Agricultural Engineer Job Description, Duties, and Responsibilities

This post provides detailed information on the agricultural engineer job description, including the key duties, tasks, and responsibilities they commonly perform.

It also highlights the major requirements you may be expected to fulfill to be hired for the agricultural engineer role by most employers/recruiters.

What Does an Agricultural Engineer Do?

An agricultural engineer is responsible for making general farming practice safe, sustainable, and friendly to the environment.

The agricultural engineer job description entails looking into new technology that will help in the improvement and/or increment in agricultural produce, land use, and control of resources.

He/she also conducts analysis of agricultural activities/operations in a given farm area.

The agricultural engineer’s role also involves recommending ways by which the safety and well-being of other agricultural workers, animals, and farm/agricultural produce are maintained at all times.

He/she is normally responsible for designing agricultural equipment, and also involved in the development of new ways of planting, harvesting, and general land preparation.

He/she tries as much as possible to improve on ways by which loss of crop yield is reduced during the entire process of handling and packaging of the final agricultural output.

The work descriptions of agricultural engineers also entails seeing to the heating and/or cooling (as the case may be), proper preservation, ventilation, general preservation, and the logistics of final farm produce.

Agricultural engineers make use of automation and precision technology with both new and existing agricultural equipment.

They also help in the research process for discovering new uses of agricultural byproducts.

In most cases, the duties and work schedules of an agricultural engineer are dependent on the weather and/or season.

This sort of situation requires that the engineer work extra hours or for longer time periods during the right season so as to maximize agricultural productivity.

He/she usually works with industries that are related to the agricultural sector. These industries may include agricultural equipment manufacturing companies, food distribution companies, and seed manufacturing companies.

Agricultural Engineer Job Description Example/Sample/Template

Agricultural engineers perform various functions in making sure that agricultural procedures and/or processes are duly carried out, and that product yield is fully maximized.

The job description below is a typical example of the kind of tasks, duties, and responsibilities commonly assigned to individuals who work as agricultural engineers in most farms or agricultural facilities/settings:

• Designing agricultural machinery and/or equipment
• Testing agricultural machinery so as to ensure that operations within the farm are carried out smoothly and efficiently
• Designing crop storage facilities, animal, and crop processing, and overseeing the construction and/or setting up of these facilities
• Conducting educational programs that help farmers with relevant information that they need for the improvement and enhancement of their agricultural produce
• Supervising food processing and manufacturing procedures within a particular farm
• Designing food processing plants and other related mechanical systems
• Preparing sketches, drawings, proposals, and budgets needed for previously planned agricultural sites.

Requirements – Skills, Abilities, and Knowledge – for the Role of an Agricultural Engineer

When hiring for the role of an agricultural engineer, most employers will expect you to meet the following requirements and qualifications to be considered for an interview appointment:

• Must have excellent communication skills
• Possession of good interpersonal skills is a must
• A high level of knowledge pertaining to the installation, use, and repair of agricultural equipment
• Must be able to work as part of a team or to lead a team if the need arises
• Must be someone that pays keen attention to details
• Must have excellent coordination and organizational abilities
• Ability to solve complex problems. That is to say that the engineer must have good problem-solving abilities
• Must display flexibility while carrying out duties
• Must have good time management skills
• Must have in-depth knowledge of general agricultural procedures
• A minimum of a bachelor’s degree in Agricultural Engineering
• 3 years of experience in a similar position
• A Master’s degree will be of added advantage.

Conclusion

This post can help hiring managers to craft a detailed description of a vacant agricultural engineer job in their firm that can attract the right set of applicants, when they are hiring for the position.

Of course, the human resources personnel in charge of drafting the job descriptions for the firm must create a copy specific to his/her organization as this is just a sample to make the work easier.

This would depend largely on the requirements of the organization and the objectives of embarking on the recruitment in the first place.

Similarly, candidates seeking to get into the agricultural engineering career will find this post useful as it exposes the core skills, qualifications, and duties of agricultural engineers. This will not only help such candidates in writing good resumes but educating them on the duties expected of them should they eventually get employed in a similar role.