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 hard for AI: physical presence, practised skill, judgement in context and direct care, the things that do not turn into text.
If you are in this role
Nothing here is under pressure today, but the frontier moves. Learn enough to direct AI at the paperwork around the job. People in hands-on roles who can do that become unusually useful inside their organisations.
A few tasks in this role are within reach of AI, mostly paperwork, scheduling and routine writing. The shape of the role stays the same, and some parts get faster.
If you are in this role
Pick the two or three most repetitive things in your week and try a model on them. Most people underestimate what Claude or ChatGPT already does with admin-shaped work. The time you get back is the gain.
Where the work usually starts.
These are the most important tasks a language model can already handle directly. In a typical engagement the first wins come from building workflows around them, so they stop eating the team's time.
-
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.
These are the most important tasks AI can already handle when paired with the right tools and context. The first wins usually come from building workflows around them. That is the difference between a model that could do the job and one that actually does it inside your business.
-
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.
Every role has three or four places like these. Finding them takes an hour. Turning them into a workflow your team actually uses takes a few days.
Every task in the role.
Every O*NET task for this occupation, split by what AI can do unaided and what still needs a person. Importance is O*NET's 1 to 5 rating of how central each task is.
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.
What still needs a person
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.
What still needs a person
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.
Stay on top of this.
An email when there is something worth reading: what is real in AI at work, what is noise, and what operators are doing about it.
Free. Unsubscribe any time.
Related occupations.
Other roles in Skilled trades occupations, and roles close by exposure.
What it means for your sector.
This role's score comes from Eloundou et al's 2023 task labels, weighted by O*NET importance within each O*NET-SOC code, then bridged to UK SOC 2020 through ISCO-08 (the ONS coding index) and US SOC 2010 (the BLS crosswalk). Employment and median pay come from ONS ASHE Table 14.7a, 2025 provisional, which covers employees only.
Back to the mapMethodologySources (PDF)Built 29 April 2026
Pictures
- "Census pantograph and 1930s keypunches" by U.S. Census Bureau employees, public domain, via Wikimedia Commons
- "Shepard Barclay, St. Louis lawyer, in his office" by Missouri Historical Society via DPLA, no known copyright restrictions, via Wikimedia Commons
- "Accountant's Office LCCN2016824374" by National Photo Company Collection, public domain, via Wikimedia Commons
- "Employment service in Oulu in the spring 1931" by Finnish Heritage Agency (Museovirasto), CC BY 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons