What You Need to Know About Agricultural Products Grader or Sorter

Job Description & Duties Grade, sort, or classify unprocessed food and other agricultural products by size, weight, color, or condition.

A Day in the Life of an Agricultural Products Grader or Sorter

• Weigh products or estimate their weight, visually or by feel.
• Grade and sort products according to factors such as color, species, length, width, appearance, feel, smell, and quality to ensure correct processing and usage.
• Record grade or identification numbers on tags or on shipping, receiving, or sales sheets.
• Place products in containers according to grade and mark grades on containers.
• Separate fiber tufts between fingers to assess strength, uniformity, and cohesive quality of fibers.
• Discard inferior or defective products or foreign matter, and place acceptable products in containers for further processing.

What an Agricultural Products Grader or Sorter Should Know

When polled, Agricultural Products Graders and Sorters say the following skills are most frequently used in their jobs:

Monitoring: Monitoring/Assessing performance of yourself, other individuals, or organizations to make improvements or take corrective action.

Active Listening: Giving full attention to what other people are saying, taking time to understand the points being made, asking questions as appropriate, and not interrupting at inappropriate times.

Speaking: Talking to others to convey information effectively.

Critical Thinking: Using logic and reasoning to identify the strengths and weaknesses of alternative solutions, conclusions or approaches to problems.

Coordination: Adjusting actions in relation to others’ actions.

Types of Agricultural Products Grader or Sorter

• Bean Sorter
• Carrot Buncher
• Lettuce Trimmer
• Wool Fleece Grader
• Wool Fleece Sorter

Is There Job Demand for Agricultural Products Graders and Sorters?

In 2016, there was an estimated number of 42,900 jobs in the United States for Agricultural Products Grader or Sorter. There is little to no growth in job opportunities for Agricultural Products Grader or Sorter. There will be an estimated 5,700 positions for Agricultural Products Grader or Sorter per year.

The states with the most job growth for Agricultural Products Grader or Sorter are Montana, Washington, and Oregon. Watch out if you plan on working in Florida, South Carolina, or Maine. These states have the worst job growth for this type of profession.

Agricultural Products Grader or Sorter Salary

The typical yearly salary for Agricultural Products Graders and Sorters is somewhere between $19,190 and $33,390.

Agricultural Products Graders and Sorters who work in North Dakota, Minnesota, or Kansas, make the highest salaries.

How much do Agricultural Products Graders and Sorters make in each U.S. state?

What Tools & Technology do Agricultural Products Graders and Sorters Use?

Below is a list of the types of tools and technologies that Agricultural Products Graders and Sorters may use on a daily basis:

• Microsoft Excel
• Microsoft Word
• Microsoft Office
• Microsoft PowerPoint
• Microsoft Outlook
• Word processing software
• Microsoft Active Server Pages ASP

Becoming an Agricultural Products Grader or Sorter

What kind of Agricultural Products Grader or Sorter requirements are there?

How Long Does it Take to Become an Agricultural Products Grader or Sorter?

References:

• Bureau of Labor Statistics
• College Factual
• O*NET Online

Image Credit: {} via CC0 Public Domain

More about our data sources and methodologies.