Farmworkers And Laborers Crops

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.
General grove caretaking: Irrigation system maintenance and operation of agriculture equipment.
Hand weeding: Workers will walk through the fields pooling the weeds around the plants using their hand or a hoe.
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.
General Field Maintenance: The following task may be required: apply mulch by row mulcher or by hand; apply ground cover to beds using machine or by hand; remove debris from bed preparation process to clean growing area; finish row ends with shovels provided by employer; unload plants by hand from trucks and move plants to planting location by hand; assist in pest controls; install culverts for field drainage; remove and reinstall sprinklers during bed preparation, re-plant missing or unhealthy plants as directed; remove or pull up plants in preparation for next crop; remove blossoms (de-blossom) to improve fruit quality; remove debris, boxes, and discarded fruit from fields to keep clean growing areas; general ranch maintenance; basic irrigation maintenance; make sandbags, clean and maintenance equipment and tools, assist in applications by hand or tractor of fertilizers and or/pesticides; frost control of sprinklers, frost blanket coverings, or hoop coverings. May be necessary to assist in the use of farm equipment such as tractors, trucks and harvest machinery, etc.

The worker in order to perform this kind of work must be able to work outside for at least 6 hours a day in all kinds of weather and be in a possession of the requisite physical strength and endurance, working quickly and skillfully with their hands repeatedly. The employer will provide the tools necessary (if applicable) to perform the described job duties without charge to the worker. Employer may deduct the reasonable cost of damages and/or replacement of tools and/or equipment if such repair or replacement results from willful neglect or gross negligence after the damage has occurred and after gaining the employee's written authorization to make the deduction.

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.