Tree fruit
Apples, pears, cherries and other orchard crops.
← Agricultural Fruit Grower overview
01 · WHAT · PRODUCE PATH
What is Agricultural Fruit Growing?
A skilled agricultural career focused on establishing, caring for, harvesting and marketing fruit crops.
THE CORE OF THE WORK
Grow quality fruit through every season.
Fruit growers prepare sites, plant trees or vines, prune and train plants, manage soil and irrigation, monitor pests and disease, protect crops from weather, judge maturity, organize harvest and maintain quality through grading, packing and storage.
- Prune and train plants
- Monitor crop health
- Operate irrigation and equipment
- Manage pollination and fruit load
- Coordinate harvest timing
- Grade, pack and store fruit
ADVANCED SPECIALIZATIONS
Fruit growing contains many distinct directions.
Requirements vary by crop, employer, technology and business model. Some tasks require additional training, certification or licensing.
Tender fruit
Peaches, nectarines, plums and apricots in suitable growing regions.
Viticulture
Wine, juice and table grapes grown in vineyards.
Berry production
Strawberries, raspberries, blueberries and other small fruit.
Cider orchards
Fruit selected and managed for cider and value-added markets.
Specialty fruit
Regionally adapted or emerging crops such as haskap and elderberry.
Organic and regenerative systems
Production using certified-organic or soil-focused management systems.
Precision fruit growing
Sensors, mapping, weather data, automated irrigation and targeted crop protection.
Nursery and propagation
Producing fruit trees, vines and planting stock.
Leadership and farm ownership
Supervision, crop management, marketing, packing, agritourism and farm enterprise management.
EVIDENCE BASE
Sources & verification
Regulated, numerical and time-sensitive claims link to the authority used. Accessed and reviewed August 24, 2026.
Statistics Canada — Harvesting labourers (NOC 85101) ↗Crop-growing duties, workplaces, entry requirements and progressionJob Bank — Orchard worker wages in Ontario ↗Ontario low, median and high employee wage benchmark for NOC 85101Statistics Canada — Farm machinery operators (NOC 84120) ↗Machinery-operation duties, training and progressionJob Bank — Agricultural service contractors and farm supervisors ↗Ontario supervision, contracting, entry requirements and median wageOntario — Pesticide licences and permits ↗Current task-specific provincial requirementsOntario Colleges — Agriculture programs ↗Examples of Ontario postsecondary agriculture pathways
Why might this career fit me?