Farmlaborer/harvester

Job description

FARM LABORER:

FIELD SET-UP AND TRANSPLANTING:
Worker with assistance from coworker(s) will be required to help lay plastic and lift plastic mulch rolls weighing 90 lbs. Worker will poke holes in plastic mulch for transplanting and plant transplant into soil through hole in plastic mulch by hand or using planting shovel. Worker will be required to help in other field set up tasks including low tunnel set up and trickle-irrigation set-up.

WEED REMOVAL:
Worker will be required to hoe or pull weeds as directed by Employer or Team Leader.

STAKING AND TYING:
Workers will stake tomatoes with 24 -60 inch tomato stake that worker will pound into ground with stake pounder or 96 inch stake using water jet to make holes for stakes. Worker will apply tomato twine between tomato stakes at spacing interval designated by Employer or Team Leader. Worker will sprout young shoots as needed for optimum plant potential. Workers will thin tomatoes as needed for optimum plant potential.

FIELD CLEAN-UP:
Worker will complete other farm clean up tasks including picking up garbage around the orchard and fruit/vegetable fields, removing old string and wire from trellis and orchard blocks, field and plastic mulch clean-up as directed by Employer or Team Leader, and other hand tasks. Worker will remove plastic mulch and drip tape from field by pulling out of dirt, picking up plastic mulch and drip tape, and moving both to driveways or end of field as instructed. Worker will pick up string and deposit into approved bulk boxes or containers. Workers will remove stakes by pulling them out of field and stacking tasks for off season storage. Workers will engage in land, water and other cultural management as directed by Employer or Team Leader.

THINNING:
Thinning is a manual process used to control the size and quality of grown fruit. Worker must possess ability to pick up, handle a 5-16 foot orchard ladder weighing 50 pounds. Worker will be required to take caution and safely use ladder during thinning as specified in employer ladder training. Worker will remove the smallest fruit blossom, bud and/or identifiable fruit from within a cluster of other fruits.
Worker will be expected to be able to identify and remove fruit that is misshapen, damaged and/or with other quality problems as directed by Employer or Team Leaders.

PRUNING:
Pruning numerous varieties of trees and plants according to established company procedures based on the difference in the treatment of different varieties. Worker will perform pruning for long periods of time using a variety of pruning equipment including hand shears, hand loppers, hand saws, and 12-foot ladders. Pruning may be done from the ground or a ladder up to 12 feet in height or from a motorized platform. Workers may be required to selectively prune only trees or plants of a certain size and color as instructed by Employer or Team Leaders. Worker must have pruning skills in order to identify and remove stubs or broken branches, downward-growing branches, branches which rub against each other, shaded interior branches, dead wood and shoots/suckers and selectively remove diseased limbs and branches due to fire blight and/or bacterial canker with hand pruning saws and clippers, mechanized clippers and pole pruners or manually pulling/breaking new growth. Occasionally workers may be required to use chain saws and other mechanized equipment in pruning activities.

APPLES:
Worker will care for young non-producing fruit trees including planting, weeding, hoeing, trunk painting, hand fertilizing and growth selection by hand and clipping, or assist in clearing out poor producing, or no longer desired apple trees from an orchard. Worker will hand thin apple trees to ensure proper fruit load on tree.

Special Requirements

JOB REQUIRES WORKER TO COMPLETE TASKS IN:
Blueberries - Cucumbers - Roma Tomatoes - Grape Tomatoes - Round Tomatoes - Apples.

EXPERIENCE REQUIREMENT:
3 verifiable months of agricultural experience on a commercial farm operation in fruit or vegetables required. Applicants must furnish verifiable job references from recent employers within the last 5 years establishing acceptable prior experience.


Drug testing not utilized as pre-employment tool. See work rule #4 for more information regarding post-employment drug testing