Farm, Fishing, and Forestry Crew Supervisor
Farm, Fishing, and Forestry Crew Supervisor scores 72/100 on this site's structural exposure measure, one of the higher readings in this industry, reflecting how little of the job's actual task list, assigning daily work, training new workers, physically inspecting crops and equipment for problems, and stepping in directly when something breaks or a worker needs correcting, overlaps with what current AI models handle well.
We have not ingested real-world usage data for this occupation yet. We show a band only where genuine data exists, rather than estimate one.
What a farm, fishing, and forestry crew supervisor actually does
Farm, fishing, and forestry crew supervisors are the first line of management on agricultural operations, fisheries, and logging or forestry sites, directly overseeing the workers who plant, harvest, feed livestock, or run equipment day to day.
The job means assigning daily tasks, from animal feeding and treatment to planting and harvesting schedules, training new workers on techniques and safe equipment operation, and physically inspecting crops, fields, equipment, and facilities to catch maintenance problems and safety hazards before they cause a bigger loss.
Supervisors also schedule work crews, equipment, and transportation across multiple fields or sites, often coordinating the physical setup and dismantling of equipment as a crew moves between locations, and keep inventory and basic personnel records.
Unlike a farm manager, who typically handles budgeting, buyer relationships, and overall business strategy from more of a desk, a crew supervisor's day is spent physically present with the crew, in the field, barn, or processing area, making real-time calls about what needs doing next and stepping in directly when something goes wrong.
Why it reads this way
Farm, Fishing, and Forestry Crew Supervisor scores 72/100 on this site's structural exposure measure, one of the higher readings in this industry, reflecting how little of the job's actual task list, assigning daily work, training new workers, physically inspecting crops and equipment for problems, and stepping in directly when something breaks or a worker needs correcting, overlaps with what current AI models handle well.
No state licenses this role, unlike some other Safe jobs on this site, but the score holds up because the job is fundamentally about managing other people's physical labor in real time, not producing the kind of text- or data-based output large language models were built to generate.
Real automation in agriculture is genuine and growing, autonomous tractors, drone crop-scouting, and robotic weeding and harvesting systems are already commercially deployed, but that technology replaces individual worker tasks (planting, harvesting, driving) rather than the supervisor's own coordination, training, and inspection work. If anything, a smaller or more automated crew still needs someone physically present coordinating the mix of workers and machines.
Farm-labor management software (FieldClock, AgCrew, Grownu, and similar platforms) has moved fast on digitizing what used to be paper timesheets and radio check-ins, but every one of these tools is explicitly built to help a supervisor track and assign work faster, not to replace the supervisor's own task-assignment, training, and hands-on inspection judgment. BLS projects average growth for this occupation (3-4%, 2024-2034), consistent with a role that's being assisted by better tracking software rather than displaced by it.
Skills this role draws on
We don't yet have task-by-task time-share data for this occupation, so we can't show which specific tasks carry the exposure score above. This is the real skill set instead.
Typical salary range (USD)
$38,990–$91,770
Average: $59,320/yr
Range source: BLS OEWS wage data via O*NET OnLine (2025 release), SOC 45-1011.00 'First-Line Supervisors of Farming, Fishing, and Forestry Workers'
Average source: BLS OEWS wage data for First-Line Supervisors of Farming, Fishing, and Forestry Workers (45-1011.00) via O*NET OnLine, 2025 wage data (Annual Median Wage)
Related careers
Head-to-head comparisons
Farm, Fishing, and Forestry Crew Supervisor scores 72/100 (Medium confidence), one of the higher structural readings in this industry, reflecting how little of the job, assigning and training a crew, physically inspecting crops/equipment/facilities, coordinating multi-site logistics, overlaps with current AI task content. No state licenses this role, but unlike Farm Manager (58, At risk), whose core tasks are desk-bound planning and financial recordkeeping, this role's core tasks are physically managing a crew's day-to-day work in the field, barn, or processing site. Real agricultural automation (autonomous tractors, drone scouting, robotic weeding/harvesting) is commercially deployed and growing, but replaces individual worker tasks, not the supervisor's own coordination and training role — if anything, an increasingly automated crew still needs a person coordinating the mix of workers and machines. Farm-labor management apps (FieldClock, AgCrew, Grownu) are real and fast-adopted, but are explicitly built to help a supervisor track and assign work, not replace that judgment, as of 2026-08-17.
This is a researched judgment (checklist v1.2), not a statistical measurement — it sits alongside, not instead of, the structural exposure signal above. Next scheduled review: 2027-02-17.
Data sources & methodology
Salary data: BLS OEWS wage data via O*NET OnLine (2025 release), SOC 45-1011.00 'First-Line Supervisors of Farming, Fishing, and Forestry Workers'. Min/max figures represent the 10th–90th percentile annual wage range across the United States. Average figure sourced separately: BLS OEWS wage data for First-Line Supervisors of Farming, Fishing, and Forestry Workers (45-1011.00) via O*NET OnLine, 2025 wage data (Annual Median Wage).
Automation Risk Score: Based on O*NET occupational analysis (45-1011.00) evaluating task complexity, physical requirements, social intelligence, and environmental variability. Methodology based on research from Frey & Osborne (Oxford, 2017).
Growth projections: 3-4% (2024-2034), about as fast as the all-occupation average, with roughly 8,500 openings projected annually (BLS Occupational Outlook Handbook), based on BLS Occupational Outlook Handbook.