Livestock Worker

Job description

Job duties include operating and maintaining a variety of farm equipment such as, but not limited to, tractors, feeding equipment, ATVs, UTVs, and farm pickup trucks to support daily livestock and facility operations.

Workers will also assist with standard cattle handling and processing activities necessary for herd identification and health management. These duties include safely restraining cattle for procedures such as ear tagging, branding, vaccination, castration, and other routine herd management practices. Workers will help move animals through chutes, corrals, and handling systems during processing events, ensuring livestock are handled calmly and safely to minimize stress and injury.

Additional duties include moving and handling livestock in accordance with rotational grazing practices, including relocating cattle between pastures to maintain forage quality and pasture health, monitoring livestock during movements, and ensuring adequate access to water and forage. Workers will also perform fencing duties, including installing, repairing, maintaining, and removing permanent and temporary fencing, setting and moving electric fencing used in grazing systems, and maintaining gates and related livestock containment systems.

Feeding tasks involve mixing and distributing rations based on livestock nutritional requirements, lifting and handling heavy bags of minerals and supplements, and moving hay bales manually or with equipment. Animals must have clean, consistent access to feed and water, and rations should be adjusted as needed based on health or seasonal conditions. Livestock health must be monitored daily, with signs of illness or injury identified and addressed promptly. Medications and supplements are administered as needed, and support is provided during veterinary visits by gathering and restraining animals, preparing treatment areas, and recording health information.

Fly and pest control measures include regularly spraying cattle with appropriate treatments to reduce the impact of flies and other external parasites, especially during warm months. Additional duties include cleaning and maintaining barns, pens, and handling areas; managing bedding and manure; and ensuring a clean, safe environment for animals.

Routine inspections and preventative maintenance of farm equipment, buildings, and infrastructure are required, along with basic mechanical repairs. Tasks are physically demanding and require regularly lifting and carrying heavy items such as hay bales and mineral bags.

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. Job will require periods when workers may be exposed to varying weather conditions and extensive pushing, pulling, sitting, or walking. 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).