Nut Grower
What the work is
Plans, organises, controls, coordinates and performs farming operations to grow nuts, excluding those grown as broadacre crops (e.g. peanuts).
Would you enjoy the work?
These are the main tasks in the official description. Mark how each one sounds to you.
- Plans, organises and coordinates the production and marketing of nut crops from soil preparation to harvest, taking into account environmental and market factors
- Selects and purchases suitable nut varieties, fertilisers and other supplies required for nut production
- Coordinates and develops strategies for cultivating, pruning, fertilising and irrigating nut crops to maintain optimal production, crop health and growing conditions
- Monitors and maintains nut crop health by managing biosecurity and other risks, and controlling pests, weeds and disease
- Directs and oversees nut crop harvest, grading and packaging
- Plans and coordinates the sale, purchase and dispatch of nut crop produce
- Plans and oversees the provision of nut farming infrastructure and equipment, such as buildings, fences, machinery and irrigation systems
- Maintains and evaluates records of nut farming activities, monitors market activity, and plans production accordingly
- Manages nut farm business capital, including budgeting, taxation, debt and loan management
- May select and train nut farm staff and contractors
Try it
A simulation and a case study from this kind of work, set in a fictional stone fruit orchard and packing shed in a river valley during peak harvest. They are fictional.
The kind of days you could have
Good days
- The first ripe fruit of the season is perfect and a buyer asks for more
- A busy picking day where the crew is in a good rhythm and the fruit is clean
- You get through a frost night without losing the crop
Hard days
- A late frost or hailstorm threatens months of work in a single night
- Not enough pickers when the fruit is ripe, and it will not wait
- A buyer rejects a load and you have to work out why while the next truck is waiting
Written by Career Calling as a general guide. Real roles vary by employer and place.
Work a mission
Step into a simulated workplace in this field, with a brief from your manager.
Description and tasks: Australian Bureau of Statistics, Occupation Standard Classification for Australia, 2024, Version 1.0 (opens another site), occupation 151233, used under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 licence. The skill guide above is our plain English summary.