Watermelon Field Work, Planting, And Harvesting

Job description

The worker will perform job duties as assigned by the supervisor. They will vary from time to time depending on crop ripening and weather. The watermelon planting, fieldwork, and harvesting is temporary and will last from January to April.

Field Work- During the contract, the worker will prepare the fields for planting. This will consist of putting down and taking off the ground cloth, digging trenches, installing and repairing irrigation, planting, weeding, and other miscellaneous work.

Watermelon Planting- The worker will go down the fields carrying trays of transplants and plant them individually in the prepared planting bed by bending down and planting the transplants in the ground. This process will be repeated until planting has been completed.

Watermelon Hand Harvesting-In order to perform this kind of work, the worker must be able to walk down the field row and use a knife to hand-cut ripe watermelons off the vine for harvesting. The watermelons are then loaded in a bus by forming part of an assembly line, in which the first worker bends down picks up the watermelon and it is passed on to consecutive workers by passing, catching, lifting, until it reaches the worker on the bus, who then sets it down and stacks them until the bus is considered full.

Field Drivers-The field drivers will drive the buses out to the field where the field workers who are harvesting the watermelon will load the watermelon onto the bus until full. They will then drive the fully loaded bus back to the packing shed where the packing shed workers will unload them onto a belt. The process is then repeated again.

Equipment and Vehicle Operation-The workers may need to drive and/or operate various agricultural farm equipment and vehicles to perform the work on the farm such as field trucks, tractors, semi-trucks, and forklifts. The workers must use safety and precaution when using agricultural farm equipment and vehicles. All passengers must be seated and practice safety and precaution. The passengers must wait to exit the agricultural farm equipment and vehicles when the driver comes to a complete stop and gets off the vehicle. The workers will keep the agricultural farm equipment and vehicles free of trash. Only properly licensed drivers will be permitted to operate the agricultural farm equipment and vehicles. Workers must take care to operate all equipment safely and follow all safety requirements outlined by the employer.

All of the watermelon harvesting, packing, and transporting labor are performed on the farms specifically in the work-sites listed on the application and itinerary and are all a part of the watermelon farming operation. The field drivers, which are employees of Sunstate Harvesting, Inc. are the ones that drive the buses being used in the field to load the watermelons and take them to the shed for packing. The packing shed workers are employees of Sunstate Harvesters, Inc. The packing shed is located on the farms listed on the harvesting itinerary. The packing of watermelons is considered agriculture labor because the work is being done on a farm and the watermelons are a horticultural commodity that must be packed by grade before leaving the farm for selling purposes at the market. The watermelons are in unmanufactured state at the time of packing and all the watermelons are produced on the farm. Sunstate Harvesters, Inc. is the operator of the farms for the time period requested.

The worker must be able to work outside for 6 to 9 hours a day in all kinds of weather including, but not limited to extreme cold and hot conditions, direct sunlight, and rain. Workers must have the required physical strength and endurance to repeat the process rapidly and skillfully involved in this type of work. Workers will perform prolonged walking, bending, stooping, reaching, pushing, pulling, lifting, and carrying 0-75 lbs. Due to the nature of this type of work, there will be a Probationary Period of six (6) days beginning on the

Special Requirements

The worker must be responsible and consistent on the job. The worker must be able to lift 0-75 lbs., do repetitive movements, extensive pushing and pulling, walking, frequent stooping continuously throughout the day, and work in all kinds of weather conditions.

Workers are subject to random drug testing at no cost to the workers. All drug testing will be carried out after the
workers begin employment and is not part of the interview process. Workers who do not go through or decline a
drug test will result in immediate termination.