UK AI Exposure · Skilled trades occupations
Farmers
Farmers and related occupations cultivate arable crops, fruits and trees, and raise cattle, sheep, pigs, poultry and other livestock for consumption.
- Employees (UK)
- 6k
- Median annual pay
- £32,728
- Exposure score ?
- 0.8/10 Minimal 2.2/10 Low strict reading · with tools is 2.2/10 with-tools reading · strict is 0.8/10
- Wage exposure
- £16m £43m
Higher exposure than 46% of the 379 UK occupations we scored.
What this score means
Most of this role's work is still genuinely hard for AI to do. Physical presence, bodily skill, high-context judgment, direct human care - the things that don't translate to text.
If you're in this role, here's what to do now
You're not in the firing line today. But the frontier moves. Build enough AI fluency now that you can direct it for the parts of your work that could benefit. People in unexposed roles who understand AI become unusually valuable inside their organisations.
A handful of tasks in this role are touchable by AI, mostly around paperwork, scheduling and basic writing. The shape of the role stays the same - some parts just get faster.
If you're in this role, here's what to do now
Pick the two or three most repetitive things in your week and try an LLM on them. Most people underestimate what Claude or ChatGPT can already do for admin-shaped work. The time you get back is the dividend.
Where a project with Alex usually starts for this role
These are the highest-importance tasks a language model can already handle directly today. In a typical engagement the first wins come from building workflows around these, so they stop eating your team's time.
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Record the numbers and types of fish or shellfish reared, harvested, released, sold, and shipped.
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Communicate with forestry personnel regarding forest harvesting or forest management plans, procedures, or schedules.
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Read inventory records, customer orders, or shipping schedules to determine required activities.
These are the highest-importance tasks AI can already handle when paired with the right tools and context. In a typical engagement the first wins come from building workflows around these — usually the difference between an LLM that can technically do the job and one that actually does it inside your business.
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Record the numbers and types of fish or shellfish reared, harvested, released, sold, and shipped.
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Observe fish and beds or ponds to detect diseases, monitor fish growth, determine quality of fish, or determine completeness of harvesting.
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Communicate with forestry personnel regarding forest harvesting or forest management plans, procedures, or schedules.
Every role has three or four wedges like these. Finding them takes an hour. Turning them into a workflow your team actually uses takes a few days. Talk to Alex about a project →
The full task breakdown
Every O*NET task for this occupation, split by what AI can already do unaided versus what still needs a human. Importance is O*NET's 1–5 rating of how central each task is to the role.
Tasks via O*NET "First-Line Supervisors of Farming, Fishing, and Forestry Workers" (45-1011.00).
What AI can already do
4 of 30 tasks · unaided
Record the numbers and types of fish or shellfish reared, harvested, released, sold, and shipped.
Communicate with forestry personnel regarding forest harvesting or forest management plans, procedures, or schedules.
Read inventory records, customer orders, or shipping schedules to determine required activities.
Prepare and maintain time or payroll reports, as well as details of personnel actions, such as performance evaluations, hires, promotions, or disciplinary actions.
Where humans still hold the line
26 of 30 tasks
Assign tasks such as feeding and treatment of animals, and cleaning and maintenance of animal quarters.
Monitor workers to ensure that safety regulations are followed, warning or disciplining those who violate safety regulations.
Observe animals for signs of illness, injury, or unusual behavior, notifying veterinarians or managers as warranted.
Observe fish and beds or ponds to detect diseases, monitor fish growth, determine quality of fish, or determine completeness of harvesting.
Train workers in tree felling or bucking, operation of tractors or loading machines, yarding or loading techniques, or safety regulations.
Treat animal illnesses or injuries, following experience or instructions of veterinarians.
Train workers in spawning, rearing, cultivating, and harvesting methods, and in the use of equipment.
Train workers in techniques such as planting, harvesting, weeding, or insect identification and in the use of safety measures.
Confer with managers to evaluate weather or soil conditions, to develop plans or procedures, or to discuss issues such as changes in fertilizers, herbicides, or cultivating techniques.
Inspect crops, fields, or plant stock to determine conditions and need for cultivating, spraying, weeding, or harvesting.
Coordinate dismantling, moving, and setting up equipment at new work sites.
Coordinate the selection and movement of logs from storage areas, according to transportation schedules or production requirements.
Schedule work crews, equipment, or transportation for several different work locations.
Drive or operate farm machinery, such as trucks, tractors, or self-propelled harvesters, to transport workers or supplies or to cultivate or harvest fields.
Perform both supervisory and management functions, such as accounting, marketing, and personnel work.
Transport or arrange for transport of animals, equipment, food, animal feed, and other supplies to and from work sites.
Inspect buildings, fences, fields or ranges, supplies, and equipment to determine work to be performed.
Inspect facilities to determine maintenance needs.
Confer with managers to determine production requirements, conditions of equipment and supplies, and work schedules.
Requisition or purchase supplies, such as insecticides, machine parts or lubricants, or tools.
Monitor or oversee construction projects, such as horticultural buildings or irrigation systems.
Issue equipment, such as farm implements, machinery, ladders, or containers to workers, and collect equipment when work is complete.
Calculate or monitor budgets for maintenance or development of collections, grounds, or infrastructure.
Direct or assist with the adjustment or repair of equipment or machinery.
Monitor operations to identify and solve problems, improve work methods, and ensure compliance with safety, company, and government regulations.
Plan work schedules according to personnel and equipment availability.
Tasks via O*NET "First-Line Supervisors of Farming, Fishing, and Forestry Workers" (45-1011.00).
What AI can already do
13 of 30 tasks · with tools
Record the numbers and types of fish or shellfish reared, harvested, released, sold, and shipped.
Observe fish and beds or ponds to detect diseases, monitor fish growth, determine quality of fish, or determine completeness of harvesting.
Communicate with forestry personnel regarding forest harvesting or forest management plans, procedures, or schedules.
Inspect crops, fields, or plant stock to determine conditions and need for cultivating, spraying, weeding, or harvesting.
Schedule work crews, equipment, or transportation for several different work locations.
Perform both supervisory and management functions, such as accounting, marketing, and personnel work.
Read inventory records, customer orders, or shipping schedules to determine required activities.
Confer with managers to determine production requirements, conditions of equipment and supplies, and work schedules.
Prepare and maintain time or payroll reports, as well as details of personnel actions, such as performance evaluations, hires, promotions, or disciplinary actions.
Requisition or purchase supplies, such as insecticides, machine parts or lubricants, or tools.
Calculate or monitor budgets for maintenance or development of collections, grounds, or infrastructure.
Monitor operations to identify and solve problems, improve work methods, and ensure compliance with safety, company, and government regulations.
Plan work schedules according to personnel and equipment availability.
Where humans still hold the line
17 of 30 tasks
Assign tasks such as feeding and treatment of animals, and cleaning and maintenance of animal quarters.
Monitor workers to ensure that safety regulations are followed, warning or disciplining those who violate safety regulations.
Observe animals for signs of illness, injury, or unusual behavior, notifying veterinarians or managers as warranted.
Train workers in tree felling or bucking, operation of tractors or loading machines, yarding or loading techniques, or safety regulations.
Treat animal illnesses or injuries, following experience or instructions of veterinarians.
Train workers in spawning, rearing, cultivating, and harvesting methods, and in the use of equipment.
Train workers in techniques such as planting, harvesting, weeding, or insect identification and in the use of safety measures.
Confer with managers to evaluate weather or soil conditions, to develop plans or procedures, or to discuss issues such as changes in fertilizers, herbicides, or cultivating techniques.
Coordinate dismantling, moving, and setting up equipment at new work sites.
Coordinate the selection and movement of logs from storage areas, according to transportation schedules or production requirements.
Drive or operate farm machinery, such as trucks, tractors, or self-propelled harvesters, to transport workers or supplies or to cultivate or harvest fields.
Transport or arrange for transport of animals, equipment, food, animal feed, and other supplies to and from work sites.
Inspect buildings, fences, fields or ranges, supplies, and equipment to determine work to be performed.
Inspect facilities to determine maintenance needs.
Monitor or oversee construction projects, such as horticultural buildings or irrigation systems.
Issue equipment, such as farm implements, machinery, ladders, or containers to workers, and collect equipment when work is complete.
Direct or assist with the adjustment or repair of equipment or machinery.
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Methodology
This role's exposure score comes from Eloundou et al's 2023 GPT task labels, aggregated by O*NET importance within each O*NET-SOC code, then bridged to UK SOC 2020 via ISCO-08 (ONS Vol 2 coding index) and US SOC 2010 (BLS crosswalk). Employment and median pay come from ONS ASHE Table 14.7a, 2025 provisional. ASHE covers employees only, so self-employed workers are not counted.
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