Farmworker: Diversified

Job description

Sanitation Requirements: For food and general personal safety purposes, all workers will be required and expected to follow common sanitary practices at all times. This is particularly critical when hand harvesting crops for human consumption. Employees are required to cleanse their hands by washing them thoroughly with soap and water after using the bathroom and before entering the fields for harvest activities. All workers must report all injuries and illnesses to their employer. As well any communicable disease such as but not limited to diarrhea, or any other infectious disease or illness. Workers shall report immediately any cuts or abrasions that cause open bleeding.

Perform all tasks involved in the growing and harvesting of crops. This includes sweet potatoes, bedding, cutting slips, transplanting slips, pulling, and/or chopping weeds and harvesting with the use of mechanical harvesting equipment, field grading sweet potatoes and using equipment to travel potatoes from the field to the pack house or storage facility. This also includes for other row crops (soybeans, milo, corn, rice, cotton, and wheat) pulling and/or chopping weeds. Workers must notify supervisor/employer of any material issues. Workers must report any safety and/or food violations to their supervisor immediately.

Field Work: Perform all tasks involved in the growing and harvesting of Matthews Ridgeview Farms’ crops. This includes for sweet potatoes: bedding, cutting slips, transplanting slips, pulling and/or chopping weeds and harvesting with the use of mechanical harvesting equipment, field grading sweet potatoes and using equipment to travel potatoes from the field to the pack house or storage facility. This also includes, for other row crops (soybeans, milo, corn, rice, cotton, and wheat) pulling and/or chopping weeds.

Field Primary duties and responsibilities:
• Roll out plastic on sweet potato beds, remove plastic from beds when needed.
• Roll out cloth on sweet potato bed. Remove cloth from beds when needed.
• Cut Sweet potato slips, stack slips into carton, load cartons onto truck.
• Use mechanical sweet potato harvesting equipment to harvest sweet potatoes.
• Field grade sweet potatoes by separating #1’s, #2’s, Jumbos, and canners into separate harvesting bins.
• Pull and/or chop weeds from fields.
• Maintain a clean and safe work area.
• Notify supervisor of any mechanical or material issues.
• Notify supervisor of any safety and/or food safety violations.
• Clean work area after work assignments are completed.
• Perform other related duties and assignments as required.

Physical environment/working conditions: The position in the field involves stooping, bending, kneeling, standing, walking, and lifting (up to 70 lbs.) for long periods of time throughout the day. Work environment can vary depending upon various factors including weather. Generally, the work environment will be dirty, dusty and/or damp, with extreme temperature fluctuations according to the season.

Packing House: Workers will perform various duties associated with packing employer’s products. This includes grading, sorting, and packaging sweet potatoes. Workers will flow standard work methods and practice safe work habits to ensure production is as efficient and safe as possible. Workers must follow all standard food safety methods and practices to ensure product is handled in clean and safe manner. Workers must remove sprouts and/or strings from sweet potatoes as they move along the line. Workers will sort potatoes according to customers’ specifications by removing rotten, and damaged and out of specification sweet potatoes from pack line. Workers will fold and stack cardboard and/or reusable plastic containers. All production workers are expected to be available to work in all areas of production.

Special Requirements

All applicants must have at least 3-months experience working in soybeans and rice. Applicants must be able to furnish
affirmative job references from recent employers. Workers must be able to bend, stoop, sit and stand on feet for long periods of time. Must be physically able to meet and perform all job specifications stated in job order, including lifting of 75 lbs. Must be able to work in dirty, dusty, and damp environments and in hot humid weather for extended periods of time. Workers are subject pre-hire and random drug testing at no cost to the employee. Failing or refusing a random drug test will result in immediate termination.