What Do Agricultural Graders and Sorters Do (including Their Typical Day At Work)

Job Description

Agricultural Graders and Sorters grade, sort, or classify unprocessed food and other agricultural products by size, weight, color, or condition. They also place products in containers according to grade and mark grades on containers.

Other tasks include:

• Weigh products or estimate their weight, visually or by feel.
• Discard inferior or defective products or foreign matter, and place acceptable products in containers for further processing.
• 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.
• Separate fiber tufts between fingers to assess strength, uniformity, and cohesive quality of fibers.

We asked Agricultural Graders and Sorters how satisfied they are with their job. Here is what they said.

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62% of them said they were satisfied with their job and 57% said they find that their job makes the world a better place or helps to make someone else’s life better.

Typical Day At Work

On a daily basis, Agricultural Graders and Sorters grade and sort products according to factors such as color, species, length, width, appearance, feel, smell, and quality to ensure correct processing and usage. They discard inferior or defective products or foreign matter, and place acceptable products in containers for further processing.

A typical day for an Agricultural Products Grader and Sorter will also include:

• Weigh products or estimate their weight, visually or by feel.
• Place products in containers according to grade and mark grades on containers.
• Record grade or identification numbers on tags or on shipping, receiving, or sales sheets.
• Separate fiber tufts between fingers to assess strength, uniformity, and cohesive quality of fibers.

We asked some Agricultural Graders and Sorters a few questions to find out what else does their work day look like. Here is what we found.

	Do you have telephone conversations everyday in this job?	4% said yes
	How important is it to work in a team in this job?	24% said very important
	Do you have group discussions everyday in this job?	73% said yes
	Do you talk or work with customers everyday in this job?	7% said yes
	Do you have to deal with angry customers everyday in this job?	20% said yes
	Do you have to make decisions everyday in this job?	8% said yes

Other responsibilities

Besides their typical day, Agricultural Graders and Sorters also separate fiber tufts between fingers to assess strength, uniformity, and cohesive quality of fibers. They may also discard inferior or defective products or foreign matter, and place acceptable products in containers for further processing.

On a weekly to monthly basis, Agricultural Graders and Sorters Record grade or identification numbers on tags or on shipping, receiving, or sales sheets. They might also Grade and sort products according to factors such as color, species, length, width, appearance, feel, smell, and quality to ensure correct processing and usage.

In addition, they Place products in containers according to grade and mark grades on containers.

Although specific duties may vary, many of them Weigh products or estimate their weight, visually or by feel.

Working life

More than 40 hours per week

Regular schedule like a 9 to 5

In a typical work week as an Agricultural Products Grader and Sorter, you can expect to work more than 40 hours per week.

Is this right for me

People who are suitable for this job tends to like work activities that include practical, hands-on problems and solutions. They like working with plants, animals, and real-world materials like wood, tools, and machinery..

They also like following set procedures and routines. They like working with data and details more than with ideas.

You can read more about these career personality types here.

Explore other careers

http://www.bls.gov/oes/current/oes452041.htm

http://www.bls.gov/ooh/farming-fishing-and-forestry/agricultural-workers.htm