Farmworker: Diversified (45-2092.00)

Job description

Perform all tasks involved in the growing and harvesting of crops. This includes sweet potatoes, bedding, cutting slips, transplanting slips, pulling and/or chopping weeds and harvesting with the use of mechanical harvesting equipment, field grading sweet potatoes. This also includes for other row crops (soybeans, milo, corn, rice, and wheat) pulling and/or chopping weeds. Workers must notify supervisor/employer of any material issues. Workers must report any safety and/or food violations to their supervisor immediately.

Field Work: Workers will roll out and remove plastic on sweet potato beds. Roll out cloth and remove cloth from sweet potato beds. Workers will cut sweet potato slips, stack slips into cartons and load cartons onto a truck. Workers will use mechanical sweet potato harvesting equipment to harvest sweet potatoes.

Peas: Workers will bend and stoop to pick vegetables according to size, color, shape and degree of maturity and place into field containers. Workers may be required to install and remove plastic from rows. Workers may carry full container weighing approximately forty (40) 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 transplanting, hoeing, hand weeding, installing, and removing drip irrigation and plastic, hand seeding, and general ship care up to and after harvest. Workers may be required to string plants. 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.

Packing House: Workers will perform various duties associated with packing employer’s products. This includes grading, sorting, and packaging. Workers will flow standard work methods and practice safe work habits to ensure production is as efficient and safe as possible. Workers must follow all standard food safety methods and practices to ensure product is handled in clean and safe manner. Workers must remove sprouts and/or strings from sweet potatoes as they move along the line. Workers will sort potatoes according to customers’ specifications by removing rotten, and damaged and out of specification sweet potatoes from pack line. Workers will fold and stack cardboard and/or reusable plastic containers. All production workers are expected to be available to work in all areas of production.

Irrigation: Workers will assist in set up and moving of irrigation system.

Rice, Corn, Soybeans, Peas & Wheat: Workers will perform a variety of manual tasks appropriate for grain crops being planted cultivated and harvested. Workers will help in preparing the land for planting. This may include attaching farm implements such as a plow, disc, and drill to tractor. May drive a tractor in field to till soil in preparation of planting. Worker may apply various types of fertilizer to the soil and plants. These bags can weigh 75 lbs. Workers may cultivate and thin crops using a hoe. Workers will remove undesirable and excess growth, such as tassel, suckers, and weeds by hand. Carries supplies such as bags and bailing wires to the fields. Clears irrigation ditches, using shovel. Workers may husk and shell corn. Loads and unloads trucks, unloads grain onto conveyors to storage bins or elevators. Cleans and lubricates farm machines.

Special Requirements

Must have three months experience working as a farm worker. 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.