Farm Workers And Laborers, Crop

Job description

This job involves working in a commercial wholesale nursery and includes both manual and machine tasks associated with nursery production.

Essential Duties and Responsibilities include the following. Other duties may be assigned.
• Plants, digs, mulches, transplants, mows and waters in nurseries and seasonal holding houses.
• Maintains plants including fertilizing, pruning, watering and tagging.
• Counts and inventories plants.
• Propagates plants from cutting.
• Loads finished plants onto wagons and trucks.
• Builds and maintains seasonal holding houses including removal of plastic in Spring and covering with plastic in Fall.
• Maintains ground plants including planting, hand digging and covering root ball with minimal damage.
• Fills and carries various size pots with soil and plants weighing up to 85 pounds (38.55kg).
• Plants, cultivates and maintains ornamental shrubs and trees in condition for shipping and resale to customers.
• Pots seedlings, prunes, transplants, spaces, irrigates and culls plants to ensure availability of marketable products.
• Packs, labels, pulls and stores plants according to a variety.
• Performs any other duties involved in the maintenance of plant materials and nursery stock includ ing, but not limited to, irrigation, ditching, shoveling, hoeing, haul ing, ground preparation, product installation and feeding.
• Maintains holding yards and shipping areas.
• Operates nursery equipment including, but not limited to, tractors, sprayers, cultivators, planters and skid-loaders with tree spade.
• Must be available to work for the entire period requested by the employer including Saturdays and Sundays during busy season.
• Must handle and maintain plants carefully so that leaves, limbs and roots are not broken.
• Must demonstrate conscientious work habits and attention to detail.
• Ability to use tools and operate nursery equipment without direction.
• Ability to work with plants, insect spray and related chemicals used in nursery operations.

General Conditions:
A normal work week is Monday through Friday from 08:00 a.m. to 04:00 p.m and Saturday 07:00 a.m. to 12:00 p.m. If work is available beyond normal workdays, employer may offer, but not require, worker an opportunity to work additional hours. Workers will report to work at designated time and place as directed by assigned employer each day. However, workers may be requested to ten (10) hours per day depending on the conditions in the fields and the maturity of the crops. Also, workers may be requested to work on federal holidays and their Sabbath but will not be required to do so. Workers may volunteer to work additional hours when work is available.
Down time: Workers should expect occasional periods of little or no work because of weather, crop or other conditions beyond the employer’s control. These periods can occur any time throughout the season. Worker may be required to work in fields when crops are wet with dew / rain and should have suitable clothing for conditions which include light rain and temperatures ranging from 10 degrees to more than 100 degrees. Workers should be able to stand, bend, stoop, lifting, pushing, pulling, twisting, digging and work for prolonged periods of time and be physically fit to perform duties as assigned. Workers will be trained for period of two (2) days (14 hours) after which workers will be expected to perform job required. Care must be exercised at all times to prevent bruising or breaking crops. Care must also be exercised with any use of equipment.
Successful applicants will be subject to a trial period of up to three (3) days, during which performance of required tasks will be evaluated. If the performance is not acceptable to the employer, in its sole discretion, the worker will be terminated.
Experience:
3 months of verifiable experience required working in Nursery Production.
• Must be able to lift 85 pounds (38.55 kg) to a height of 5 feet

Special Requirements

3 months of verifiable experience required working in Nursery Production.
Must be able to lift 85 pounds (38.55 kg) to a height of 5 feet
Physically able to bend, stoop, and able to stand on feet for long periods of time. Physically able to meet and perform all job specifications. May be required to take random drug and / or alcohol tests, at no cost to the worker. Testing positive or failure to comply may result in immediate termination from employment. All testing and background check will occur after employment has started and is not a part of the interview process. May be required to submit a criminal background check, at no cost to the worker. Felony convictions that employer reasonably believes, consistent with current law, will impair the safety and living conditions of other workers or other individuals on the farm will result in immediate termination. Failure to comply with request for criminal background check may result in immediate termination of employment.