General Farm Laborers

Job description

*All packing and stacking duties will be performed in the field and on the farm*

General Farm Workers to perform the following duties:

Commodities to harvest and pack: Strawberries

Strawberry Harvester: This position works under close supervision of the harvest crew foreperson. This position safely and efficiently harvests strawberry crop by ground . This position may perform other general labor work.

Essential Job Duties:

Harvests fresh, juice and / or freezer depending on grower requests
Properly grades and sorts strawberries according to size and quality
Packages suitable fruit in required packaging container and box;
Inspects strawberry fruit for signs of disease and insect manifestation
Discards inferior strawberries onto row floor
Manually plants, transplants, cultivates, weeds (see weeding job description), and thins crop
Reports all safety problems, incidents, and injuries to foreman immediately.
Complies with all Company Policies, including observing appropriate lunch and rest periods.

Qualifications:

Overtime Work as needed.
Able to keep up at a reasonable pace with the rest of the crew
Able to read safety signs
Able to perform work up to company standards

Physical Requirements:

The employee is constantly required to stand, walk, reach, use hands/fingers to handle or feel, hear and see.
The employee is constantly required to push, pull, lift and carry from 1 lb up to 25 lbs., with occasional lifting and carrying up to 50 lbs.
Occasional reaching above shoulder with frequent reaching below shoulder level.
The employee is in constant bending and twisting of the waist, with frequent squatting.

Working environment:

The employee is constantly required to work in outside atmospheric weather conditions, uneven ground, and noise, vibration, around hazards such as moving machine parts, equipment, wet rows, wind and dust.
The employee is occasionally required to work under cold temperatures just above freezing and heat.

Crop Maintenance: The EE is responsible for, cultivating, planting transplanting, deflowering, crop removal, shoveler, bed up labor and all other duties as assigned with strawberry. This is a non-managerial position and works under the close supervision of the crew foreperson.

Plant cleaning: weeding using long-handled hoes and by hand, pulling plastic, pulling of drip tape, plant/field maintenance, cleaning of old and new vegetative growth on plant bed. Plant bed will be classified as Medium or High according to the number of runners and new/old vegetative growth present during performing work tasks. Weeding of hand is occasional/intermittent (less than 20% of weekly work time). Employer complies with the California health and safety rules applicable to hand weeding.

Workers may occasionally and/or sporadically perform duties associated with and directly related to the primary duties. Such work will be temporary and unsubstantial agricultural labor.

Essential Job Duties:

Weeds and cultivates crop using both hands.
Removes dry leaf debris from crop using both hands
Removes by hand the plastic layering from the crop.
Applies Persimilis to crop
Performs general ranch/field clean up
Complies with all Company Policies, including observing appropriate lunch and rest periods.
Use of hand tools such as blade or knife to cut weeds

Special Requirements

Minimum Job Qualifications: Three months experience in berry harvest is required. Work is performed in open fields and may involve exposure to mud, dust, wind, heat, cold, and other natural elements. Temperatures can range from 30 degrees Fahrenheit to over 100 degrees Fahrenheit during the period of employment. Workers should come prepared with appropriate clothing and footwear for the environmental and working conditions described. No smoking, alcohol, firearms in the field or residential housing. Ability to communicate in English or Spanish is required for training and safety purposes. (i.e. Workers must listen to, understand and follow instructions of Employer supervisors and managers.)