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Contents
Key Takeaways for a Farmer Resume
Why This Farmer Resume Works
How to Write a Farmer Resume
What to Include in a Farmer Resume
Farmer Resume Summary Examples
Farmer Work Experience Examples
Top Farmer Skills
Certifications for a Farmer
Farmer Income and Salary
Common Farmer Resume Mistakes
Farmer Resume FAQs
Willem Pretorius
Farmer
0061407855210
Summary
Farmer with eighteen years running a mixed crop and livestock operation in the Western Cape, the last ten as owner-operator. Combines generations of hands-on knowledge with modern, data-driven practice, managing the land, the animals, the machinery and the books to keep a working farm both productive and sustainable. Improved yields and cut input costs by adopting precision-agriculture techniques and a rotational grazing system. Manages crop planning and harvest, livestock health, irrigation, machinery, staff and the commercial side of selling the produce. Hardworking, practical and a careful steward of the land. Looking to keep building the farm, or to bring deep agricultural know-how into a farm-management or agribusiness role.
Work Experience
Owner-Operator / Farmer
Pretorius Family Farm, Western Cape, South Africa
Jan 2014 – Present
- Run a mixed crop and livestock farm end to end, managing the land, animals, machinery and books to keep it productive.
- Improved yields and cut input costs by adopting precision-agriculture techniques and a rotational grazing system.
- Plan crops, planting and harvest around soil, weather and market conditions, balancing productivity with the land's long-term health.
- Manage livestock health, breeding and feed, keeping the herd healthy and the operation compliant with animal-welfare standards.
- Maintain and operate machinery and irrigation, fixing what I can on the spot to keep the farm running through critical windows.
- Handle the commercial side, from input buying to selling the produce, managing the farm as a real business and not just a way of life.
Farm Manager
Boland Agricultural Estate, Western Cape, South Africa
Dec 2006 – Dec 2013
- Managed a large commercial farm's crops, livestock and staff, running day-to-day operations across the seasons.
- Improved productivity and managed budgets, machinery and labour across a busy and demanding agricultural operation.
- Learned crop and livestock management, irrigation and farm business on the job across seven years.
- Gained the precision-agriculture certificate and took over running the family farm as owner-operator.
Education
BSc in Agriculture, Agriculture
Stellenbosch University
Feb 2003 – Nov 2006
- Degree in agriculture covering crop science, animal husbandry, soil and farm management. The study added science and business to a farming upbringing. It set the foundation for running a modern mixed farm.
Certificate in Precision Agriculture, Agriculture
Agricultural Research Council
Jan 2015 – Jun 2015
- Certificate covering precision agriculture, data-driven planting and resource management. It brought modern technology to traditional practice. It supported improving yields while reducing inputs on the farm.
Highlights
Higher yields, lower inputs
- Improved yields and cut input costs by adopting precision-agriculture techniques and rotational grazing. Getting more from the land while using fewer inputs is both better business and better stewardship of the soil.
Runs the farm as a business
- Manages the commercial side from input buying to selling produce, treating the farm as a real business rather than just a way of life. The farms that survive are the ones run with genuine commercial discipline.
Certifications
Precision Agriculture Certificate
Agricultural Research Council
Jun 2015 – Present
- Certificate covering precision agriculture, data-driven planting and resource management to a recognised standard. It brought modern technology to traditional practice and supported improving yields while reducing inputs on the farm.
Rotational Grazing System
Rotational Grazing System
Jan 2019 – Dec 2021
- Introduced a rotational grazing system and precision-planting approach across the farm, matching stock and crops to the land's capacity, which improved soil health, lifted yields and reduced feed and input costs over several seasons.
Languages
- Afrikaans — Native or Bilingual Proficiency
- English (UK) — Full Professional Proficiency
Technical Skills
- Crop Management
- Livestock Husbandry
- Precision Agriculture
- Irrigation Management
- Soil & Land Care
- Machinery Operation & Repair
- Farm Business & Budgets
- Harvest Planning
- Staff Management
- Animal Welfare & Compliance
Personal Skills
- Work Ethic
- Practicality
- Resilience
- Stewardship
- Problem Solving
Activities & Interests
- Weight Lifting
- Horse Riding
- On Phone
- Treadmill
- Skiing
Key Takeaways for a Farmer Resume
Write the operation down as the business it is:
- State the scale covering acreage, head count, enterprise mix and whether the land is owned, rented or managed.
- Give yields and production figures against local benchmarks, since that is how agricultural performance is judged.
- List equipment operated and maintained, because machinery capability is a substantial part of what a farm hires for.
- Show the commercial side covering input costs, marketing decisions, contracts and any diversified income.
- Include compliance and certification work, from food safety schemes through environmental and welfare standards.
- Name the people you managed, since seasonal labour coordination is a real management responsibility most pages omit.
Why This Farmer Resume Works
This sample belongs to a working farmer, and it treats the operation as a business with numbers.
- Scale is stated in acreage and head, which stops a reader assuming the smallest plausible version of the operation.
- Yields appear against local benchmarks, since a figure without context tells an agricultural reader very little.
- Equipment is listed individually, and machinery capability is a substantial part of what any farm employer hires for.
- Commercial decisions appear including inputs and marketing, which is what separates managing a farm from working on one.
- Compliance and certification are included, because assurance schemes and environmental requirements now shape everything.
- Seasonal labour management is described, which is genuine people management that most farming resumes leave out entirely.
How to Write a Farmer Resume
Whether you are staying in agriculture or leaving it, the operation has to be legible on paper.
State the scale
Acres farmed, livestock numbers, enterprises run, and whether land is owned, rented or managed for somebody else. Scale is the context everything else is read against, and vagueness invites the smallest assumption.
Give production figures
Yields per acre, stocking rates, milk or weight gain, and how those compared with local averages. Agricultural performance is judged against benchmarks, so a figure without comparison conveys almost nothing.
List the equipment
Tractors and horsepower, combines, sprayers, balers, livestock handling systems, precision agriculture technology. Machinery capability is a large part of farm hiring, and maintenance ability matters as much as operation.
Show commercial decisions
Input purchasing, crop marketing and forward contracts, enterprise mix decisions, diversification income. This is what distinguishes running a farm from working on one, and it transfers directly into agribusiness roles.
Include compliance
Food safety assurance schemes, environmental stewardship, animal welfare standards, pesticide certification, record keeping. Farming is heavily audited now, and a clean inspection record is genuinely valuable evidence.
Name the labour you managed
Seasonal workers coordinated, contractors engaged, training delivered, safety on the holding. Managing a harvest crew is real people management, and it reads as such once it is actually written down.
Acreage, enterprise mix and yields are the facts that travel. You can build a free farmer resume and keep your operation size, equipment and certifications in one place.
What to Include in a Farmer Resume
Beyond the standard sections, both agricultural employers and agribusiness recruiters look for these:
Operation scale covering acreage, livestock numbers, enterprise mix and the tenure of the land you farmed.
Production figures including yields, stocking rates and output measures compared against local benchmarks.
Equipment operated and maintained, from tractors and combines through sprayers and precision agriculture systems.
Commercial work covering input purchasing, crop marketing, forward contracts and diversified income streams.
Compliance and certification including assurance schemes, environmental stewardship and pesticide qualifications.
Labour managed, covering seasonal crews, contractors, training delivered and safety on the holding.
Extra tips
Record your yields and stocking rates each year alongside the local benchmark for that season.
A yield figure alone means nothing to a reader, while one above benchmark in a difficult year means a great deal.
Farmer Resume Summary Examples
Two summaries, one staying in agriculture and one translating the experience outward:
Entry-level resume summary example
Farm worker with three years on a mixed arable and livestock holding of around six hundred acres, moving toward a farm management position. Operates and maintains tractors, a sprayer and livestock handling equipment, and holds a pesticide application certificate. Manages a flock through lambing including husbandry, records and veterinary liaison, and supports arable operations through drilling, spraying and harvest. Keeps the records the farm's assurance scheme requires rather than reconstructing them before an inspection. Coordinates seasonal labour at harvest and works to the farm's safety procedures around machinery and livestock. Seeking an assistant farm manager position on a larger holding.
Senior-level resume summary example
Farmer with eighteen years managing a mixed holding of around fourteen hundred acres across combinable crops and a beef enterprise, on a mixture of owned and rented land. Holds full profit and loss responsibility including input purchasing, crop marketing and forward contracts, and has kept yields consistently above the local benchmark across the rotation. Operates and maintains the full equipment fleet including precision agriculture systems, and manages three permanent staff alongside seasonal harvest labour. Maintains assurance scheme and environmental stewardship compliance without findings. Seeking a farm management or agribusiness position.
Farmer Work Experience Examples
Three sets covering the shape of the work, since production, commercial and compliance responsibilities separate.
Production and husbandry
- Managed a mixed holding of around fourteen hundred acres across combinable crops and a beef enterprise, keeping yields consistently above the local benchmark across the rotation rather than in a single favourable year.
- Planned the rotation against soil type, disease pressure and market outlook rather than repeating the previous year, since a rotation that ignores any of those eventually produces a season nobody can recover from.
- Managed the beef enterprise through breeding, health and finishing, working with the veterinary practice on herd health planning rather than only calling when an animal was already visibly unwell.
- Made agronomic decisions on inputs, timings and varieties with the agronomist, balancing yield potential against cost in a year where input prices moved considerably against the growing crop.
- Operated and maintained the full equipment fleet including precision agriculture systems, which keeps a farm working through a narrow weather window instead of waiting for an external repair visit.
Commercial and financial management
- Held profit and loss responsibility for the holding including input purchasing, crop marketing and forward contracts, which is the part of farming that determines whether a good harvest is also a profitable one.
- Marketed grain across the season rather than selling at harvest alone, since the price available in the weeks after harvest is rarely the best one available across a full marketing year.
- Negotiated input purchasing in advance of the season and against volume, because inputs are the largest controllable cost on an arable farm and the one most often bought reactively.
- Assessed diversification opportunities against their actual return and the management time required, rather than adding enterprises that occupy the operator without contributing meaningfully to income.
- Maintained farm accounts and cash flow forecasting through a season where income arrives in concentrated periods, which is what makes input purchasing and machinery decisions possible at all.
Compliance, people and land
- Maintained assurance scheme and environmental stewardship compliance without findings across successive inspections, which reflects continuous record keeping rather than a fortnight of preparation beforehand.
- Kept the records that assurance schemes, pesticide regulation and animal movement rules require, since incomplete records are where farm inspections most frequently produce a non compliance.
- Managed three permanent staff alongside seasonal harvest labour, coordinating a crew through a compressed window where weather decides the schedule rather than any plan made in advance.
- Managed farm safety including machinery, livestock handling and contractor work, because agriculture carries one of the highest fatal injury rates of any industry and most incidents are preventable.
- Delivered environmental work including margins, hedgerow management and soil improvement, which is now a genuine income stream as well as a requirement attached to most support schemes.
Top Farmer Skills
What agricultural employers and agribusiness recruiters both value:
Hard skills
- Crop Production & Rotation Planning
- Livestock Husbandry
- Herd Health Management
- Agronomy
- Pesticide Application
- Soil Management
- Tractor & Machinery Operation
- Machinery Maintenance
- Precision Agriculture Systems
- Harvest Management
- Grain Marketing & Forward Contracts
- Input Purchasing
- Farm Accounts & Cash Flow
- Assurance Scheme Compliance
- Environmental Stewardship
- Animal Movement Records
- Seasonal Labour Coordination
- Farm Safety
Soft skills:
- Judgement Under Weather Risk
- Self-Direction
- Physical Resilience
- Long-Term Planning
- Problem Solving
Certifications for a Farmer
Several of these are legal requirements rather than optional additions:
-
Pesticide Applicator Certification
— Your state department of agriculture Legally required to apply restricted use products and specific to the categories you are certified in. It is a hiring requirement on most arable operations rather than a preference, so state your categories.
-
Certified Crop Adviser
— American Society of Agronomy The recognised agronomy credential and genuinely valuable for farmers moving toward advisory or agribusiness roles. It formalises knowledge that experienced operators hold but cannot otherwise evidence.
-
Beef Quality Assurance Certification
— National Cattlemen's Beef Association Expected across much of the beef supply chain and increasingly required by buyers. Equivalent schemes exist for dairy, pork and poultry, so hold the one that matches your own enterprise.
-
First Aid and Farm Safety Training
— An accredited training provider Practical given how isolated farm work often is and how high the injury rate remains. It also supports applications where you would be responsible for seasonal workers on a holding.
Farmer Income and Salary
Owner operator income is farm profit rather than salary, so read the two figures separately:
USD 0 – USD 200,000 · Owner operator · US
Income is farm profit and varies enormously with scale, enterprise, commodity prices and season. Many smaller operations rely on off farm income alongside the holding itself.
USD 60,000 – USD 120,000 · Employed farm manager · US
The O*NET median for this group is around $89,900. Employed management positions often include housing, which changes the effective value of the package considerably.
Common Farmer Resume Mistakes
These leave a substantial operation looking smaller than it was:
- Giving no scale, so a reader who knows nothing about your holding assumes the smallest plausible version of it.
- Quoting yields without local benchmarks, when agricultural performance is only meaningful relative to what was achievable.
- Leaving equipment unlisted, despite machinery capability being a substantial part of what farm employers actually hire for.
- Omitting the commercial side, which is what distinguishes managing a farm from working on somebody else's holding.
- Skipping compliance and certification, when assurance schemes and pesticide qualifications are frequently mandatory.
- Not mentioning labour managed, which is genuine people management that reads convincingly once it is written down.
Farmer Resume FAQs
The questions farmers most often search when applying, answered directly:
Production and husbandry first, then machinery operation and maintenance. Add agronomy, input purchasing and marketing, compliance and record keeping, labour coordination and your certifications by category.
Acreage and head managed, yields against local benchmarks, stocking rates, margin per acre, inspections passed without findings, and staff managed. Scale and benchmarks together make a figure meaningful.
Lead with the commercial and technical work rather than the physical. Input purchasing, marketing decisions, agronomy and compliance all map directly onto agribusiness roles, and operator credibility helps.
Yes, as a normal role with scale, responsibilities and dates. Working on a family holding is genuine experience, and describing it vaguely invites a reader to discount it far more than it deserves.
Pesticide certification is generally a legal requirement, and assurance scheme training is expected by buyers. Agronomy credentials are optional but valuable for anybody moving toward advisory work.
State the reason plainly, whether a tenancy ended, land was sold or the enterprise was no longer viable. Agricultural readers understand these outcomes and an evasive account reads considerably worse.
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