Will AI replace Buyers and Purchasing Agents, Farm Products?
AI reaches some of this job’s work, but most of it stays with people.
23/100
Moderate exposure
More exposed to AI than 39% of US workers.
- AI already used in
- 0% of the work
- As AI tools mature: up to
- 43% of the work
What the job involves
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.
Where AI reaches the work
The job’s main tasks, heaviest first, by how far AI reaches them.
Within reach(4)
- Maintain records of business transactions and product inventories, reporting data to companies or government agencies as necessary.
- Arrange for transportation or storage of purchased products.
- Review orders to determine product types and quantities required to meet demand.
- Estimate land production possibilities, surveying property and studying factors such as crop rotation history, soil fertility, or irrigation facilities.
Out of reach(5)
- Negotiate contracts with farmers for the production or purchase of farm products.
- Purchase, for further processing or for resale, farm products, such as milk, grains, or Christmas trees.
- Coordinate or direct activities of workers engaged in cutting, transporting, storing, or milling products and maintaining records.
- Arrange for processing or resale of purchased products.
- Examine or test crops or products to estimate their value, determine their grade, or locate any evidence of disease or insect damage.
Also called
Grain Buyer · Buyer · Cattle Buyer · Tobacco Buyer · Grain Broker · Grain Origination Specialist · Produce Broker · Buying Agent
Related jobs
- Wholesale and Retail Buyers, Except Farm Products36/100
- Sales Representatives, Wholesale and Manufacturing, Except Technical and Scientific Products71/100
- Purchasing Agents, Except Wholesale, Retail, and Farm Products38/100
- Farmers, Ranchers, and Other Agricultural Managers25/100
- Purchasing Managers47/100
What these numbers mean
The score is the share of this job’s work, weighted by how important and frequent each task is, that AI could do in half the time: tasks an AI model could do alone count in full, tasks that need software built on AI count half.
“AI already used” is the share of the work in tasks where people are recorded using AI today. “As AI tools mature” counts every task AI could halve, with or without extra software.
The percentile compares the score with every job’s, weighted by how many people in the US do each one. Exposure means AI could change how the work is done, not that the job goes away. These are estimates for the typical job, not predictions.
Sources
- O*NET 31.0 Database, U.S. Department of Labor, Employment and Training Administration
- GPTs are GPTs: Labor market impact potential of LLMs (task labels), Eloundou, Manning, Mishkin & Rock (2023), OpenAI and University of Pennsylvania
- Anthropic Economic Index: labor market impacts (task penetration), Anthropic
- Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics, May 2025 (national and metropolitan areas), U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics