Farmworker Fruit

Job description

Crops/Commodities: Apples, grapes, peaches, vegetables, cattle.

These tasks will be presented and reviewed by the manager before harvest begins.

General: Workers will use/handle ladders up to 18 ft. in length and weighing up to 50 lbs., and tripods (10, 12 and 14 feet in height). All tasks may be done from the ground or on a ladder. Workers must obey all safety rules when working around, applying or handling pesticides. Assist with farm building/field maintenance and repairs to include carpentry work and painting as needed. All Good Agricultural Practices (GAP) and Primus Rules must be followed. Instructions and overall supervision and direction of workers will be provided by a company supervisor. Workers hired pursuant to this labor certification must be able to comprehend and follow instructions of a company supervisor and communicate effectively to supervisors. Unusual, complex or non-routine activities will be supervised. Workers will be expected to perform basic duties in a timely and proficient manner without close supervision.

Hand-Thinning Apples: Proficient ladder use is needed when hand-thinning apples. Cull small developing apples selectively from the tree on a crop load basis.

Suckering Apple Trees: Cutting upright apple shoots inside the tree with loppers to open up the canopy to light interception.

Apple Harvest: Quality is essential. Foreman or owner will give demonstrations of how the fruit must be picked; picking and field packing requirements will be explained to all workers prior to the season's start. Fruit is spot-picked for fresh market early in the season and strip-picked thereafter, with additional intermittent spot-picking later in the season as needed. Care must be taken when picking to not damage or bruise fruit. To avoid bruising, pickers are required to snap fruit off of tree using their thumb and palm of hand and place each piece of fruit carefully placed in bucket to avoid bruising. Properly filled fruit buckets weigh up to 40 lbs. May participate in the inspection, grading, or sorting of harvested fruit while still in field.

Grape Harvest: Performs harvesting of grapes with clippers or shears under supervision in vineyard. Do not cut vines when harvesting grapes, only cut fruit. Do not overfill harvest lugs. Must be level/full and no more to prevent dropping fruit and damaging lugs.

Vegetable Harvest: Pick, cut, lift, or pull crops. Tie vegetables in bunches. Grade, size and field pack product. Take care to prevent damaging produce and plants.

Peach Harvest: Spot and/or strip pick fruit based on seasonal need. Snap fruit off tree with thumb and palm of hand to avoid stem pulls, punctures, bruising, or other damage. Pick culls and peelers. Fill fruit buckets and place fruit in bins. Follow supervisor/foreman's instructions on color/size requirements. Must be able to differentiate between colors and fruit varieties accurately.

Apple and Peach Pruning: Hand pruning based on fruit variety. Use manual and mechanized pruning tools and equipment. Identify and remove stubs or broken branches, downward-growing branches, branches rubbing against each other, shaded interior branches, dead wood, and shoots/suckers.

Livestock Care: Examines animals for diseases and injuries. Assist with livestock vaccination. Apply routine medications. Tend to cuts and bruises. Spray livestock with insecticide. Assist with livestock castration. Clips, brand, or tag animals. Perform general herd care. Will maintain and repair fences as needed.

Special Requirements

This job requires a minimum of three months of prior experience working in a tree fruit orchard performing manual tasks associated with tree fruits and showing proficiency with orchard ladder use. Applicants must be able to furnish verbal or written statement establishing relevant prior work experience. Saturday work required. Lift/carry 60 pounds throughout the day. Employer-paid post-hire drug testing required upon suspicion of use. Any employee who declines to take or fails a drug test will be immediately terminated.