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Career Exploration

Precision Agriculture Technicians

Also called: Agronomist, Crop Specialist, Precision Agriculture Specialist (Precision Ag Specialist), Precision Agronomist

What they do:

Apply geospatial technologies, including geographic information systems (GIS) and Global Positioning System (GPS), to agricultural production or management activities, such as pest scouting, site-specific pesticide application, yield mapping, or variable-rate irrigation. May use computers to develop or analyze maps or remote sensing images to compare physical topography with data on soils, fertilizer, pests, or weather.

On the job, you would:
  • Document and maintain records of precision agriculture information.
  • Collect information about soil or field attributes, yield data, or field boundaries, using field data recorders and basic geographic information systems (GIS).
  • Use geospatial technology to develop soil sampling grids or identify sampling sites for testing characteristics such as nitrogen, phosphorus, or potassium content, pH, or micronutrients.
On the job, you'll need:

Business

  • customer service
  • sales and marketing

Engineering and Technology

  • computers and electronics
  • product and service development

Arts and Humanities

  • English language

Math and Science

  • arithmetic, algebra, geometry, calculus, or statistics

Basic Skills

  • reading work related information
  • listening to others, not interrupting, and asking good questions

Problem Solving

  • noticing a problem and figuring out the best way to solve it

People and Technology Systems

  • thinking about the pros and cons of different options and picking the best one
  • figuring out how a system should work and how changes in the future will affect it

Verbal

  • communicate by speaking
  • communicate by writing

Ideas and Logic

  • make general rules or come up with answers from lots of detailed information
  • use rules to solve problems

Math

  • choose the right type of math to solve a problem
  • add, subtract, multiply, or divide

Visual Understanding

  • quickly compare groups of letters, numbers, pictures, or other things

Realistic

People interested in this work like activities that include practical, hands-on problems and solutions.

  • Dependability
  • Integrity
  • Attention to Detail
  • Adaptability/Flexibility
  • Persistence
  • Cooperation

Geographic information system

  • ESRI ArcGIS software
  • Geographic information system GIS systems

Presentation software

  • Microsoft PowerPoint

Analytical or scientific software

  • Farm Works Site Pro
  • MapShots EASi Suite

Video courtesy of CareerOneStop.

Job Outlook

The job outlook for this position is Bright.

New job opportunities are very likely in the future. This career will grow rapidly in the next few years.

Median Annual Salary: $41,760

Education

Bachelor's degree or associate's degree is usually needed.