Farmworker: Diversified (45-2092.00)

Job description

Crops: Corn, Strawberries, Tomatoes, Squash, Okra, Plums, Watermelons, Cantaloupes, Onions, Peppers, Cucumbers, Peanuts, Pumpkins, Sugar Cane and Sunflowers.
Workers will plant, cultivate, and harvest crops. Preharvest duties for vegetables may include laying plastic, planting, cultivation staking and wedding of plants by hand and / or hoe. Workers will plant, cultivate, and harvest vegetables. Workers will be required to remove weeds by hand or with a hoe. Workers will bend and stoop to pick vegetables according to size, color, shape and degree of maturity and place into field containers. Workers may carry full container weighing approximately fifty (50) lbs. and empty into field bin or load onto trailer. May be required to pull and discard culls as directed by supervisor. Pickers will take care not to bruise or scar produce. Pre-harvest activities may include staking, tying, transplanting, and pruning. Workers will stand on feet for long periods of time. Workers are required to work in fields when plants are wet with dew or rain. Temperatures in fields during working hours can range from forty (40) to over one hundred (100) degrees.
Strawberries: Workers will help install black plastic and drip irrigation on rows in field being careful to cover all exposed edges of plastic cover with soil and be careful not to tear or punch holes in plastic. Workers may be asked to utilize implements associated with the installation of the plastic row covers incidental to performing required tasks on the ground. Workers will plant strawberry plants in pre-punched holes on the plastic covered rows being careful to place the strawberry plants at the same depth in the soil as they grew in the nursery. Workers will remove weeds from around the plants and from the row middles. Workers will bend and stoop to pick strawberries according to size, color, shape and degree of maturity and place into field containers. Workers will be expected to pick fully ripe strawberries, discard any cat-faced, deformed, decayed or undersized berries according to supervisor’s instructions. Also, workers must carefully remove any undesirable berries from plant that would later cause fungi to attack the plant. Workers may carry full container weighing approximately six (6) lbs. and empty into field bin or load onto trailer. In some instances, workers will be expected to fill a 4-quart/one-gallon plastic pail carefully filling the pail to capacity. (Buckets must be full for correct measure and weight.).

Grading Working carefully remove any field debris and defective produce as defined by grading supervisor as produce moves across grading tables. Produce must be handled carefully to avoid bruises or fingernail cuts.

Fillers Workers box the graded produce in appropriate containers by attending automatic filler or by hand as necessary according to packaging instructions disclosed by the supervisor.

Levelers Boxed produce is carefully hand-leveled by worker to assure an even level of fruit in each container. Excess produce is removed from overfilled boxes and placed carefully in separate containers

Top/Box Makers Bottom and lid machines are fed flat corrugated product by worker to produce a glued bottom and lid. Workers feed finished bottoms into a chute for fillers and apply lids to filled boxes after boxes are leveled.

Stackers Workers pick up filled boxes weighing up to 50 lbs. from conveyor and stack carefully by prescribed pattern and height onto pallets by size and lot stamped on box as directed by loading supervisor.

Support jobs include bin and pallet repair and after hours’ cleanup. Workers may be required to weed fields.

Special Requirements

Must have three months experience hand harvesting a perishable crop. Applicants must be able to furnish affirmative job references from recent employers. Applicants must be able to furnish affirmative job references from recent employers operating comparable operations establishing acceptable previous experience. Must be physically able to meet and perform all job specifications stated in job order. Must be able to work in the hot humid weather for extended periods of time. Workers are subject to random drug testing at no cost to the employee. All drug testing will occur after the worker begins his or her employment and is not a part of the interview process. Failing or refusing a drug test will result in immediate termination.