Careers > Buyers and Purchasing Agents, Farm Products

Buyers and Purchasing Agents, Farm Products

$67.62K Median Salary 1.4K Job Openings (Annual Projection) -5.8% Job Growth

Find Colleges for this Career Find Certificates for this Career

About This Career

Purchase farm products either for further processing or resale. Includes tree farm contractors, grain brokers and market operators, grain buyers, and tobacco buyers. May negotiate contracts.

Reported Job Titles

Buyer, Grain Buyer, Grain Merchandiser, Grain Origination Specialist, Purchasing Agent, Tobacco Buyer

Career data shown for:

Skills You'll Need

Click on skills to find related courses.

Abilities

Oral Expression

Deductive Reasoning

Oral Comprehension

Speech Clarity

Written Comprehension

Inductive Reasoning

Near Vision

Problem Sensitivity

Speech Recognition

Written Expression

Information Ordering

Mathematical Reasoning

Number Facility

Category Flexibility

Far Vision

Fluency of Ideas

Originality

Knowledge

Mathematics

Customer and Personal Service

Transportation

Economics and Accounting

English Language

Sales and Marketing

Computers and Electronics

Administration and Management

Food Production

Production and Processing

Law and Government

Public Safety and Security

Skills

Critical Thinking

Speaking

Active Listening

Judgment and Decision Making

Negotiation

Persuasion

Reading Comprehension

Complex Problem Solving

Active Learning

Coordination

Monitoring

Social Perceptiveness

Time Management

Writing

Management of Personnel Resources

Mathematics

Service Orientation

Systems Analysis

Technology Skills

Enterprise resource planning ERP software

Presentation software

Data base user interface and query software

Electronic mail software

Project management software

Spreadsheet software

Accounting software

Customer relationship management CRM software

Office suite software

Word processing software

Internet browser software

Web platform development software

Inventory management software

Tools

Micrometers

Grain analyzers

Desktop computers

Notebook computers

Rulers

Animal weighing scales

Special purpose telephones

Floor or platform scales

Desktop calculator

Personal computers

Abilities

Oral Expression: The ability to communicate information and ideas in speaking so others will understand.
Deductive Reasoning: The ability to apply general rules to specific problems to produce answers that make sense.
Oral Comprehension: The ability to listen to and understand information and ideas presented through spoken words and sentences.
Speech Clarity: The ability to speak clearly so others can understand you.
Written Comprehension: The ability to read and understand information and ideas presented in writing.
Inductive Reasoning: The ability to combine pieces of information to form general rules or conclusions (includes finding a relationship among seemingly unrelated events).
Near Vision: The ability to see details at close range (within a few feet of the observer).
Problem Sensitivity: The ability to tell when something is wrong or is likely to go wrong. It does not involve solving the problem, only recognizing that there is a problem.
Speech Recognition: The ability to identify and understand the speech of another person.
Written Expression: The ability to communicate information and ideas in writing so others will understand.
Information Ordering: The ability to arrange things or actions in a certain order or pattern according to a specific rule or set of rules (e.g., patterns of numbers, letters, words, pictures, mathematical operations).
Mathematical Reasoning: The ability to choose the right mathematical methods or formulas to solve a problem.
Number Facility: The ability to add, subtract, multiply, or divide quickly and correctly.
Category Flexibility: The ability to generate or use different sets of rules for combining or grouping things in different ways.
Far Vision: The ability to see details at a distance.
Fluency of Ideas: The ability to come up with a number of ideas about a topic (the number of ideas is important, not their quality, correctness, or creativity).
Originality: The ability to come up with unusual or clever ideas about a given topic or situation, or to develop creative ways to solve a problem.

Knowledge

Mathematics: Knowledge of arithmetic, algebra, geometry, calculus, statistics, and their applications.
Customer and Personal Service: Knowledge of principles and processes for providing customer and personal services. This includes customer needs assessment, meeting quality standards for services, and evaluation of customer satisfaction.
Transportation: Knowledge of principles and methods for moving people or goods by air, rail, sea, or road, including the relative costs and benefits.
Economics and Accounting: Knowledge of economic and accounting principles and practices, the financial markets, banking, and the analysis and reporting of financial data.
English Language: Knowledge of the structure and content of the English language including the meaning and spelling of words, rules of composition, and grammar.
Sales and Marketing: Knowledge of principles and methods for showing, promoting, and selling products or services. This includes marketing strategy and tactics, product demonstration, sales techniques, and sales control systems.
Computers and Electronics: Knowledge of circuit boards, processors, chips, electronic equipment, and computer hardware and software, including applications and programming.
Administration and Management: Knowledge of business and management principles involved in strategic planning, resource allocation, human resources modeling, leadership technique, production methods, and coordination of people and resources.
Food Production: Knowledge of techniques and equipment for planting, growing, and harvesting food products (both plant and animal) for consumption, including storage/handling techniques.
Production and Processing: Knowledge of raw materials, production processes, quality control, costs, and other techniques for maximizing the effective manufacture and distribution of goods.
Law and Government: Knowledge of laws, legal codes, court procedures, precedents, government regulations, executive orders, agency rules, and the democratic political process.
Public Safety and Security: Knowledge of relevant equipment, policies, procedures, and strategies to promote effective local, state, or national security operations for the protection of people, data, property, and institutions.

Skills

Critical Thinking: Using logic and reasoning to identify the strengths and weaknesses of alternative solutions, conclusions, or approaches to problems.
Speaking: Talking to others to convey information effectively.
Active Listening: Giving full attention to what other people are saying, taking time to understand the points being made, asking questions as appropriate, and not interrupting at inappropriate times.
Judgment and Decision Making: Considering the relative costs and benefits of potential actions to choose the most appropriate one.
Negotiation: Bringing others together and trying to reconcile differences.
Persuasion: Persuading others to change their minds or behavior.
Reading Comprehension: Understanding written sentences and paragraphs in work-related documents.
Complex Problem Solving: Identifying complex problems and reviewing related information to develop and evaluate options and implement solutions.
Active Learning: Understanding the implications of new information for both current and future problem-solving and decision-making.
Coordination: Adjusting actions in relation to others' actions.
Monitoring: Monitoring/Assessing performance of yourself, other individuals, or organizations to make improvements or take corrective action.
Social Perceptiveness: Being aware of others' reactions and understanding why they react as they do.
Time Management: Managing one's own time and the time of others.
Writing: Communicating effectively in writing as appropriate for the needs of the audience.
Management of Personnel Resources: Motivating, developing, and directing people as they work, identifying the best people for the job.
Mathematics: Using mathematics to solve problems.
Service Orientation: Actively looking for ways to help people.
Systems Analysis: Determining how a system should work and how changes in conditions, operations, and the environment will affect outcomes.

Technology Skills

Enterprise resource planning ERP software: Oracle JD Edwards EnterpriseOne; Oracle PeopleSoft; Oracle PeopleSoft Financials; SAP software
Presentation software: Microsoft PowerPoint
Data base user interface and query software: Blackboard software; Database software; Microsoft Access; Yardi software
Electronic mail software: IBM Notes; Microsoft Exchange; Microsoft Outlook
Project management software: Mavenlink; Microsoft Project
Spreadsheet software: Microsoft Excel
Accounting software: Billing software; Bookkeeping software; Intuit QuickBooks; Sage 50 Accounting
Customer relationship management CRM software: Blackbaud The Raiser's Edge; Microsoft Dynamics; Salesforce.com Salesforce CRM
Office suite software: Microsoft Office software
Word processing software: 3M Post-it App; Evernote; Google Docs; Microsoft Word
Internet browser software: Web browser software
Web platform development software: Microsoft Active Server Pages ASP
Inventory management software: Assisi Software Assisi Inventory