Farmworker And Laborers, Crop
Employer
15888 County Line Rd.
Frostproof, FL 33843
United States
Job description
Harvesting citrus fruit by hand under supervisor’s instructions, the worker will place a picking sack over his shoulder and carry an 18’ to 20’ ladder from the field truck to the particular area of the grove to be harvested. The picking sack is a canvas bag equipped with a shoulder strap for support, an opening for the insertion of fruit, and an opening to remove fruit. A full loaded sack weighs between approximately 80 and 100 pounds, depending upon the size, condition and variety of fruit. Worker positions ladder against the tree and within reach of the fruit in a leaning position, taking care not to break limbs, damage the tree, knock of fruit or interfere with other workers, in a secure position to prevent slipping or falling and possible injury to themselves or other workers. Worker will remove fruit from the tree and place into pick sack. When pick sack is full take full sack to fruit tub.
Harvesting Blueberry by hand, the worker will walk down the blueberry field rows where the blueberry will be harvested. The worker will place a 1 gallon picking bucket with a strap over his shoulder from the field truck to the particular area of the field where the fruit will be harvested. The 1 gallon picking bucket is a canvas, equipped with a shoulder strap for support. Worker positions himself in front of the blueberry tree and will remove the fruit from the tree and place into the 1 gallon picking bucket taking care not to break any limbs, damage the tree, or knock off the fruit. When the 1 gallon picking bucket is full he will take it to the truck at the end of the row where he will unload his fruit into a small tub or container.
Harvesting watermelon by hand, the worker will walk down the watermelon field rows where the watermelon will be harvested. The worker will first cut the vine off the watermelon with a small knife and turn the watermelon over. The worker will bend over harvesting the ripe watermelon which can vary in weight from 20 to 60 lbs. from the ground and tossing the watermelon to the worker next to him and this worker will toss the watermelon to the next worker and so on, until the watermelon is then tossed to the person inside the bus who will place the watermelon on the floor.
Packing watermelon: When the bus is full, it will be taken to the packing house, which is located inside the farm, where the workers will unload the watermelon and put it in a conveyer belt that will transport the watermelon into the packing house where it will be separated by size, labeled and packed.
Note: The packing house is located inside the Farm and more than 50% of the product processed is produced by the Fixed Site Employer.
General Field Caretaking: Vaccinating trees, removal of debris, repair irrigation and other grove maintenance.
**Workers who qualify may occasionally help with moving trucks, tractors and using forklifts. **
General Maintenance: Workers on physical work restrictions or when harvesting work is not available may be required to perform miscellaneous clean-up work on work site property, on structures utilized in the work site operation, and on housing for harvesting workers. Such clean-up activities include the sprouting, pruning, and painting of trees; debris, weed, and vine removal; irrigation repair; housing and structure cleaning and repair.
Special Requirements
This type of work, involves working conditions that require tremendous stamina, a high level of physical activity in cold or extremely hot conditions in direct sunlight and in adverse weather such as rain. The work requires a high level of physical conditioning.