Farmworkers And Laborers, Crop
Employer
216-530 Cherry Lane
Bethel, NC 27812
United States
Job description
Workers will perform assigned duties as described in this clearance order and as instructed by their supervisors. During hand harvesting, workers will pick sweet potatoes directly from the ground and sort them into five-gallon buckets according to three distinct size and quality classes: Number 1s (large potatoes), Canners (medium or small potatoes, including those that are broken, cracked, or unshaped), and Seed (small potatoes). Workers will first harvest Number 1s into their bucket. Once the bucket is full, the worker will carry it to the flatbed truck trailer in the field and either unload the potatoes directly into the plastic, wood, or cardboard bin boxes or hand the bucket to a worker stationed on the truck. A small tally ticket will be issued for each dumped bucket to keep an accurate total at the end of each day. The worker will then return to the picking area to harvest Canners, following the same dumping and ticketing process, before repeating the workflow for Seed potatoes. Workers assigned to unload buckets will stand inside or beside the bin boxes on the trailer, receive full buckets from harvesting crew members, and carefully empty the harvested sweet potatoes into the bins. At the end of each workday, workers may be assigned routine cleaning and sanitation of harvest buckets, hydration stations, coolers, hand tools, and similar equipment used during harvesting. Workers must perform assigned duties efficiently and maintain the pace of the harvesting crew while producing work that meets the employer's quality standards.
In-Field Transport and Equipment Operation: In conjunction with primary sweet potato harvesting operations, workers may occasionally be instructed by their supervisor to operate or tend basic agricultural equipment, including tractors of less than 26,000 pounds GVWR, trailers, and utility vehicles, to transport harvested produce, plants, tools, supplies, water, and other agricultural materials between fields and the on-site packing house. Workers assigned to operate agricultural equipment or motor vehicles must be at least 18 years of age. Workers assigned to operate motor vehicles on public roads must possess a valid driver's license as required by applicable law. A driver's license issued by another country that is recognized under North Carolina law may satisfy this requirement. Equipment operation is incidental to primary field harvesting and will be performed strictly under supervisor direction.
General Farm Maintenance and Other Agricultural Activities: When primary harvesting work is temporarily unavailable because of weather, crop conditions, or operational needs, workers may perform agricultural duties that are incidental to and in conjunction with the primary harvesting activities described in this clearance order. These duties will not replace or substantially reduce the availability of primary agricultural work. Incidental duties may include general manual cleanup of worksites and agricultural structures; weeding, trimming, digging, cutting, topping, and removing weeds, vines, debris, and trash from fields and fence lines by hand or with basic hand tools; and the routine manual installation, repositioning, flushing, connecting, disconnecting, and removal of plastic mulch, irrigation drip tape, and micro-jets under supervisor direction. Field sanitation duties may include cleaning, disinfecting, and performing routine upkeep of harvest buckets, bins, trailers, hand tools, and similar agricultural equipment. Workers may also assist with washing and removing dirt and plant residue from farm vehicles and agricultural equipment used in field operations.
Special Requirements
This type of work, involves working conditions that require tremendous stamina, a high level of physical activity in cold or extremely hot conditions in direct sunlight and in adverse weather such as rain. The work requires a high level of physical conditioning.