Farm Worker

Job description

Workers will perform a variety of manual and mechanized tasks associated with the planting, cultivation, care, harvesting, and post-harvest handling of blueberries and other farm crops. Non-CDL farm trucks will be loaded with agricultural products and driven on the farm and to storage facilities.

Primary duties involve working with blueberry bushes throughout all stages of production. Tasks include planting new bushes; pruning and trimming mature plants to promote healthy growth and fruit yield; removing dead or damaged branches; and maintaining proper plant spacing and weed control around plants and rows. Workers will monitor plant health, identify and report signs of disease or pest damage, and assist with spraying, fertilizing, and irrigation activities as directed by management.

Workers will repair and maintain irrigation lines and systems to ensure adequate water supply to blueberry fields. Duties include inspecting drip and overhead irrigation lines, replacing damaged tubing, and clearing blockages. Workers will also maintain and adjust frost protection systems, including wind machines and other devices used to protect crops during freeze events.

During harvest, workers will pick ripe blueberries by hand and/or operate mechanical harvesting equipment as directed. Workers must handle fruit carefully to avoid bruising and ensure only mature, market-quality berries are harvested. Harvested fruit will be stacked, loaded, and transported into refrigerated trailers (“reefers”) for cooling and shipment. Workers may be required to sort, grade, or pack fruit according to size and quality standards.

Additional farm maintenance tasks include mowing, weed eating, grading roads and field areas, chopping brush, cleaning and sanitizing harvesting equipment, maintaining field perimeters, and assisting with general upkeep of farm buildings, tools, and machinery.

Job may also include duties related to the employer’s row crop operations. Tasks include operating various tractors and farm equipment to plant, irrigate, fertilize, spray, cultivate, harvest, and transport crops to elevator or storage areas. Equipment that workers may be required to operate includes, but is not limited to, tractors with various implements, sprayers, combines, backhoes, mowers, and track-hoes, including equipment utilizing GPS and auto-guidance systems.

Additional row crop duties include loading seed into planters; properly mixing and loading chemicals into sprayers; changing combine cutting heads; rouging fields and removing undesirable plant varieties, trash, and debris; performing maintenance, repair, and cleanup of storage sheds, pivot points, buildings, and farm equipment; ensuring operational areas are organized and well maintained; and using hand tools to repair, clean, and maintain farm vehicles, machinery, and specialized agricultural equipment.

There are few typical days and workers may be required to change duties and/or locations often and engage in various general functions. Daily duties may vary depending on crop, weather, and field conditions. The employer reserves the right to increase workers' pay or provide bonuses based on tenure, performance, or other factors that are solely based on the discretion of the employer.

Special Requirements

Job requires having or being able to obtain a drivers license within 30 days of hire. Basic English literacy skills are required. Random drug testing and criminal background checks may occur post-hire at the employers expense. These checks may be performed to ensure safe housing and work environments for all workers. Positive drug test results or refusal to comply with testing may result in termination of employment. If the employer discovers a criminal conviction record or status as a registered sex offender that the employer reasonably believes, consistent with current law, will impair the safety and living conditions of other workers, the employer may terminate the worker (foreign and/or domestic) with notification to OFLC and DHS in accordance with 20 CFR 655.122(n).