Nursery Worker

Job description

Crops/Commodities:
nursery stock, including vegetable plants, tomatoes, watermelon, peppers, flowers and hemp..
Plants, cultivates, and harvests horticultural specialties, such as flowers, plants, hemp and vegetables, and performs related duties in environmentally controlled structure, applying knowledge of environmental systems. Mixes planting soil and sets fertilizer.

Workers will perform work including but not limited to planting, digging, mulching, transplanting, mowing, watering in nurseries and seasonal holding houses. Fertilize, prune, spray, space, water, tag and perform other plant maintenance. Count and inventory plants. Propagate plants from cuttings. Load finished plants onto wagons and trucks. Remove plastic from seasonal holding houses in spring and cover seasonal holding houses with plastic in fall. Assist with building seasonal holding houses. Plant and dig field grown plants, burlap roots, perform general maintenance of field grown plants. Fill, lift and carry various size pots with soil and plants weighing as much as 70 pounds. Plants must be handled carefully so that minimal leaves, limbs and roots are broken during transplanting process.

Workers must have an understanding of nursery quality control standards and a working knowledge of nursery production procedures. Workers must have the ability to work as a member of a team as well as to work unsupervised.

Workers will hand mix water soluble fertilizer and must know fertilizer reaction to various varieties of plants. Workers will measure water stress level of plants and must have knowledge in water management for disease control. Workers must also have experience in grafting of plants.

Work is to be done for long periods of time. Workers are expected to perform duties including boxing, weighing and loading of product. Workers will assist in loading trucks with packaged product weighing up to and including 70 pounds and lifting to a height of 5 feet for long periods of time. Workers should be able to work on their feet in bent positions for long periods of time. Work requires repetitive movements and extensive walking. Allergies to ragweed, goldenrod, insect spray, related chemicals, etc. may affect workers’ ability to perform the job. Workers are exposed to wet weather early in the morning through the heat of the day, working in fields. Temperatures may range from 10 to 100 F. Workers may be required to work during occasional showers not severe enough to stop field operations. Workers should be physically able to do the work required with or without reasonable accommodations.

In addition, workers may be required to perform variable tasks relating to produce production such as the following: irrigation, ditching, shoveling, hoeing, hauling, ground preparation, weeding and other tasks related to general farming.

Work may also include mechanized field work using power equipment. By way of example and not limitation power equipment may include tractors, planters, sprayers, cultivators and other equipment. Workers will be expected to be able to operate agricultural equipment 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.

Special Requirements

This job requires a minimum of three months of prior experience working in a nursery handling both manual and machine tasks associated with nursery production. Workers must be able to perform all duties of entry level workers as well as perform additional mechanized activities with accuracy and efficiency. Saturday work required. Must be able to lift/carry 70 lbs.