Farmer resume template
A clean starting structure with example content grounded in what farmers actually do day to day, not generic filler. Download and replace the bracketed placeholders with your own details.
Which resume format should you use?
Reverse chronological
You have a steady work history. This is the format almost every recruiter and ATS expects by default.
Functional
You're changing fields or have gaps in your employment. Leads with skills rather than a job-by-job timeline.
Combination
You're early career or have worked consistently but for only a few employers. Blends a skills summary with a shorter chronological history.
This template uses the reverse chronological format: the one most farmers should default to, since most Australian recruiters and ATS software expect it.
Professional summary
Farmer with hands-on experience managing mixed crop and livestock operations, from paddock planning through to harvest and herd health. Comfortable making daily calls on planting, breeding, feeding and machinery use, and tracking cost and yield data to keep the operation profitable. Works well under weather and market pressure, adjusting plans as conditions change through the season.
Key skills
- Budgeting and forecasting
- Operations management
- Plant and equipment operation
- Livestock health and breeding management
- Farm management software
- Soil moisture sensors and irrigation scheduling
- Weather monitoring apps
- Data analysis
- Risk and internal controls
Experience: example bullet points
- Planned crop rotations and matched seed varieties to soil type and rainfall patterns across multiple paddocks, improving yield consistency season to season
- Monitored livestock health, nutrition and breeding programs, maintaining herd productivity and catching health issues early
- Operated and maintained tractors, harvesters and other machinery, keeping downtime to a minimum during peak planting and harvest windows
- Used soil moisture sensors and weather monitoring apps to time irrigation and planting decisions rather than working to a fixed calendar
- Recorded production data, input costs and yields in farm management software, using the figures to identify underperforming paddocks or stock and adjust spending
Education
Typical pathway is a Certificate III/IV in Agriculture through TAFE or a rural training provider combined with on-farm experience, though a growing share of farmers hold a Bachelor of Agriculture, Agribusiness or agricultural science degree, often supplemented by short courses in chemical handling or machinery operation.
Keywords an ATS is likely to scan for
Applicant tracking systems match your resume against terms in the job ad before a person ever sees it. Only include the ones that actually apply to your experience, but if a term below matches something you've done, use the same wording the job ad uses.
- biosecurity protocols
- NLIS (National Livestock Identification System)
- PIC (Property Identification Code)
- APVMA chemical registration
- AgSafe
- Landcare
- farm management software
- soil moisture monitoring
- livestock breeding programs
- crop rotation planning
- Meat & Livestock Australia (MLA)
- grain marketing
- machinery maintenance
- weather risk management
- WHS on farm
Getting past ATS screening
- Match the specific skills, certifications and terms used in the job ad, not just your own wording for the same thing.
- Keep formatting simple: no tables, text boxes, columns, headers/footers or graphics. Parsers frequently drop content placed in these.
- Submit as .docx or PDF unless the job ad specifies otherwise.
- Use standard section headings (Experience, Education, Skills) rather than creative alternatives.
- List your core skills and technical competencies in their own section so a keyword scan can find them instantly.
This is a starting point, not a guarantee of interviews. Tailor every bullet point to your own real experience and the specific job ad.