Farmworker

Job description

Perform manual labor to plant, cultivate, harvest, grade and field pack cucumber, bell pepper, chili peppers, squash, tomotoes, broccoli and cabbage by hand and machine. Operate farm vehicles, implements and mechanical equipment including tractors, tractor-drawn machinery, and self-propelled machinery to plant and harvest crops. Use hand tools such as shovels, tampers, pruning hooks, machetes, hoes and knives.

Till soil. Work alongside tractor and trailer that are moving through the field while workers harvest produce. Workers will not break skin of tomato, drop tomato, or leave any appropriate product on the plant during harvest. Clean, pack and load harvested tomatoes. Install or remove items required in plasticulture. Install and remove stakes, wire, netting and string. Grade, sort, wash, select, label, pack and load harvested products.

Bell peppers, chili peppers, broccoli and cucumbers will be manually harvested by walking through the field and picking into baskets, carrying full baskets to dumpers riding on trailers moving alongside rows, and dumping into bins on the trailer. Pick squash by hand, field pack into boxes and load full boxes onto the back of trailers.

Cabbage will be cut at the base using a knife and either tossed into bins or a bulk wagon, or placed into boxes weighing approximately 50 lbs. in the field and loaded onto trailers. Pack cabbage on line. Determine maturity level of produce quickly and consistently by color, feel and size and apply correct defect tolerance, handling and harvest standards as instructed by supervisor.

Lay, tuck and/or remove plastic. Clean plastic of debris. Participate in irrigation activities including setting up, repairing, operating and maintaining drip and other irrigation equipment. Manually pull weeds, mow, weed eat and remove used stakes and string. Stake, string, tie, prune, sucker, thin and prune crops, as instructed by supervisor. Remove or clean plant debris or vines from ground or trellises. Train vines or plants on strings or trellises. Clean fields when harvest activities are complete. Till soil. Clear and maintain fields and irrigation ditches.

Workers in warehouse will stack, grade and pack produce into appropriate containers. Make boxes for produce. Operate forklifts for feeding packing line.

Workers must select harvestable produce based on correct size, maturity and quality. Workers will not break skin, damage, drop or bruise produce, or leave any appropriate product on the plant during harvest. Workers must discard and destroy produce that has been in contact with blood. Any produce harvested or still on the plant that has been exposed to blood shall be discarded and destroyed. Workers must pass by or discard any produce that bears obvious signs of pest activity, fecal contamination, plant disease, or physical damage, or any produce that has been dropped on the ground. Workers must wash buckets, tools and equipment to avoid unnecessary introduction of soil into harvest containers and field bins, or onto tools or other harvesting equipment. Count and check harvested produce in the field. Perform minimal supporting maintenance tasks to deter wildlife from entering fields of facilities for sanitary purposes.

Allergies to ragweed, goldenrod, honey bees, insecticides, herbicides, fungicides, or related chemicals may affect a worker's ability to perform the job. Persons seeking employment in this position must be available for the entire period requested by the employer. Employer reserves the right to discharge an obviously unqualified worker, malingerer or recalcitrant worker who is physically able but is unwilling to perform the work necessary for the employer to grow a premium quality product, or for any other lawful reason.

Employer may request, but not require, workers to work more than the stated daily hours and/or on a worker's Sabbath or federal holidays. Workers will have an unpaid lunch break.

Special Requirements

Three months of farmwork experience required. Work involves repetitive walking, bending, stooping, reaching, pushing, pulling, twisting, lifting, carrying and loading up to 60 lbs. repeatedly. Physical stamina required. Work is outside and may be in extremely hot, cold, humid and/or wet conditions for extended periods of time.