Farm Laborer

Job description

Nursery Stock: Workers will prepare and plant nursery stock from plugs, bareroot stock and/or liners: Unpacks stock to prepare for planting. Fills pots with soil. Cleans/splits/divides/ prunes rootstocks and divisions to prepare them for planting. Plants material into pots on an assembly line or individual process. Tags newly planted material.

Vegetables/Fruit: Plants, cultivates, harvests and packs vegetables and fruit. Works on planter, plants roots, seeds, and bulbs. Workers may spread or remove plastic or other ground covering and drip tape from fields. Weeds, thins, plants. Transplants plants, riding on transplanter or by hand. May set poles and wires for vine plants. Workers must also stake/tie plants. Workers will trellis and prune plants. Picks, cuts, lifts, or pulls crops to harvest them. Care must be taken to prevent damaging produce and plants.

Workers will perform put-down: Transfer or relocate plants, placing them on carts and wagons and then in organized blocks on greenhouse benches or hangers, in polyhuts, or on weed mat on the ground. Ensure plants are in the correct location and are properly signed. Workers may be asked to perform inventory duties during these tasks, including counting, dumping of plants, and data entry.

Workers will assist with procedures that encourage plant health and maintain appearance: Pull weeds from containers; prune plants; space plants to allow for proper growth; apply fertilizer; hand water, scout for disease and pests and assist with spray applications when needed Workers will pick ordered plants from the greenhouses, polyhuts, or heel-in beds and prepare and organize plants for shipping to wholesale customers: Select ordered plants from growing locations. Load plants on wagons, trucks and carts. Prepare potted plants for shipping: clean leaves, debris and spent blooms from plants, attach label. Place prepared plants on carts and wrap carts with plastic film. Roll plant carts to their proper shipping location for drivers to load. For all of the above listed reasons, all workers must be able to read so that orders can be pulled properly and efficiently. Workers will prepare larger plants for shipping: Select ordered plants from growing locations by hand or with equipment. Unload products at a designated location for drivers to load onto trucks. Workers will assist and direct the teams to keep all areas including facilities and production sites weed-free, debris- free, organized, properly tagged and signed: May remove plastic weather polyhut coverings in spring. May install plastic weather polyhut coverings in fall. May assist the facility coach with irrigation or other essential tasks directly related to growing when needed. Assist with farm building/field maintenance and repairs. Work may also include mechanized field work using power equipment. By way of example and not limitation power equipment may include tractors, planters, gators, sprayers, cultivators, spades, conveyor belts and other equipment. Workers will be expected to be able to operate agricultural equipment with or without direction. Workers with a clean driving record (no major moving violations such as but not limited to Driving While Intoxicated or Reckless Driving) and able to obtain an insurable driver's license may be required to drive company vehicles.

Special Requirements

This job requires a minimum of three months of verifiable prior experience working in a vegetable/fruit farm or nursery handling both manual and machine tasks associated with commodity production and harvest activities. Workers must be able to perform manual as well as mechanized activities with accuracy and efficiency.
Ability to read is required in order to process orders and read instructions.
Applicants must be able to furnish verifiable job reference(s) or comparable third-party documentation from recent employer(s) establishing acceptable prior experience.

Work/Job Specification Definitions: a) Sloppy: not careful or neat: showing a lack of care, attention, or effort. b) bona fide: made with earnest intent c) earnest: serious in intention, purpose, or effort: d) sustained: continuing for an extended period or without interruption. (continued)