Farmworker/laborer

Job description

FARM LABORER: Worker will be required to hoe or pull weeds in cabbage, pepper and pie pumpkin fields as directed by supervisor. Worker will conduct various farm and field clean up and maintenance tasks which include picking up trash, painting, power washing and sanitizing farm buildings and equipment. Worker(s) will mix soil for filling flats and water plants as directed by supervisor. Worker(s) will unstack soil trays, feed full trays through seeder, cover with soil, level soil, and then restack on pallet. Worker(s) will then transport seeded trays into greenhouse and place on to table/ground/racks in an orderly manner in accordance with supervisor instructions. Extra care must be taken not to disturb, disrupt or spill the planted seeds from the plastic tray cells during transport from seeder to table/ground/racks. Worker will be required to transplant from plug trays into cell trays by removing plants at root base and transferring to opposite hand as directed by supervisor. Transplanting is done using a pinched-finger style. Worker will insert index finger in the middle of the cell and then insert 1 plant in a continuous motion. The process will begin with the one person transplanting the inner row and working toward the outer rows. Two other workers will remove trays to layout on table, ground or racks and check to make sure tray cells are full. After transplanting, worker will be required to lay out flats and place on to bed/ground/racks in an orderly manner in accordance with supervisor instructions. Worker will load flats of plants or plant racks, according to same-lot of plants onto trailers to be transported to field to be planted as instructed by supervisor. Worker must be able to list 80 pounds. Worker will be required to differentiate and keep separate different varieties of plants onto trailers or plant racks.

Field planting/Seeding: Worker will carefully hand transplant plants by removing them at the base of the plant. Worker will use an employer provided hand shovel for field planting and seeding. Plants shall be handled with care as not to break, damage or bruise the plant. Worker will insert shovel face forward into center of predetermined hole so as to not touch the sides of the plastic to prevent burning of the plant. The plant shall be placed into the ground so the root structure is entirely covered with ground soil. The plant is inserted until the first leaves are showing. Worker will then cover the back of the plant, remove the shovel and then cover the front of the plant.

Plants may be planted mechanically with a planter or manually by hand. If planting mechanically, worker will load plant of trays into planter and ride the machine and place plants in the drops as the machine moves along the row. If plants are planted manually, worker will walk along rows and insert plants in predetermined holes as instructed by supervisor.

Seeds may be planted by hand. Seeds will be placed into the center of the predetermined hole in the row and placed no deeper than a half inch into the ground and covered with ground soil as instructed by supervisor.

Pay will be hourly.

Special Requirements

Job requires worker to complete tasks in general farm labor and hand harvest of Cabbage, Jalapenos, Banana Peppers, Pumpkins and Pie Pumpkins. Packing of Cabbage, Peppers, Tomatoes, and Pie Pumpkins.

Experience Requirement: 3 months commercial cabbage hand harvest experience required. Applicants must furnish job references from employers of the last 3 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.

Worker must work at sustained pace and make good faith efforts to work efficiently as reasonable under working conditions and consistent with amount, quality and efficiency of 13 boxes (1 7/8 bushels) per hour.