As far as the job profile of a manager at a farm are concerned, he or she has to take care of quite a number of responsibilities including:
• Making the decision as to which crops are to be planted along with the quantities.
• The farm manager should also decide on how the planting will be done, what will be the harvesting schedules, etc.
• Coordinate the entire farming procedure with the rest of the farm operators at the ranch.
• Farm managers may also be required to supervise a small farm performing some of the manual labor at the same time.
• When it comes to the larger farms, a farm manager may administer a single part of the entire business of running the ranch. This would include a list of functions like selling crops and caring for the cattle and livestock.
• The job of farm managers may also include supervision of the farm operators of the tenant farms.
• Farm managers may also work for individual farm owners, or for corporations or farm management firms.
Requirements
The job of a manager on farms requires a few basic academic qualifications in candidates who are aspiring to work for this job opportunity. This would include:
A basic college education of a 2 to 4 year degree programs in farm management, (especially if the candidate doesn't have a background in farming)
Knowledge in specialized areas like economics, dairy business, and crop or animal science would be good for one's career.
Skill Sets
Some of the required skills that would be instrumental in making a successful farm manager would be a personal fitness level with a lot of energy and strength, the urge to work outdoors in all weather conditions, and finally the aptitude to develop new and innovative activities in the farms.
Along with the various farming skills, the aspiring farm manager should also be consistent with figures and budgeting so that he or she can aptly maintain the business records of the farm. A talent in business management and marketing would be an extra help.
Training
Some of the common areas of training required in farm management would include the following:
Agricultural Production
Agricultural Management
Environmental Science
Probability and Statistics
Business Math
Animal Science
Business Management
Business Computer Applications
Food Science
Biology
Chemistry
Prior Experience
To start working as a full-fledged farm manager an additional work experience of having worked on a farm would be a noteworthy asset. This would intensify even more if it would come in grouping with the special training provided by 4-H clubs which are the Youth Organizations run by the U.S. Department of Agriculture Cooperative Extension System and the various farming programs offered to youths in pastoral areas.
Employment Outlook
In general the employment outlook scenario for farm managers doesn't seem to be very good. Experts are of the view that positions in this field will encounter a further fall through 2014 as the trend towards massive corporate owned farms with automated farming facilities is expected to grow and limit the number of job openings in the field to a large extent. But then a ray of hope can be seen if more and more farm managers can advance to better paying jobs accompanied with extended responsibilities with farm management firms. This could help them rise from supervising jobs to managerial jobs.
Farm managers may start at an initial stage with anything between $23,000 and $33,000 a year, going up with further knowledge and work experience to between $40,000 and $50,000 a year. Often the employing ranch would also give a car and a house on the farm as a component of the farm manager's employment package and he or she may even be competent enough to chip in a profit-sharing scheme. An experienced farm manager on a considerably large farm or ranch can make as much as $67,000 a year.
The overall responsibility of a farm manager is to look after carefully and see that a farm runs in the most profitable and efficient way as possible which would prove to be beneficial both for him and his employer. He is the one deciding on the work schedules and the temporary job openings. He will also decide on when and where the crops should be sold for ultimate profit. This is a kind of job that needs both an aptitude and flair to do such an outdoor job.
