Nursery Worker

Job description

Crops/Commodities:
nursery stock.
Mow, cut, and weed fields. Perform ditching, shoveling, hoeing, hauling, ground preparation, and other manual tasks. Bending, stooping and kneeling required. Use hand tools including but not limited to hoes, shovels, shears, clippers, loppers, hammers and saws. Lift, carry, and load/unload products or supplies. Use power equipment including but not limited to: tractors, planters, mowers, plows, sprayers, cultivators, power shears, chain saws, high lifts, skid loaders. Must operate agricultural equipment safely, with or without direction. Work on production line. Grade, size, sort, and pack product. Bunch/bundle product pursuant to supervisor instructions. Fill bins/trays and other containers with product, level bins, and prepare product for shipment to market or storage. Perform quality control on inbound/outbound loads. Follow quality control standards and production procedures. Handle product carefully to prevent damage. Lift, carry, and load/unload products or supplies. Palletize and stack boxes/containers. Use power equipment including, but not limited, to: fork lifts, conveyor belts, and cooling equipment/refrigeration units. Operate equipment safely, with or without direction. Assist with regular maintenance on equipment. Clean/sanitize work station and equipment.

Prepare fields/soil for planting. Remove cull stock, debris, tree stumps, brush, ferns, vines and other growth from planting area using tractor, mattocks, brush hooks and/or axes. Plant, cultivate and maintain nursery stock and/or bedding plants in condition for shipping and sale to customers. Pot seedlings or ‘liners’ by hand or mechanical planter. Propagate plants from cuttings. Perform general plant maintenance. Prune, trim, space, transplant and cull plants to ensure availability of marketable products. Irrigate and apply fertilizer. Pack, label, tag, pull, and store plants by variety. Count, grade, and inventory plants. Uncover and/or recover polycovered winter storage houses. Install and remove poly blankets used for winter protection. Prepare plants for digging by tying or wrapping as necessary. Dig plants. Wrap burlap or other covering around root balls and secure with twine and/or staples. Must understand nursery quality control standards and have working knowledge of production procedures. Must harvest crops according to specific standards. Must select and harvest crops pursuant to customer needs. Products must be handled carefully to prevent damage. Must be familiar with a range of proper plant names and sufficiently familiar with plant identifications so as to accurately and timely pull orders and then safely load on delivery trucks for local and interstate shipments. Workers will be required to demonstrate their plant identification knowledge through a pre-employment test. Generate written reports. Capable of frequent heavy lifting of plants.

Work is done in the field for long periods of time. Workers may assist in handling product weighing up to 50 pounds and lifting to a height of 5 feet. Workers must work on their feet in bent positions for long periods of time. Work requires repetitive movements and extensive walking. Work required in fields when plants are wet with dew and rain, and may be required during light rain, snow, moderate winds, direct sun, high humidity and extreme temperatures. Temperatures in fields during working hours can range from 10 to over 100 degrees F. Workers may be required to work during occasional showers not severe enough to stop field operations. Allergies to ragweed, goldenrod or bees may affect a worker’s ability to perform the job. Workers should be able to do the work required with or without reasonable accommodations.

Workers must obey all safety rules and basic instructions and be able to recognize, understand and comply with safety, pesticide warning/re-entry and other essential postings.

Special Requirements

This job requires a minimum of 3 months of nursery or production agricultural experience handling both manual and mechanized tasks. Applicants must be able to furnish verbal or written statement establishing relevant prior work experience. Workers must be legally qualified to work in the United States. Saturday and extended work hours required during busy periods. Must be able to lift/carry 50 lbs. Employer-paid post-hire drug testing required.