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Buyers & Purchasing Agents, Farm Products

Also called: Grain Merchandiser, Grain Buyer, Farm Marketer, Grain Division Manager

What they do:
Purchase farm products either for further processing or resale. Includes tree farm contractors, grain brokers and market operators, grain buyers, and tobacco buyers.
On the job, you would:
  • 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.
  • Arrange for processing or resale of purchased products.

Knowledge

Manufactured or Agricultural Goods
  • food production
  • manufacture and distribution of products
Business
  • management
  • customer service
Transportation
  • movement of people or goods by air, rail, sea, or road
Arts and Humanities
  • English language

Skills

Basic Skills
  • listening to others, not interrupting, and asking good questions
  • talking to others
Problem Solving
  • noticing a problem and figuring out the best way to solve it
Social
  • talking people into changing their minds or their behavior
  • bringing people together to solve differences

Abilities

Verbal
  • communicate by speaking
  • listen and understand what people say
Ideas and Logic
  • notice when problems happen
  • use rules to solve problems
Math
  • add, subtract, multiply, or divide
  • choose the right type of math to solve a problem

Personality

People interested in this work like activities that include
leading, making decisions, and business.
They do well at jobs that need:
  • Integrity
  • Dependability
  • Attention to Detail
  • Cooperation
  • Self Control
  • Adaptability/Flexibility

Technology

You might use software like this on the job:

Enterprise resource planning ERP software
  • Enterprise resource planning ERP system software
  • Microsoft Great Plains software
Electronic mail software
  • IBM Lotus Notes
  • Microsoft Outlook
Data base user interface and query software
  • Microsoft Access
  • Product producer databases

Education

Education: (rated 3 of 5)
high school diploma or
some college
usually needed

Get started on your career:

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Job Outlook

Below Average Outlook
New job opportunities are less likely in the future.
Salary
$55,860
per year, on average
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Green
This work is part of the green economy.

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See more details at O*NET OnLine about buyers and purchasing agents, farm products.