Field Workers: Nursery Worker, Harvester & General Laborer

Job description

The work is performed in the field on the farm and in a nursery:

Primarily involved in the maintenance of the long cane nursery.
Secondary responsibility is to join the piece rate harvest crews in fresh market blackberries.
Tertiary is hourly hand harvest of the blueberry test plot and maintenance of this plot.
Additionally, farm maintenance activities, specified below, will be done.

Nursery Work
Under the supervision of a Sandy Ridge leader, the crew will assist in the care and training of long cane nursery crops including but not limited to pruning plants, training plants, tying plants, moving pots, fixing irrigation, deploying, and fixing trellising and weeding.
Record notes on employee hours and productivity and submit to the office.

Blackberry Harvest
Hand pick and hand pack fresh market blackberries with a minimum productivity of 3.0 crates per hour (12 x 6oz) and 1.5 crates per hour (12 x12oz)
Hand pick blackberries for frozen
Wash, sanitize, and prepare harvest buckets for the following day’s harvest.
Act as a Stacker: Stack full crates of blackberries onto a pallet. Stack pallet neatly and correctly. Help load or unload empty crates onto or off the picking trailer

Blueberry Test Plot Harvest and Maintenance
Follow the directions of the test plot manager to hand harvest blueberries.
Weed and maintain the test plot area.

General Farm Maintenance
Maintain tunnel plastic
Pull weeds
Hand apply pesticides (additional training will be given before this task)
Cut suckers
Prune and train plants
Trellis repair and maintenance
Operation of farm equipment after skills are demonstrated and safety checkouts (for each piece of power equipment) are completed
Collection of trash and extra harvest materials.

Quality control
Establishes and follows a packaging review system that ensures harvested product meet company standards in quality and appearance.
Appearance: Good packing, full baskets (no bridges); ask harvesters to re-pack crates and pick correct fruit color as needed.
Crates: Make sure the crate is clean and is the correct type of crate.
Ensure harvester are following food safety guidelines as set by the company.
Record notes of employee hours and productivity and submit to the office.

Additional Job Responsibilities: Workers are responsible for following Crew Leader instructions. These include completing daily warm-up exercises.

Special Requirements

Three (3) months of experience in harvesting blueberries or blackberries. Cannot be color blind due to the need to distinguish colors of crops for proper ripeness and maturity, no smoking, illegal drugs, alcohol, or weapons of any sort in the housing or work fields. Ability to communicate in English or Spanish is required for training and safety purposes. Work is performed outdoors in open fields and can involve exposure to sun, wind, mud, dust, heat, cold and other elements of the normal field environment. Temperatures can range from 50 degrees F to over 90 degrees F during the period of employment. Workers should come prepared with appropriate clothing and footwear for the work and working conditions described. Must have attention to detail. Ability to produce a quality product at an efficient pace. Ability to understand and follow directions.

(See Addendum C)