Farmworkers, Farm, Ranch, and Aquacultural Animals
Attend to live farm, ranch, open range or aquacultural animals that may include cattle, sheep, swine, goats, horses and other equines, poultry, rabbits, finfish, shellfish, and bees. Attend to animals produced for animal products, such as meat, fur, skins, feathers, eggs, milk, and honey. Duties may include feeding, watering, herding, grazing, milking, castrating, branding, de-beaking, weighing, catching, and loading animals. May maintain records on animals; examine animals to detect diseases and injuries; assist in birth deliveries; and administer medications, vaccinations, or insecticides as appropriate. May clean and maintain animal housing areas. Includes workers who shear wool from sheep and collect eggs in hatcheries.
32,810 people do this job in the US. $36,670 a year.
of the working time. Estimate.
- 2%
- 0%
- 98%
Measured, from Anthropic's usage data (2025). Counts help on part of a task.
On the chosen pace and reliability. Estimate.
Share of the working time within reach, now to 2030
What each choice means: , , , , . Every pace starts from .
At this date and pace, models finish tasks up to 4.4 h long four times in five.
How far this has come
With GPT-4, measured in March 2023, 0% of this job's working time was within reach at . With Claude 3.7 Sonnet, measured in February 2025, 0%. With Claude Mythos Preview (early), measured in April 2026, 2%. Today's estimate: 2%.
A backcast: today's task data with the best model METR had measured by each date. It shows how fast the models have moved, not what anyone forecast at the time.
The tasks
Sorted by . 19 tasks from .
| Task | Kind | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Inspect, maintain, and repair equipment, machinery, buildings, pens, yards, and fences.Done daily by most who do it. | 14% | 1.7 h25 min to 4.2 h | Stays with people | |
| Feed and water livestock and monitor food and water supplies.Done daily by most who do it. | 12% | 50 min25 min to 2.5 h | Stays with people | |
| Move equipment, poultry, or livestock from one location to another, manually or using trucks or carts.Done more than monthly by most who do it. | 8% | 50 min17 min to 2.5 h | Stays with people | |
| Drive trucks, tractors, and other equipment to distribute feed to animals.Done daily by most who do it. | 8% | 50 min25 min to 2.1 h | Stays with people | |
| Clean stalls, pens, and equipment, using disinfectant solutions, brushes, shovels, water hoses, or pumps.Done daily by most who do it. | 8% | 1.3 h25 min to 3.3 h | Stays with people | |
| Patrol grazing lands on horseback or using all-terrain vehicles.Done more than weekly by most who do it. | 7% | 1.7 h25 min to 3.3 h | Stays with people | |
| Herd livestock to pastures for grazing or to scales, trucks, or other enclosures.Done more than monthly by most who do it. | 7% | 50 min17 min to 2.5 h | Stays with people | |
| Examine animals to detect illness, injury, or disease, and to check physical characteristics, such as rate of weight gain.Done daily by most who do it. | 6% | 38 min13 min to 1.7 h | Stays with people | |
| Provide medical treatment, such as administering medications and vaccinations, or arrange for veterinarians to provide more extensive treatment.Done more than monthly by most who do it. | 4% | 50 min17 min to 2.5 h | Stays with people | |
| Segregate animals according to weight, age, color, and physical condition.Done more than monthly by most who do it. | 4% | 50 min17 min to 2.5 h | Stays with people | |
| Protect herds from predators, using trained dogs.Done daily by most who do it. | 4% | 1.3 h25 min to 3.3 h | Stays with people | |
| Spray livestock with disinfectants and insecticides, or dip or bathe animals.Done more than yearly by most who do it. | 4% | 1.3 h25 min to 3.3 h | Stays with people |
Within reach, per task: the share of the task's time whose instances are short enough for a model to finish at the chosen date, pace and reliability. Half by: the date half of that time comes within reach.
Jobs that share skills with this one
From O*NET's related occupations. Within reach now and by the end of 2028, long-run pace, four in five.
- Animal Breeders24% now, 33% by 2028
- Farmworkers and Laborers, Crop, Nursery, and Greenhouse4% now, 4% by 2028
- Agricultural Equipment Operators0% now, 0% by 2028
- Meat, Poultry, and Fish Cutters and Trimmers0% now, 0% by 2028
- Slaughterers and Meat Packers0% now, 0% by 2028
- Graders and Sorters, Agricultural Products7% now, 7% by 2028
Where this job works
The industry groups that employ the most of it (BLS, May 2025).
Where the most of these jobs are
The metro areas with the most people in it (BLS, May 2025).