Can Agents Work?

Jobs / Food service, cleaning, and personal care / 37-3012.00

Pesticide Handlers, Sprayers, and Applicators, Vegetation

Mix or apply pesticides, herbicides, fungicides, or insecticides through sprays, dusts, vapors, soil incorporation, or chemical application on trees, shrubs, lawns, or crops. Usually requires specific training and state or federal certification.

US jobs
27,050
Median wage
$46,340 a year
Job family
Food service, cleaning, and personal care

Can agents do the work of pesticide handlers, sprayers, and applicators, vegetation?

We read the evidence for the whole job family, Food service, cleaning, and personal care: Not yet (first measured in the last 12 months)

Direct benchmarks exist, but agents complete less than 20% of their tasks.

Evidence: BEHAVIOR Challenge 2025, 12.4% of tasks fully completed (Full task success rate).

0% of this occupation's work, by O*NET work activities, is measured by a direct benchmark.

  • 22%Prepare mixtures or solutionsNot measured
  • 19%Operate agricultural or forestry equipmentNot measured
  • 19%Apply protective solutions or coatingsNot measured
  • 12%Maintain operational recordsNot measured
  • 7%Monitor environmental conditionsNot measured
  • 5%Determine operational methods or proceduresNot measured
  • 5%Develop educational programs, plans, or proceduresNot measured
  • 5%Clean tools, equipment, facilities, or work areasNot measured

Benchmarks for the job family

These cover work in food service, cleaning, and personal care, not always this occupation's tasks.

Direct evidence

Work benchmarks mapped primary to this family. They set the step when they report how many tasks agents complete.

Also relevant

These benchmarks cover part of this family's work, or have no result yet. They do not set its step.

Typical tasks

From O*NET 31.0. Core tasks first. Few of these tasks have a benchmark today.

  • Fill sprayer tanks with water and chemicals, according to formulas.
  • Record information about pesticide applications, such as the type used and amount applied.
  • Mix pesticides, herbicides, or fungicides for application to trees, shrubs, lawns, or botanical crops.
  • Start motors and engage machinery, such as sprayer agitators or pumps or portable spray equipment.
  • Lift, push, and swing nozzles, hoses, and tubes to direct spray over designated areas.
  • Establish driving routes for pesticide applications.
  • Clean or service machinery to ensure operating efficiency, using water, gasoline, lubricants, or hand tools.
  • Connect hoses and nozzles selected according to terrain, distribution pattern requirements, types of infestations, and velocities.
  • Cover areas to specified depths with pesticides, applying knowledge of weather conditions, droplet sizes, elevation-to-distance ratios, and obstructions.
  • Identify lawn or plant diseases to determine the appropriate course of treatment.
  • Plant grass with seed spreaders, and operate straw blowers to cover seeded areas with mixtures of asphalt and straw.
  • Provide driving instructions to truck drivers to ensure complete coverage of designated areas, using hand and horn signals.
Other job titles for this occupation (39)

Applicator · Chemical Applicator · Herbicide Applicator · IPM Technician (Integrated Pest Management Technician) · Lawn Specialist · Pesticide Applicator · Shrub Technician (Shrub Tech) · Spray Applicator · Spray Technician (Spray Tech) · Sprayer · Applicator Sprayer · Certified Pesticide Applicator · Crop Applicator · Custom Applicator · Eradicator · Fertilizer Applicator · Fruit Sprayer · Garden Technician (Garden Tech) · Hand Spray Operator · Hand Sprayer · Herbicide Sprayer · Hydro Spayer Operator · Insecticide Sprayer · Knapsack Sprayer · Lawn Spray Technician (Lawn Spray Tech) · Lawn Technician (Lawn Tech) · Lawncare Specialist · Licensed Pesticide Applicator · Orchard Sprayer · Pest Control Technician (Pest Control Tech) · Plant Sprayer · Shrub Worker · Spray Mixer · Tree Technician (Tree Tech) · Tree Worker · Weed Controller · Weed Eradicator · Weed Inspector · Weed Sprayer