Farmworker/laborer
Employer
16321 40th Ave
Coopersville, MI 49404
United States
Job description
THINNING: Workers may be required to hand thin different varieties of trees. Thinning may be done on the ground or ladder up to 12 feet in height or from a motorized platform. Thinning is a manual process used to control the size and quality of grown fruit. Worker must possess ability to pick up and handle a 12-foot orchard ladder weighing 30 pounds. Worker will remove the smallest fruit blossom, bud and/or identifiable fruit from within a cluster of other fruits. Workers will be expected to be able to identify and remove fruit that is misshapen, damaged and/or with other quality problems as directed by supervisors.
HOEING: Worker will walk or ride on mechanical weeding machine down rows of planted crops using a garden hoe or hand levers to remove weeds growing around and within plants. Care must be exercised as to not dig up or harm the adjacent vegetable plants. Worker must be able to walk, bend, kneel, stoop, sit and stand for long periods of time.
PRUNING: Worker will prune numerous varieties of apple trees according to established company procedures based on difference in treatment of different varieties. Worker performs pruning on trees for long periods of time using variety of pruning equipment including hand shears, hand loppers, hand saws, and 12-foot ladders. Pruning and thinning may be done from ground or up to 12-foot ladder or from motorized platform. Worker may be required to selectively prune only certain size and color trees as instructed by Employer.
Worker must possess or acquire pruning skills in order to identify and remove stub or broken branches, downward-growing branches, branches which rub against each other, shaded interior branches, dead wood and shoots/suckers with hand pruning saws and clippers, mechanized equipment in pruning activities.
WEEDING: Worker will be required to weed squash fields and orchards. Worker will weed by hand, with hand tools such as a hoe, mechanically or by spot-weed spraying. Worker will be trained in appropriate application of herbicides for spot-weed spraying. Worker will be required to identify and remove undesired plants, without causing harm to or removing adjacent squash plants. Worker will be required to stoop bend, and work on hands and knees for long periods of time. Hoes will only be used in the weeding process with management discretion. Worker will be required to efficiently use the hoe without causing damage to squash plants and may be required to solely hand weed if supervisors find hoe damage to squash.
PLASTIC MULCH AND DRIP TAPE RETRIEVAL: Worker will be required to lift plastic mulch and trickle irrigation tube from vegetable plant row at the end of season. This will be conducted after the tractor pre-lifts the row to allow for easier retrieval of the material. Worker will make sure the material loose from the soil so the mechanical roller can take away the product. Worker must be able to walk, bend, kneel, stoop, sit and stand for long periods of time and lift up to 25 pounds. Worker may also be required to place plastic mulch down by hand if the wind lifts the mulch from the soil.
Pay will be hourly.
Special Requirements
Job requires worker to complete tasks in General Farm Labor; Hand Harvest of: Apples, Cherries, Hot Peppers, Peaches, Round Tomato, Tomatillo, Corn, Strawberries, and Cucurbits (Yellow Squash, Grey Squash, Winter Squash, Zucchini, etc.).
Experience Requirement: 3 verifiable months of commercial hand harvest experience of vegetable or tree fruit required. Applicants must furnish job references from recent employers within the last 5 years establishing acceptable prior experience.
Drug test conducted at employer's expense and not utilized as pre-employment tool.