Farmworker/laborer

Job description

General Farm Labor:
1. Orchard Maintenance: Workers involved in orchard maintenance may be required to strip suckers or unwanted growth from trees, prune trees, thin fruit off trees and strap and tie trees. Employer will provide all equipment. Instruction will be given for each task and standards of performance communicated to workers. The specific standards for a job will be communicated and demonstrated by the supervisor before the work begins. Worker will prop and tie fruit trees and limbs. Worker will care for young non-producing fruit trees including weeding, hoeing, trunk painting, fertilizing, and growth selection by hand and clipping. Worker will provide general labor to assist in the establishment of new orchard properties by clearing property, planting trees, building trellis, repair and spreading of composted material and any other labor considered necessary for the efficient structure of new orchard properties. Worker will care for trees during growing process.

2. Thinning: Thinning is a manual process used to control the size and quality of grown fruit. Worker must possess ability to pick up and handle an orchard ladder weighing 50 lbs. Worker will remove the smallest fruit blossom, bud and/or identifiable fruit from within a cluster of other fruits. Workers will be expected to be able to identify and remove fruit that is misshapen, damaged and/or with other quality problems as directed by supervisors. Thinning may be done from the ground or a ladder up to 8 feet in height.

3. Pruning: Worker will prune, train, and position fruit trees to trellis, including clipping and tying limbs and shoots to wire from the ground or ladder up to 12 feet in height. For pruning trees, workers will receive tools for the particular job, i.e., saw, pruners and/or hand snips. These tools will be returned to Employer at the end of the task. The supervisor will set a standard or pattern for each orchard and will demonstrate and communicate this to workers. Worker will be assigned row of trees and must prune each tree according to the predetermined standard. Worker must remove all resulting materials from the trees rendered from performing pruning tasks. When pruning is complete on each tree, worker is required rake the resulting brush under the tree or rake and scatter the resulting brush in the center of the tractor/equipment middles. In some instances, pruning will be done from a 8-foot ladder weighing up to 50 lbs. All workers must be able to lift and carry the ladder, as well as work from the top of the ladder. When workers use ladders for pruning, workers will be required to pick up and return ladders to the wagon provided by the employer at the end of each work-day or as directed by the employer or designated supervisor.

4. Weeding: Worker will remove weeds on the farm by pulling them out by the root using their hands or by using a hoe to uproot them.

Special Requirements

Job requires worker to complete tasks in planting and harvest of asparagus, apple, apricot, blackberry, blueberry, concord and seedless grape, nectarine, peach, pear, plum, potato, sweet potato, pumpkin, raspberry, rhubarb, strawberry, sugar snap pea, sweet and tart cherry, and winter squash.

Experience Requirement: 3 verifiable months of commercial fruit tree hand harvest experience. Applicants must furnish job references from employers of the last 5 years establishing acceptable prior experience.

Season Commitment: Job offered requires worker be available for and worker agrees to work every day that work is available for entire employment period.

Worker must be able to perform job description duties in safe manner consistent with established safety procedures.