Farmworkers And Laborers

Job description

The farm work position includes duties associated with planting, cultivation, harvesting, and packing of peppers, sweet potatoes, sanitation, and post-harvest cleanup as well as duties related to the deployment and maintenance of in-field irrigation and frost protection. The workers will also grade and pack cucumbers. This work can require standing, walking, stooping, bending, and lifting up to 50 pounds for long periods of time outdoors in all weather conditions. It also includes making important decisions based on size, coloring, and ripeness according to prescribed standards.

This work requires adherence to important food safety and quality standard operating procedures and the ability to work quickly and consistently alongside fellow workers with a positive, professional, team- based attitude and a consideration for the safety and health of fellow workers and of the consumers who will purchase and consume the fresh produce grown, harvested, packed, and shipped from the farm.

Peppers: Workers will bend and stoop to pick peppers according to size, color, shape and degree of maturity and place into field containers. Workers must use care when performing their farm work duties and exercise consciousness to not damage or bruise the peppers. Workers must adhere to all safety rules as instructed by their supervisors and all farm work operations must meet the standards and specifications given by the employer. Workers will be assigned a row or series of rows and required to select and pick produce according to criteria outlined and demonstrated by managers such as size, coloring, and ripeness. They will be responsible for in-field grading and discarding of poor quality, rotting, and/or over-ripened produce. Workers will gently load the good quality produce into containers, taking care to avoid damage or bruising. Workers may carry full container weighing approximately fifty (50) lbs. and empty into field bin or load onto trailer. Workers will perform various duties associated with cleaning trucks, farm buildings and painting.

Tractor Operation During Field Operations: During picking, limb hauling, root hauling and hand fertilizer application, workers may be required to drive a tractor pulling a wagon through the field or between fields incidental to the job being performed. Workers will be instructed in the safety and operation of the tractor before driving the tractor. Tractors should be driven in a manner to protect operator, other workers, products, trees, crops, and equipment. Repeated failure to obey safety requirements and operating instructions may result in termination.

Farm, Field, and Shed Sanitation: Workers may be responsible for picking up trash, cleaning bathrooms, sweeping and mopping floors, cleaning packing line equipment and other similar farm and shed sanitation as part of SOPs and SSOPs within Good Agricultural Practices (GAPs), Good Handling Practices (GHPs), and Good Manufacturing Practices (GMPs) for Food Safety.

This includes personal hygiene and handling the fruit in the field and shed with an emphasis on food safety, sanitizing all harvesting and packing equipment and keeping the fields and shed as clean as possible.

General Farm Labor
Workers will load and unload trucks. Assist with installation and removal of irrigation tubing or pipes. Workers will remove weeds by hand or with a hoe. Workers will perform field cleanup such as the removal of rocks, stumps, plastic, and trash. Workers may be required to cut, split and stack firewood. Workers will perform various duties associated with cleaning trucks, farm buildings and painting. Workers will repair fences.

Special Requirements

Employer may conduct drug/alcohol testing post-employment and at the employer's expense.

Employer may conduct criminal background checks post-employment and at the employer's expense.