Mix or apply pesticides, herbicides, fungicides, or insecticides through sprays, dusts, vapors, soil incorporation, or chemical application on trees, shrubs, lawns, or botanical crops. Usually requires specific training and State or Federal certification.
U.S. Workers
25,200
Median Salary
$45,200
10-Year Growth
+3.8%
Annual Openings
4,100
Typical entry: High school diploma or equivalent
10 of 10 tasks have some AI capability
Exposure Trend
This score reflects estimated AI technical capability for tasks in this occupation. It does not predict employment changes, and it does not account for company-specific constraints, regulation, or adoption barriers.
Mix pesticides, herbicides, or fungicides for application to trees, shrubs, lawns, or botanical crops.
AI: Fully automatable - Closed automated mixing and dosing systems controlled by AI are already used in agriculture for safe, precise preparation of pesticides, herbicides, and fungicides.
Start motors and engage machinery, such as sprayer agitators or pumps or portable spray equipment.
AI: Fully automatable - Starting motors and engaging machinery are routine actions that can be fully automated or remotely controlled by AI in standard equipment.
Fill sprayer tanks with water and chemicals, according to formulas.
AI: Partial - AI can control automated dosing systems and provide precise mixing instructions, but cannot universally perform manual tank-filling in unstructured field settings without robotic hardware.
Lift, push, and swing nozzles, hoses, and tubes to direct spray over designated areas.
AI: Partial - Directing hoses and nozzles requires physical dexterity and situational adjustments that AI can partially handle with specialized robotics, but not generally replace human operators in varied field conditions.
Identify lawn or plant diseases to determine the appropriate course of treatment.
AI: Partial - Computer vision models can identify many common lawn and plant diseases and suggest treatments, but accuracy varies with image quality, mixed infections, and regulatory context, so human verification is still required.
Cover areas to specified depths with pesticides, applying knowledge of weather conditions, droplet sizes, elevation-to-distance ratios, and obstructions.
AI: Partial - Autonomous sprayers and decision-support models can compute droplet sizes, account for weather, and plan coverage, but fully reliable end-to-end control over complex terrains and obstructions remains only partially automated.
Connect hoses and nozzles selected according to terrain, distribution pattern requirements, types of infestations, and velocities.
AI: Partial - AI can recommend appropriate hoses and nozzles based on parameters, but physical selection and connection in uneven terrain require human dexterity or specialized robotic systems, so only partial automation is currently realistic.
Clean or service machinery to ensure operating efficiency, using water, gasoline, lubricants, or hand tools.
AI: Partial - Some cleaning and servicing steps can be automated (e.g., automated rinsing, diagnostics), but comprehensive servicing using hand tools and judgement still needs human technicians.
Provide driving instructions to truck drivers to ensure complete coverage of designated areas, using hand and horn signals.
AI: Partial - AI can generate optimized driving routes and real-time guidance, but providing in-person hand and horn signals to drivers remains a human task, so it's only partially automatable.
Plant grass with seed spreaders and operate straw blowers to cover seeded areas with mixtures of asphalt and straw.
AI: Partial - Seeding and operating blowers can be mechanized and guided by automation for many settings, but variable field conditions and equipment handling still require human oversight, yielding partial automation.