunities available through modern agriculture.
1. Beekeeper
Beekeepers may be familiar to most, as honey is a household staple. But beekeepers play an important role within the USDA by maintaining healthy bee populations and supporting crop pollination.
USDA beekeepers are dedicated to ensuring productive and sustainable honeybee populations across America, and their work is vital for agriculture and the food supply.
O*Net Occupation: Farmers, Ranchers, and Other Agricultural Managers
2. Fruit Fly Wrangler
Silent heroes of the field strategize and battle damaging fruit flies. Protecting our food supply from these harmful pests is the ultimate goal for fruit fly wranglers within the U.S. Department of Agriculture.
A fruit fly wrangler’s main responsibility is to monitor and control populations of invasive and destructive fruit fly species that can ravage valuable crops. These tiny flies can cause massive damage to fruits and vegetables by laying eggs inside them, making the produce inedible.
Fruit fly wranglers may also be found working in airports and shipping ports where agricultural products are inspected for potential hitchhikers.
O*Net Occupation: Agricultural Inspectors
O*Net Occupation: Pest Control Workers
3. Hydrologist
USDA hydrologists play a crucial role in managing and conserving water resources such as ensuring adequate irrigation supplies to protecting water quality to mitigating drought risks.
USDA hydrologists monitor stream flows, reservoir levels, precipitation patterns, and aquifer recharge rates to assess surface and groundwater supplies and determine availability for irrigation and other agricultural uses.
On the farm, Hydrologists work to optimize water use for crop production while minimizing waste, soil erosion, and environmental impacts. Water sources used for irrigation and livestock is monitored to ensure it meets safety standards and does not contain contaminants.
Hydrologists also study how changing climate patterns and extreme weather may affect our agricultural needs.
4. Drone Technologist
Drone technology is emerging within the USDA to provide more efficient and cost-effective data to assist with habitat restoration, aerial mapping and surveying, vegetation analysis and prescribed fire monitoring.
Drones are used by technologists to safely collect data from remote, inaccessible or hazardous areas that are difficult or dangerous to survey from the ground and can be used to precisely monitor restoration sites before and after projects are completed.
O*Net Occupation: Software Developers
5. Restoration Specialist
Restoration Specialists play a crucial role in USDA’s restoration and conservation efforts of natural habitats and ecosystems.
Conservation efforts focus to repair damage, increase resilience and preserve healthy landscapes across the nation’s forests, grasslands and waterways.
With specialization in ecology, biology, hydrology and other environmental sciences, restoration specialists assist habitat restoration, fire rehabilitation, reclamation of disturbed lands and ecosystem monitoring.
O*Net Occupation: Environmental Scientists and Specialists
6. Enzymologist
USDA Enzymologists drive innovation across agricultural disciplines from food science and animal agriculture to bio-based energy production through the innovative use of enzymes.
Some areas where enzymes are useful include biofuel production, crop protection and digestive aids in animal feed and human food processing to improve texture, flavor, shelf-life, and production efficiency.
For crop protection, Enzymologists use enzymes to degrade environmental pollutants like pesticides or industrial dyes in agricultural soils and water sources. Some enzymes are useful as eco-friendly alternatives to chemical pesticides and herbicides.
O*Net Occupation: Soil and Plant Scientists
7. Soil Scientist / Conservationist
Soil scientists play a vital role in understanding, managing, and conserving one of the most important natural resources for agriculture – soil.
Through their specialized expertise, soil scientists study how changing climate patterns may impact soil processes, moisture levels, carbon storage, and other factors influencing agricultural productivity.
We rely on soil scientists to evaluate soil suitability for production of different crops, forestry, rangeland, and urban development.
In addition to land use management, soil scientists assess soil fertility and develop recommendations for nutrient amendments to optimize crop yields while minimizing runoff pollution.
O*Net Occupation: Conservation Scientists
8. Autonomous Tractor Operator
An autonomous tractor operator implements and oversees the use of self-driving farm equipment technology such as tractors, harvesters, sprayers and other unmanned farm machinery.
By managing self-driving farm machines, autonomous tractor operators help agricultural operations improve efficiency, minimize labor demands, reduce operational costs and enhance environmental sustainability.
O*Net Occupation: Farm Equipment Mechanics and Service Technicians
9. Vertical Farm Biogeochemist
Biogeochemists serve as an agricultural process engineer who manage the complex biological, chemical and geological processes involved with soil-less vertical farming systems.
They analyze solution samples and nutrient levels in the lab and adjust nutrient mixes and pH levels as needed.
Vertical farm biogeochemists meticulously track plants over time to calculate nutrient replenishment needs and develop specialized growth media and techniques to optimize cultivation conditions for different hydroponic crop varieties.
O*Net Occupation: Biological Technicians
10. Agricultural Virtual Reality (VR) Developer
While autonomous tractor operators focus on real-world equipment operations, virtual reality (VR) developers create simulated agricultural training environments. Both roles intersect by applying emerging technologies to enhance agricultural practices.
VR developers build simulations by digitally modeling real-world farming scenarios in minute detail.
Farmers can explore simulated agricultural worlds through a VR headset with everything from different soil types, animal disease and ailment presentations, and crop varieties to the controls and cab interior of a virtual combine harvester.
