Farmworker: Diversified (45-2092.00)

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 or the packing facility for packing operations.

Vegetables & Fruits: Workers will harvest various vegetable crops. Workers will perform post-harvest field cleanup. Workers will assist in preparing the fields for next season’s planting season. This may include applying liquid fertilizers. Workers will maintain fields during the growing season as shown; do planting, irrigation, and staking and stringing of plants. Worker will use string to provide support for current vegetable plants and will be shown how to do this as well as pruning the plant appropriately. Sticks may be used instead of string at the grower’s direction. Workers will remove weeds from plants either by hand or with hoe according to their supervisor’s directions. Worker will proceed down field row in an orderly manner picking all ripe vegetables of correct size, shape, color, and maturity. Worker will place, not drop, product into harvest container and when full carry container to the designated area and either exchange for empty container or empty container then return to row and repeat process. Workers will not break skin of vegetables. Worker will not drop vegetables or damage plant. Worker will not leave on the vine or plant any appropriate product.
Corn Detasselling: DURING DETASSELLING NO WORKER WILL BE ALLOWED TO BEGIN WORK WITHOUT THEIR ASSIGNED SAFETY GEAR: Workers will walk along assigned row of seed corn and removes remaining tassels from stalks on both sides of row. Care must be taken to remove tassel completely without damaging stalks. Perform any other duties involved in detasselling and rogueing of seed corn and maintenance of fields and production areas.

Bean & Corn Rogueing & Weeding: Workers will walk seed fields to identify and remove rogue plants and discarding them as directed.

Seed Corn Harvest & Sort: Workers will perform general duties associated with harvesting seed corn. Workers will help unload seed corn from trucks and trailers by hand and using a rake, watch the dryers, and may be requested to take corn samples and record weights. Workers will be sorting rouge ears of corn from transfer belt.
Hand-Pollination: Workers will perform general duties associated with hand-pollination and hand harvesting of seed corn including but not limited to: Bagging the tassels, Collecting Pollen, Pollinating and Covering the ears.
Farm, Field and Camp Maintenance: All Workers will be responsible for picking up trash, cleaning bathrooms, sweeping floors and other farm, kitchen and camp cleaning and maintenance.
Farm Equipment Operation During Field Operations: Workers will be required to operate tractors and other farm equipment during field operations as an incidental activity in the production of crops. Before any worker is required to operate any farm equipment, the worker will be instructed in the proper and safe operation of tractor. Workers will be required to operate tractors according to instructions and in a manner that protects the operator, other workers, trees, crops and equipment. Workers may be requested to perform minor and routine maintenance on farm vehicles and equipment. Repeated failure to obey operating and safety instructions may result in termination.
Crew leader: Workers may perform various duties associated with overseeing seasonal work crews & time keeping. Some timekeeping may involve the use of electronics. Workers that are able to be properly licensed will also transport workers.

Special Requirements

Must have three months experience hand harvesting a perishable crop. Applicants must be able to furnish affirmative job references from recent employers operating comparable operations establishing acceptable previous experience. Must be physically able to meet and perform all job specifications stated in job order. Must be able to work in the hot humid weather for extended periods of time. Workers are subject to random drug testing at no cost to the employee. All drug testing will occur after the worker begins his or her employment and is not a part of the interview process. Failing or refusing a drug test will result in immediate termination.