Graders and Sorters, Agricultural Products
Grade, sort, or classify unprocessed food and other agricultural products by size, weight, color, or condition.
Most important skills
- Monitoring
- Active Listening
- Speaking
- Critical Thinking
- Coordination
- Reading Comprehension
- Writing
- Judgment and Decision Making
Key knowledge
- Production and Processing
- English Language
- Mechanical
- Food Production
- Education and Training
- Foreign Language
- Public Safety and Security
- Administration and Management
What the work involves
- Grade and sort products according to factors such as color, species, length, width, appearance, feel, smell, and quality to ensure correct processing and usage.
- Discard inferior or defective products or foreign matter, and place acceptable products in containers for further processing.
- 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.
Strongest interest areas (O*NET): Realistic, Conventional, Investigative.
Qualifications and licensing
- Most common education
- Less than a High School Diploma (63.8% of respondents)
- Related experience
- None (37.8%)
- On-the-job training
- Anything beyond short demonstration, up to and including 1 month (50.4%)
- Preparation level
- O*NET job zone 2: Job Zone 1-2: Very Little to Some Preparation Needed
- Licensing
- Not yet verified. Check your state licensing board.
Check before planning
- Licensing for Graders and Sorters, Agricultural Products is not yet verified for any state: check the state licensing board before planning.
Limits
- Distributions show what current workers or occupational experts report, not legal minimums.
- Requirements vary by employer and state; time to qualify is not estimated.
Source: O*NET 31.0 Database (USDOL/ETA, CC BY 4.0); BLS Employment Projections · dataset 2026.10.8 · method e3-qualification-1.0.0
Work environment
How the typical conditions of this occupation compare with 911 occupations in O*NET (very low = the lowest fifth).
Levels are relative. Most occupations involve a lot of contact with people, for example, so “very low” can still mean regular contact; the last column shows what workers actually reported.
| Condition | Level | Compared with other occupations | Most common answer (O*NET survey) |
|---|---|---|---|
| Contact with others | Very low | Lower on contact with others than 93% of occupations compared | 41% of surveyed respondents chose “Contact with others most of the time” |
| Dealing with the public | Very low | Lower on dealing with the public than 96% of occupations compared | 69% of surveyed respondents chose “Not important at all” |
| Teamwork | Very low | Lower on teamwork than 81% of occupations compared | 34% of surveyed respondents chose “Very important” |
| Freedom to make decisions | Very low | Lower on freedom to make decisions than 98% of occupations compared | 35% of surveyed respondents chose “Very little freedom” |
| Time pressure | High | Higher on time pressure than 75% of occupations compared | 60% of surveyed respondents chose “Every day” |
| Conflict situations | Very low | Lower on conflict situations than 82% of occupations compared | 32% of surveyed respondents chose “Once a year or more but not every month” |
| Dealing with unpleasant or angry people | Moderate | Lower on dealing with unpleasant or angry people than 53% of occupations compared | 32% of surveyed respondents chose “Once a year or more but not every month” |
| Consequence of error | Very low | Lower on consequence of error than 85% of occupations compared | 37% of surveyed respondents chose “Serious” |
Work-pressure profile
- Time pressure: high
- Conflict situations: very low
- Dealing with unpleasant or angry people: moderate
- Consequence of error: very low
Each part is shown on its own. There is no combined stress score, and conditions vary by employer and role.
Full answer distributions
Contact with others
- No contact with others: 5.52%
- Occasional contact with others: 12.02%
- Contact with others about half the time: 20.8%
- Contact with others most of the time: 40.67%
- Constant contact with others: 20.99%
n = 20, Incumbent 07/2017
Dealing with the public
- Not important at all: 68.7%
- Fairly important: 3.05%
- Important: 13.34%
- Very important: 13.99%
- Extremely important: 0.93%
n = 20, Incumbent 07/2017
Teamwork
- Not important at all: 1.82%
- Fairly important: 5.65%
- Important: 31.09%
- Very important: 34.14%
- Extremely important: 27.3%
n = 20, Incumbent 07/2017
Freedom to make decisions
- No freedom: 4.8%
- Very little freedom: 34.54%
- Limited freedom: 26.94%
- Some freedom: 31.9%
- A lot of freedom: 1.82%
n = 20, Incumbent 07/2017
Time pressure
- Never: 8.4%
- Once a year or more but not every month: 6.58%
- Once a month or more but not every week: 3.87%
- Once a week or more but not every day: 21.26%
- Every day: 59.89%
n = 20, Incumbent 07/2017
Conflict situations
- Never: 32.32%
- Once a year or more but not every month: 32.33%
- Once a month or more but not every week: 8.89%
- Once a week or more but not every day: 22.61%
- Every day: 3.84%
n = 20, Incumbent 07/2017
Dealing with unpleasant or angry people
- Never: 31.39%
- Once a year or more but not every month: 31.93%
- Once a month or more but not every week: 0%
- Once a week or more but not every day: 7.71%
- Every day: 28.98%
n = 20, Incumbent 07/2017
Consequence of error
- Not serious at all: 27.27%
- Fairly serious: 31.71%
- Serious: 37.29%
- Very serious: 0%
- Extremely serious: 3.73%
n = 20, Incumbent 07/2017
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O*NET-SOC 45-2041.00 · SOC 45-2041 (exact, high confidence) · dataset 2026.10.8