Soil and Plant Scientist Career Assessment

2What is a Soil and Plant Scientist?

A soil and plant scientist designs and runs experiments about soil and crops. On the soil side that means fertility, soil chemistry and biology, erosion, salinity, water movement, and how management practices change the ground over years. On the plant side it means breeding, variety testing, disease and pest resistance, and crop physiology. You design a trial, get it planted, watch it all season, collect the data, analyze it, and publish or report what you found. Then you do it again, because one season proves almost nothing. You also advise: extension specialists in this field are the people farmers call. O*NET lists titles like Agronomist, Research Soil Scientist, Plant Physiologist, Crop Nutrition Scientist, and Plant Research Geneticist.

The Reality: Two things you have to accept. First, the timeline. Agriculture gives you one growing season a year in North Dakota. A field trial you plant this May produces one year of data, and one year of data means almost nothing, so most real answers take three to five years. If you need to see results quickly, this will frustrate you deeply. Second, the education. O*NET reports 29% of people in this job saying a master's degree was required, 24% a bachelor's, and 19% a doctorate, and it places the occupation in Job Zone Five, extensive preparation. Read that honestly: a bachelor's alone puts you in the technician and field-agronomist range, and the scientist jobs mostly want graduate school. And North Dakota pay lags: the ND middle is $65,320 while the national middle is $78,850 and Minnesota's is $79,610.

Your Responsibilities:

• Design field trials and research plots and decide what gets measured
• Study soil fertility, chemistry, biology, water, and salinity
• Test and evaluate crop varieties for yield, disease, and quality
• Collect and analyze multiple seasons of field and lab data
• Interpret results and decide whether a difference is real
• Write research reports, extension bulletins, and journal articles
• Advise farmers, agronomists, and agencies on practices
• Supervise technicians and seasonal field crews

The ground keeps its own schedule. You work on its clock.

3A Day in the Life

7:00 AM — Check the trial plan for today. Two trials need stand counts before it gets hot.

7:30 AM — Out to the research plots. Count emerged plants in flagged rows.

9:30 AM — Meet the technician about a nitrogen trial. One block looks wrong; find out why.

11:00 AM — Office. Pull last year’s data and run the statistics again.

12:00 PM — Lunch at the desk while a model finishes.

1:00 PM — Call from a grower about salinity in a low spot. Talk through options.

2:30 PM — Write the methods section of a report on a three-year trial.

4:00 PM — Plan next season’s treatments and order seed and supplies.

Plots in the morning, data in the afternoon, and patience all year.

4Training in North Dakota

A bachelor’s gets you started. A master’s is what the job title usually wants. Start with a four-year degree in soil science, agronomy, crop science, plant science, or natural resources. Know one thing before you shop, because it trips people up: NDSU does not list a soil science MAJOR. Soil science at NDSU is a minor, plus an area of emphasis inside the Natural Resources Management bachelor’s degree, plus a full graduate program. So the ND undergraduate route is Natural Resources Management with a soil science emphasis, or Plant Science and Technology, and then graduate school for the science title.

Training Pathways:

• Two years here, then transfer (4 years total): Start with an ag or science associate degree at NDSCS, Lake Region, Williston State, BSC, or Dickinson State, then transfer to NDSU. This keeps the first two years cheap and the credits move.
• Four-year degree, then field agronomy (4 years): Finish the NDSU Natural Resources Management BS with a soil science emphasis, or the Plant Science and Technology BS. This puts you in agronomy, crop consulting, and technician-lead work. NDSU names Agronomist and Natural Resource Specialist among the outcomes.
• Bachelor’s plus a master’s or PhD (6 to 9 years): This is what the scientist title normally requires. The NDSU School of Natural Resource Sciences offers an MS and a PhD with a Soil Science emphasis, plus a course-based Master of Natural Resource Management available in person, online, or hybrid.

Where to Train in North Dakota:

• North Dakota State University (Fargo) — Natural Resources Management, BS, in the School of Natural Resource Sciences, with six areas of emphasis including soil science and water, habitat and environmental management — ndsu.edu/programs/undergraduate/natural-resources-management
• North Dakota State University (Fargo) — Plant Science and Technology, BS (formerly Crop and Weed Science), in the Department of Plant Sciences. NDSU names Agronomist, Botanist, and Conservation Specialist among graduate outcomes — ndsu.edu/programs/undergraduate/crop-and-weed-science
• North Dakota State University (Fargo) — School of Natural Resource Sciences graduate degrees: Master of Natural Resource Management (course-based, in person, online, or hybrid), plus MS and PhD with emphasis areas in Soil Science, Natural Resources Management, Rangeland Ecology and Wildlife Management, and Entomology — ndsu.edu/snrs/degrees/graduate_degrees
• North Dakota State University (Fargo) — Soil Science is offered as a MINOR, not a major, at the undergraduate level. Know this before you apply expecting a soils bachelor’s — ndsu.edu/programs/undergraduate/soil-science
• Dickinson State University (Dickinson) — Agricultural Studies, BS, which DSU says covers areas including plant science and natural resource management, plus a 4+1 route to a master’s in agricultural education through NDSU — dickinsonstate.edu/academics/fields-of-study/soas/agriculture
• Minot State University (Minot) — Professional Chemistry, BS. MSU names Soil and Plant Scientist among its chemistry career outcomes, which is a legitimate side door into soil chemistry work — minotstateu.edu/enroll/programs/chemistry
• North Dakota State College of Science (Wahpeton) — Precision Agronomy, AAS, and Liberal Arts transfer degrees in chemistry and biological science, as two-year starting points — ndscs.edu/academics/programs

Before You Start: High school diploma or GED. Chemistry and biology matter most, and take all the math you can, because this job runs on statistics. Statistics is the course that separates people who can interpret a field trial from people who cannot. Farm or field experience is genuinely useful and employers notice it.

Tip: Start with financial aid and scholarships. Fill out the FAFSA, ask the school’s financial aid office what you qualify for, and ask an employer whether they help pay for school. That is where the money starts. After that, a career counselor or Job Service North Dakota may be able to help with what is left over, like tuition, books, a laptop, or exam fees. What can be paid for depends on the program and on your own situation, so ask before you enroll rather than after. Worth asking about specifically: two-year degrees that train you for a job, like civil engineering technology, land surveying, mechatronics, electronics, or instrumentation. North Dakota two-year colleges also cost far less than a university. Ask about paid summer internships too — engineering firms, plants, and survey crews hire students while they are still in school.

5Certification & Licensing

North Dakota registers Professional Soil Classifiers, and it is required to practice. This is the one place in this group where North Dakota has a real state registration board with real legal teeth. The North Dakota Board of Registration for Professional Soil Classifiers registers soil classifiers, and the North Dakota Century Code says nobody may practice or offer to practice professional soil classifying unless registered or exempt. Not every soil and plant scientist does classifying work, so this may or may not apply to you, but if it does, it is not optional.

North Dakota Soil Classifier Registration, and the CCA:

• Registration is required to practice — the Century Code says no person may practice or offer to practice professional soil classifying unless registered or exempt. There are exemptions for nonresidents with temporary permits, supervised employees, other licensed professionals, and some in-house corporate employees (ndlegis.gov, Article 76-02)
• Education requirement — the Administrative Code requires the course of study for a bachelor of science with a MAJOR IN SOILS from a land-grant institution or an equivalent program at another accredited college. Since NDSU now offers soil science as a minor and an emphasis rather than a major, ask the board directly whether your planned degree qualifies BEFORE you enroll (ndlegis.gov, Article 76-02)
• Soil Classifier-in-Training — the first step, similar to an engineering intern. Requires three character references along with certified transcripts (ndlegis.gov)
• Professional Soil Classifier — the full registration. Requires five character references, three of whom must be licensed soil classifiers, plus an employment service record and description (ndlegis.gov)
• Examinations — you must pass examinations on the fundamentals of soil classification and on the principles and practice of soil classifying. The exam has both a written part and a FIELD part, given by a three-member committee of licensed soil classifiers (ndlegis.gov)
• Certified Crop Adviser (CCA) — separate and national, from the American Society of Agronomy. Bachelor’s degree plus 2 years of documented crop advising experience, or high school plus 4 years, with grower references. Two exams: an International CCA Exam at $280 full or retest and $105 per section, plus a local board exam. 40 hours of continuing education every two years (sciencesocieties.org)

The Exams: The soil classifier exams cover fundamentals and then principles and practice, and include a field component judged by a committee of licensed classifiers. The CCA International Exam may now be taken one section at a time, with up to five years to finish all of it.

Cost: The ND Administrative Code lists these soil classifier fees: $25 application, which includes the initial exam; $10 to retake an exam; $25 for Soil Classifier-in-Training registration; $100 for Professional Soil Classifier registration; $100 per six-month period for nonresident temporary registration; $10 to replace a certificate; and a $10 delinquency fee on a late renewal. CCA costs are separate: $280 for the international exam plus whatever the North Dakota local board charges, which was not on the published price list I read, so ask them.

Keeping It Current: Soil classifier registration renews on the board’s schedule, with a $10 delinquency fee if you are late. The CCA requires 40 hours of continuing education every two years.

6Salary & Job Outlook

North Dakota Soil and Plant Scientist Pay (May 2025):

• Starting out (bottom 10–25%): $25.77–$29.15/hour ($53,590–$60,640/year)
• Middle (median — half earn more, half earn less): $31.41/hour ($65,320/year)
• Experienced (top 25–10%): $47.06–$56.26/hour ($97,890–$117,010/year)

What that means: North Dakota published full data, and this one needs reading carefully because the shape is strange. The ND middle is $31.41 an hour, about $65,320 a year. That is well under the national middle of $78,850 and under Minnesota’s $79,610. Now look at the jump from the middle to the 75th percentile: $65,320 to $97,890 is a leap of more than $32,000, which is much bigger than the gap below it. What that pattern usually means is two different populations inside one job title — a large group of field agronomists and junior scientists at the bottom and middle, and a smaller group of senior research scientists and faculty at the top, with not much in between. Practically: the bachelor’s-level jobs cluster low, and the graduate-degree jobs are where the money is. If you want the upper half of this range, plan on graduate school, and know that Minnesota pays better across the board.

Jobs in North Dakota: About 400 people do this work in ND today. By 2034, that should be about 440 (about 8% growth). Expect about 30 job openings every year in ND from growth and people retiring or changing jobs. Across the U.S., the change is about 5% growth — faster than average.

Outlook: Solid for a science job, and second-biggest in this group. North Dakota is projected to go from about 400 of these jobs in 2024 to about 440 in 2034, roughly 8% growth, against about 5% nationally, with about 30 openings a year. Four hundred people statewide is a real field, and it exists because North Dakota agriculture is large and the research infrastructure around it — NDSU, the Research Extension Centers, the seed and crop input companies — is real. The openings are better than for chemists or planners, but they are spread across the state, not concentrated in one city.

Who Hires in ND: NDSU and its Research Extension Centers across the state, NDSU Extension, the USDA Agricultural Research Service and the Natural Resources Conservation Service, seed and crop genetics companies, fertilizer and crop input companies, farmer-owned co-ops, crop consulting firms, sugar and edible bean processors, the ND Department of Agriculture, and tribal agriculture and natural resource programs.

Work Setting: Research plots and fields in the growing season, an office and a lab the rest of the year. Expect the same North Dakota field conditions as an agricultural technician — heat, wind, mud, dust, mosquitoes — plus far more time with statistics software and writing. Some positions are university faculty positions and come with teaching and grant writing attached.

Physical Demands: Medium. Walking plots, kneeling, digging soil pits, carrying samples and equipment, and long days during planting and harvest. Less physically demanding than a technician job overall, because more of your year is analysis and writing.

Sources: U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics, North Dakota, May 2025 (SOC 19-1013); North Dakota and U.S. long-term employment projections 2024–2034, via O*NET OnLine. Numbers are rounded.

7Where This Leads

Path 1: Research Technician — The two-year-degree door. Runs the plots. See the agricultural technician assessment.

Path 2: Field Agronomist or Crop Consultant — Bachelor’s level. You advise growers and run trials in the field.

Path 3: Certified Crop Adviser (CCA) — The credential that makes advising work official. Exams plus 2 to 4 years.

Path 4: Soil Scientist or Plant Scientist — The research title. Usually needs a master’s degree.

Path 5: Professional Soil Classifier — ND-registered. Required for soil classifying work. Board exams including a field test.

Path 6: Senior Research Scientist or Faculty — Runs a research program. Usually a PhD, plus grant writing.

8The Real Talk

What's Great:

• About 400 jobs statewide and about 30 openings a year
• ND growth about 8%, faster than the US 5%
• North Dakota agriculture makes this work matter here
• NDSU has a full graduate program with a soil science emphasis
• A real state registration exists for soil classifiers
• Two-year ag degrees transfer straight into it

What's Hard:

• ND middle pay is far under the US middle
• Most scientist jobs want a master’s or a PhD
• NDSU has no soil science major, only a minor and an emphasis
• Answers take three to five growing seasons
• Minnesota pays a good deal more
• Statistics is unavoidable

Be Honest: Can you wait three years for an answer without losing interest? Are you willing to go to graduate school, since a bachelor’s alone mostly points at field agronomy? Can you accept an ND middle of $65,320 when the national middle is $78,850?

9Part 1: What Attracts You?

10Part 2: Are You Ready?

11Part 3: Your Next Move

Your Soil and Plant Scientist Assessment Results