Agricultural Equiptment Workers

Job description

Operate tractors, tractor-drawn machinery, forklifts and self-propelled machinery to spray, chop, mow, plant or harvest. Drive pickup trucks or vans on the public roads and farm roads only with a valid United States drivers license and employer approval. This may include transportation of coworkers or tools and supplies. Operators will have a minimum of six months of work experience including equipment/vehicle operation. Specifically operator/driver includes tractors, forklifts, vehicles on the road and self propelled machinery such as a platform.

Other orchard work including pruning, grafting, wood removal, planting, transplanting, weeding, sickling, hand thinning, trellis construction, training of branches or trunk including tying, taping, bending and general maintenance of apple trees. Use hand tools such as pruners, chainsaws, pole saws, hydraulic or pneumatic pruners, pruning hooks, shears, sickles and shovels. Prepare field for planting including tilling soils, applying fertilizers, picking rocks and roots from tilled fields. Miscellaneous activities may include fence or bin or building or equipment repair. Many orchard jobs will also be performed from ladders or a moving mechanical platform in the upper half of the tree with lower parts of the tree tended from the ground. Workers may ride or drive platforms for harvest and/or orchard work.

Pick apples by hand on a piece rate basis for the fresh market at $1.10 per 1 1/8 bu. Pick apples by hand for skim or clean-up picking on a piece rate basis for the fresh market at $1.50 per 1 1/8 bu. Pick fresh market apples by hand and clip the stem of each apple at $2.00 per 1 1/8 bu. Pick apples by hand on an hourly basis for miscellaneous picking. All fruit to be handled with care to avoid bruising. Fruit injured by bruising not to exceed 3%. Use of tools such as stem clippers. All fruit to be handled with care to avoid puncture or other damage by stem clippers. Workers trained and instructed to selectively pick mature fruit according to size, color, and other USDA and market standards. Pick apples by hand for the process markets at $0.90 per 1 1/8 bu box. A minimum productivity standard applies of 113 1 1/8 bu boxes of fresh apples per day or 83 1 1/8 bu boxes of skim or clean-up picking per day or 62 1 1/8 bu boxes of fresh apples with stem clipping per day or 139 1 1/8 bu boxes of process apples per day. Workers must be able to pick tree fruit, much of which is done from ladders or a moving mechanical picking platform with lower branches being picked from the ground. Picked fruit is placed in a metal framed canvas covered picking bucket with canvas straps that slip over the head and rest on the shoulders. Filled buckets weighing up to 50 lbs are emptied into bulk bins with a capacity equal to 20 1 1/8 bushel boxes. Workers required to handle ladders up to 24 feet long and weighing about 2 lbs per foot. Must be able to consistently handle 75 lbs throughout the day. Adjustment to minimum during piece rate work will always adjust to the AEWR.

Workers must follow all food safety rules including but not limited to hygiene and clothing/jewelry requirements, awareness of external factors impacting the product such as but not limited to blood, broken glass, grease, animal excrement and many other items to be discussed at hire. Workers must also follow all government and employer rules related to COVID-19.

Special Requirements

The employer will provide 5 days of training to allow workers to pick a minimum of 113 1 1/8 bu boxes of fresh apples per day or 83 1 1/8 bu boxes of skim or clean-up pick per day or 62 1 1/8 bu boxes of fresh apples with stem clipping per day with no more than 3% bruising per day. Also 139 1 1/8 bu boxes of process apples per day.