Fruit And Vegetable Harvester

Job description

Harvester will be required to perform a variety of agricultural duties associated with the harvesting of cherries, sweet corn, cantaloupe, watermelons, tomatoes, almonds, bell peppers, and pumpkins. Seasonal harvesting duties frequently require workers to manually cultivate and harvest vegetables and fruits by hand, place them into buckets, bins or other similar containers, stack cartons and/or transfer products to grading and conveyor/harvesting belts. All work is performed in the field and on a farm.

Cantaloupe, watermelon, and pumpkin harvesting requires gentle pitching, packing, and stacking produce into boxes, taking care to avoid damage or bruising. Workers need to use both hands while unloading, grading, and packing fruit. Sweet corn harvesting requires manual harvesting and packing by hand and with a knife. Work will include corning, cutting, packing, and stacking of sweet corn produce.

Tomato harvesting requires workers to hand-harvest tomatoes, place them into buckets and stack trays of tomatoes.

Almond harvesting requires workers to knock down almonds from trees. Workers will then rake almonds that fall to ground.

Bell Pepper harvesting will require hand harvesting bell peppers into a bucket and empty produce out into a bin. A knife may be required to cut the stems.

Cherry harvesting will require using a ladder to pick cherries by hand.

Qualifying workers may operate specialized tractor machinery after undergoing several hours of safety training and passing a hands-on tractor driving exam. Workers may also be assigned additional agricultural duties, such as weed removal by using a long-handled hoe longer than 4ft., shoveling, ground preparation, and other agricultural duties that are typically performed when working with the specific crops in this H-2A job order.

Workers must follow all safety protocols, which includes observing all warning signs, safety bulletins, safety training, and posters. Workers must adhere to all health and safety rules, including Covid-19 preventative measures, social distancing, usage of masks and other safety directives required by the employer or state law.

Employer will provide tools and equipment necessary to perform all required tasks at no cost to the worker. Workers will use standard tools such, shears, knives, ladders, long-handled rakes, hoes and shovels and other similar equipment. Workers will not perform weeding activities by hand in a stooped, kneeling or squatting position.

Work is performed outdoors and can involve exposure to extreme temperatures, bright sunlight, cloudy, windy or rainy conditions, mud and dust, low light or darkness and other natural elements. The work may entail exposure to plant pollens, insects, snakes, rodents, noxious plants and/or plant materials that have been treated with insect and/or disease control spray.

Workers must walk in variable soil conditions. Workers should come prepared with appropriate clothing and footwear for the working conditions described.

Special Requirements

Applicants must have at least one month of agricultural experience, which should include harvesting fruit and vegetables by hand. All qualified applicants must have the authorization to work in the United States, be willing to perform the agricultural duties as described in this job order and be able to meet the physical demands of the position and the employer's work schedule with or without reasonable accommodation.