Farm Worker
Employer
VAGA & Grower members
SouthBoston, VA 24592
United States
Job description
Nursery/Greenhouse Duties may include but are not limited to: preparing soil and growth media, planting, transplanting, cultivating, pruning, cutting, deadheading, culling, pinching, pollinating, harvesting, trimming to shape,
mowing, fertilizing with granular or liquid fertilizer, cleaning work area, operate fork lift in transporting plant materials in the greenhouse or nursery area, loading and unloading plants and all other duties associated with plant
production and /or otherwise participating in horticulture activities. Haul and spread topsoil, fertilizer, etc. to condition land. Operate equipment necessary for the maintenance and operation of the grounds and facilities. Spray,
weed and water plants, shrubs and trees. Workers will be required to perform duties to prepare crops and ensure their development into marketable products. Workers will also pick orders, space plantings, load and unload
product from carts, racks, benches, wagons and trucks for crop placement. Workers must lift full and empty metal benches of plants.
Planting, Cultivating & Harvesting Row Crops - Duties may include but are not limited to: plant, cultivate, harvest and store grain crops such as field corn, wheat, rye, soybeans, forage, etc. Workers may perform a variety of
other duties such as husking and shelling corn and unloading grain onto conveyors to storage bins and/or elevators. Duties may include but are not limited to: plant, cultivate and harvest peanuts, cotton, tobacco. Flue cured,
burley and dark Tobacco requires planting, cultivating, remove tops and suckers from the plants, and oiling. Flue cured requires that you pull mature leaves from tobacco stalks by hand and place leaves in trailers for
transport to tobacco barns for curing, then prepared to be placed in the barns, once cured is removed and placed in bins to be baled. Bales weighing 650 to 850 pounds are mechanically loaded in trucks for transport to
market. Other types of tobacco are harvested by cutting the whole plant and curing.
Planting, Cultivating and Harvesting Vegetables/Fruits - Duties may include but are not limited to: plant, cultivate, harvest and pack produce in boxes, buckets, and/or crates. May assist in set-up of product for sale of crop.
When harvesting cabbage, asparagus, winter squash, pumpkins workers will cut selected produce with knife or shears and place in trailer drawn through field. Workers are also expected to perform task of packing, weighing,
and loading trucks. Produce may include a variety of cucumbers, squash, sweet potatoes, potatoes, peppers, grapes, berries, asparagus, broccoli, beans, cantaloupes, peas, pumpkins, melons, tomatoes, corn, and other
miscellaneous fruits or vegetables. Grapes will include, planting, placing bamboo stakes, installing grow tubes, hilling up vines, installing trellis, weeding, hedging, pruning, tying up vines, cutting grass, harvesting. Hay/Straw:
Hay must be cut, raked and bailed. If square bales workers will move along rows of previously bailed haw/straw, bending, stooping and lifting bails, loading and stacking onto a truck or trailer for transport to storage area. If
round bales they will be loaded with tractor on the truck or trailer for transport to storage area.
Sod — Sod requires land preparation, seeding mowing and harvesting. A machine cuts and rolls the sod. Workers stack the rolls on pallets to be transported to installation worksite where the workers lay the sod.
Livestock will include assisting with delivery, apply or administer medications, vaccines and/or insecticides, mix feed and additives, feed, water, herd, clean/disinfect livestock corrals/stalls/sheds, castrate, brand, clip/tag and clamp livestock. In addition to the duties listed above in connection with the crops, the worker may or may not be required to perform variable tasks such as the following: Irrigation, ditching, hoeing, shoveling, placement and removal of plastic, spraying pesticides or herbicides, loading, unloading, and hauling,
Special Requirements
Workers will be expected to conform to the specific instructions given for each days work. Assignments will be made by employer or a designated employee. Workers may be assigned a variety of duties in any given day and different tasks on the same day. Packaged produce may weigh from 50 to 75 pounds. Workers are exposed to wet weather early in the morning and through the heat of the day, working in fields. Temperatures may range from 30F to 110F. Workers may be required to work during occasional showers not severe enough to stop field operations. Employers will provide workers, without cost to them, with appropriate rain gear.Considerable bending is required. Workers should be able to work on their feet in bent, stooped or crouched positions for long periods of time and should be able to work in barns at heights of 10 to 30 feet if necessary. Allergies to grass, weeds, goldenrod, insect spray, related chemicals, etc., may affect workers ability to perform the work.