Buyers and Purchasing Agents, Farm Products
US occupation · SOC 13-1021
Job titles people report: Buyer, Cattle Buyer, Grain Buyer, Grain Market Advisor, Grain Marketing Advisor, Grain Merchandiser, Grain Origination Specialist, Produce Broker, Purchasing Agent, Tobacco Buyer
Pay and outlook
- Median annual wage, May 2025
- $77,710
- Half earn more, half earn less
- Middle half earn
- $60,800 – $100,820
- 25th to 75th percentile
- People employed, May 2025
- 491,430
- Wage and salary jobs (OEWS)
- Projected change, 2025–35
- +6%
- At or above the all-jobs rate (3.5% to under 7%)
- Openings a year (projected)
- 47,200
- New jobs plus replacing people who leave
- Typical education to enter
- Bachelor's degree
- BLS
BLS publishes one wage and employment figure for buyers and purchasing agents combined (code 13-1020). The pay and employment figures above are for that whole group, not for buyers and purchasing agents, farm products alone. So is the projection.
- All figures are for the United States as a whole. Pay varies a lot by state and city.
- Wages are for everyone working in the occupation in May 2025, at every career stage. They are not starting salaries or figures for new graduates.
- Growth and openings are BLS projections for 2025–35. They are estimates, not promises. Openings include jobs that open up when people retire or change occupation, not just new jobs.
What the work involves
Purchase farm products either for further processing or resale. Includes tree farm contractors, grain brokers and market operators, grain buyers, and tobacco buyers. May negotiate contracts.
Main tasks
- Purchase, for further processing or for resale, farm products, such as milk, grains, or Christmas trees.
- Negotiate contracts with farmers for the production or purchase of farm products.
- Maintain records of business transactions and product inventories, reporting data to companies or government agencies as necessary.
- Review orders to determine product types and quantities required to meet demand.
- Arrange for transportation or storage of purchased products.
- Coordinate or direct activities of workers engaged in cutting, transporting, storing, or milling products and maintaining records.
Description and tasks from the O*NET® 31.0 Database.
Getting in
- Typical education to enter (BLS)
- Bachelor's degree
- Training once hired: moderate-term on-the-job training
- O*NET Job Zone 4
- Considerable preparation
- Most of these occupations require a four-year bachelor's degree, but some do not.
Interests it suits
The strongest of the six O*NET interest types for this occupation, highest first. The short glosses are ours.
- Enterprising: leading, persuading and making business decisions
- Conventional: organising information, records and procedures
- Realistic: hands-on work with tools, machines, plants or animals
Fields of study that lead here
From the federal CIP–SOC crosswalk, which links 1 programme to this occupation. A link means the programme prepares people for this kind of work. It doesn't mean the programme is required, or that it's the only route.
Agriculture
- Agricultural/Farm Supplies Retailing and Wholesaling
Find colleges that fit you with our matcher: choose Agriculture at the Major step.
Where many students take agriculture
- Texas A&M University-College StationCollege Station, TX · 9% of degrees · 59,615 undergraduates
- Iowa State UniversityAmes, IA · 10% of degrees · 25,367 undergraduates
- Unity Environmental UniversityNew Gloucester, ME · 38% of degrees · 6,483 undergraduates
- North Carolina State University at RaleighRaleigh, NC · 9% of degrees · 27,371 undergraduates
- California Polytechnic State University-San Luis ObispoSan Luis Obispo, CA · 11% of degrees · 21,996 undergraduates
- Oklahoma State University-Main CampusStillwater, OK · 10% of degrees · 21,773 undergraduates
Ordered by the field's share of degrees awarded times undergraduate enrolment (College Scorecard), among colleges with at least 1,000 undergraduates. Online universities are included. It's a rough measure of how big the programme is. It says nothing about quality. The share counts every programme in the field, not only the ones linked to this career.
Related careers
Related occupations from the O*NET database, in its order.
- Wholesale and Retail Buyers, Except Farm Products
$77,710 median · +6% projected
- Purchasing Agents, Except Wholesale, Retail, and Farm Products
$77,710 median · +6% projected
- Farmers, Ranchers, and Other Agricultural Managers
$89,900 median · -3.4% projected
- Purchasing Managers
$148,080 median · +4% projected
- Sales Representatives, Wholesale and Manufacturing, Except Technical and Scientific Products
$72,080 median · -0.9% projected
- Securities, Commodities, and Financial Services Sales Agents
$78,660 median · +1.4% projected
Sources
This page includes information from the O*NET 31.0 Database by the U.S. Department of Labor, Employment and Training Administration (USDOL/ETA). Used under the CC BY 4.0 license. O*NET® is a trademark of USDOL/ETA. CollegeMatcher has modified all or some of this information. USDOL/ETA has not approved, endorsed, or tested these modifications. O*NET 31.0 Database · CC BY 4.0
Changes: we show the core tasks in the O*NET database with the highest importance ratings (up to eight, in that order), the top three O*NET interest types by score, and shortened Job Zone names. Titles, descriptions and task text are unchanged.
Wages: U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics, May 2025. Projections, typical entry education and training: U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, Employment Projections 2025–35. Fields of study: NCES and BLS CIP 2020–SOC 2018 Crosswalk. All public domain. OEWS · Employment Projections · CIP–SOC crosswalk