Farmworkers

Job description

Perform manual labor to cultivate and harvest peaches, apples, pears, persimmons, blackberries, blueberries, muscadines, and harvest strawberries. Ongoing orchard maintenance including pruning and thinning. Clean, grade, sort, pack, and load harvested product. Use hand tools such as shovels, trowels, hoes, tampers, pruning hooks, shears, and knives. Till soil. Transplant and weed crops. Construct trellises, repair fences and farm buildings, or participate in irrigation activities. Harvest fruits by hand. Grade and sort products according to factors such as color, species, length, width, appearance, feel, smell, and quality to ensure correct processing and usage. Workers must use care when grading and packing not to damage or bruise produce. Discard inferior or defective products and/or foreign matter, and place acceptable products in containers for further processing. Weigh products or estimate their weight, visually or by feel. Place products in containers according to grade and mark grades on containers. Workers must keep up with fellow workers while grading and harvesting fruit as fruit truck drives down rows. Workers will assemble boxes. As a minor activity, workers may plant trees or operate agricultural equipment. Workers must have a general understanding of how pruning affects competition with fruiting wood and how thinning is done to provide nutrition to the developing fruit. Improper pruning can cause problems with fruit load, fruit size, disease severity, and overall production. Workers are also responsible for orchard sanitation duties including picking up trash, cleaning bathrooms, and sweeping floors. Assist with Good Agricultural Practices policies. Drive trucks or other vehicles to haul crops, supplies, tools, or farm workers on or off the farm. Allergies to ragweed, goldenrod, honey bees, insecticides, herbicides, fungicides, or related chemicals may affect a worker's ability to perform the job. Persons seeking employment in this position must be available for the entire period requested by the employer. Employer reserves the right to discharge an obviously unqualified worker, malingerer or recalcitrant worker who is physically able but is unwilling to perform the work necessary for the employer to grow a premium quality product, or for any other lawful reason.

Employer may request, but not require, workers to work more than the stated daily hours and/or on a worker's Sabbath or federal holidays. Workers will have an unpaid lunch break. Worker must report to work at designated time and place each day. Daily or weekly work schedule may vary due to weather, sunlight, temperature, crop conditions, and other factors. Employer will notify workers of any change to start time.

Special Requirements

One month of farm work experience required. Work outside in inclement weather conditions including rain and extreme temperatures ranging from 32 to 100+ degrees. Perform prolonged walking, reaching, stooping, pushing, pulling, lifting and carrying of up to 50 lbs. Use an 8 ft. ladder while pruning fruit trees above head. Drug testing is conducted post-hire at the employer's expense and is not part of the interview process. Negative results are required before starting work.