Farm Workers

Job description

Perform manual labor to plant, cultivate, harvest, grade pack greens, herbs, beets, broccoli, peppers, tomatoes, cucumbers, eggplant, zucchini, yellow squash, cabbage, and sweet corn; cultivate, pollinate and detassel corn; and cultivate and harvest cotton.

Detassel corn by walking through corn fields, reaching to pull off the tassel of the corn plant and throwing it to the ground by hand. Walk throughout fields, pollinating, bending down to pull rogue plants, weeds, and volunteer corn plants.

Pre-harvest duties include tilling soil, planting, re-planting, cultivating, weeding, using shears, knives, and other various cultivation tools. Use hand tools such as shovels, tampers, pruning hooks, machetes, hoes, and knives. Pull weeds or hoe weeds in the field. Install irrigation equipment, including laying and connecting pipes and hoses. Dig and maintain irrigation ditches, field roads and right-of-ways. Install or remove items required in plasticulture. Install or remove stakes, wire, netting, or string using hammers, wire clippers and other tools. Remove or clean plant debris or vines from ground or trellises. Train vines or plants on strings or trellises. Harvest produce using tools such as knives, clippers, and shears. Banding techniques will be included during harvest at times. Operate agricultural equipment to plow, harrow, fertilize, apply chemicals, plant, cultivate, or harvest crops. Grade, sort, wash, select, count, check, load, unload, label, or pack harvested products. Crops may be harvested and field packed or packed in the shed. Stack boxes onto pallets, transport vehicles or trailers. Assemble cartons, crates and containers using hand tools. Grade and sort products according to specified factors and discard defective, inferior and/or foreign matter. Place acceptable products in specified containers according to grade. Clean and maintain materials, containers, packing facility, fields, work areas, grounds, and equipment. Operate, repair, and maintain farm vehicles and agricultural equipment.

Clean fields when harvest activities are complete. Workers will walk down rows, bending to prune and remove floricanes that are done producing fruit and tipping runners using hand pruners. Primocanes will be left unharmed by the removal process. Pruned canes will be piled in row middles. Workers must have a general understanding of how pruning affects competition with fruiting canes as instructed by supervisor. Improper pruning can cause problems with fruit load, fruit size, disease severity, and overall production.

Assist with Good Agricultural Practices policies. 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 attests that it has sent (or will promptly send) original surety bond to CNPC.
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. Worker must report to work at designated time and place each day. Daily or weekly work schedule may vary due to weather, sunlight, temperature, crop conditions, and other factors. Employer will notify workers of any change to start time.

Special Requirements

Three months of verifiable vegetable harvesting experience required. Perform prolonged walking, pushing, pulling, bending, stooping, heavy lifting and carrying up to 55 lbs. repeatedly. Perform repetitive movements. Work outside in inclement weather, especially extreme cold, heat and/or wet weather for extensive periods of time. Must be 18 or older. Employer is a drug free workplace. Drug testing is conducted post-hire at the employer's expense and is not part of the interview process. Negative results are required before starting work.