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10 Fastest Growing Jobs in Agriculture, Food & Natural Resources

What are the fastest growing careers in Agriculture, Food & Natural Resources?

Agriculture, Food & Natural Resources careers include jobs entail working with plants, animals, and the environment. 

Here is a list of 10 fastest growing jobs in the Agriculture, Food & Natural Resources career cluster with substantial job demand. 

  1. Animal Caretakers: Projected Job Growth: 16.47%
    Feed, water, groom, bathe, exercise, or otherwise provide care to promote and maintain the well-being of pets and other animals that are not raised for consumption, such as dogs, cats, racehorses, ornamental fish or birds, zoo animals, and mice. Work in settings such as kennels, animal shelters, zoos, circuses, and aquariums. May keep records of feedings, treatments, and animals received or discharged. May clean, disinfect, and repair cages, pens, or fish tanks.
  2. Pest Control Workers: Projected Job Growth: 8.02%
    Apply or release chemical solutions or toxic gases and set traps to kill or remove pests and vermin that infest buildings and surrounding areas.
  3. Refuse and Recyclable Material Collectors: Projected Job Growth: 7.18%
    Collect and dump refuse or recyclable materials from containers into truck. May drive truck.
  4. Agricultural Equipment Operators: Projected Job Growth: 6.62%
    Drive and control equipment to support agricultural activities such as tilling soil; planting, cultivating, and harvesting crops; feeding and herding livestock; or removing animal waste. May perform tasks such as crop baling or hay bucking. May operate stationary equipment to perform post-harvest tasks such as husking, shelling, threshing, and ginning.
  5. Biological Technicians: Projected Job Growth: 5.42%
    Assist biological and medical scientists. Set up, operate, and maintain laboratory instruments and equipment, monitor experiments, collect data and samples, make observations, and calculate and record results. May analyze organic substances, such as blood, food, and drugs.
  6. Hazardous Materials Removal Workers: Projected Job Growth: 5.16%
    Identify, remove, pack, transport, or dispose of hazardous materials, including asbestos, lead-based paint, waste oil, fuel, transmission fluid, radioactive materials, or contaminated soil. Specialized training and certification in hazardous materials handling or a confined entry permit are generally required. May operate earth-moving equipment or trucks.
  7. Farm Equipment Mechanics and Service Technicians: Projected Job Growth: 5.05%
    Diagnose, adjust, repair, or overhaul farm machinery and vehicles, such as tractors, harvesters, dairy equipment, and irrigation systems.
  8. Water/Wastewater Engineers: Projected Job Growth: 5.01%
    Design or oversee projects involving provision of potable water, disposal of wastewater and sewage, or prevention of flood-related damage. Prepare environmental documentation for water resources, regulatory program compliance, data management and analysis, and field work. Perform hydraulic modeling and pipeline design.
  9. Clinical Research Coordinators: Projected Job Growth: 4.94%
    Plan, direct, or coordinate clinical research projects. Direct the activities of workers engaged in clinical research projects to ensure compliance with protocols and overall clinical objectives. May evaluate and analyze clinical data.
  10. Natural Sciences Managers: Projected Job Growth: 4.94%
    Plan, direct, or coordinate activities in such fields as life sciences, physical sciences, mathematics, statistics, and research and development in these fields.

This list was developed to provide meaningful information, so only occupations with a minimum number of available jobs were included.

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