Orchard Worker
Employer
Honeycrisp Orchard
31079 L Road
Hotchkiss, CO 81419
United States
Job description
General: Workers will perform any of the following duties: Orchard clean-up, building and repairing tree trellises and other hand tasks. Training of apple and peach trees to trellises, including limb positioning, clipping and tying limbs and shoots to wire. Must be able to train trees to trellis without constant management supervision. Weeding, irrigating, cleaning, general maintenance around the worker house. Workers may also operate tractors. Workers will be instructed in safety and operation of the tractor before driving. Tractors should be driven in a manner to protect operator, other workers, products, trees, crops and equipment. Repeated failure to obey safety rules and operating instructions may result in termination.
Planting: Workers will prepare fields for planting by clearing cull stock, brush and debris, dig holes, plant seedlings or 'liners' by hand and shovel dirt around newly planted trees.
Thinning is a manual process used to control the size and fruit quality of grown fruit. Workers will be given appropriate training by supervisors. Ability to pick up, use and safely handle a 12' orchard ladder weighing approximately 40 lb. is necessary for performance of thinning tasks. This process requires the employee to be able to appropriately 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 have other quality problems as directed by supervisors.
Pruning: Pruning numerous varieties of apple and peach trees according to established company procedures based on the difference in the treatment of different varieties. Work will be performed on trees for long periods of time using a variety of pruning equipment including hand shears, hand loppers, hand saws and 12' ladders. Pruning and thinning may be done from the ground or ladder up to 12' in heights or from a motorized platform. Workers pruning trees may be required to selectively prune only trees of a certain size as instructed by supervisor. Workers are expected to have requisite pruning skills to be able to identify and remove stubs 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 clippers and pole pruners. Occasionally workers may be required to use chain saws and other mechanized equipment in pruning activities. Careful pruning requires knowledge of what to prune, how much to prune and fruit trees' growth habits. The primary reason for pruning fruit trees is to improve fruit quality and thus increase crop marketability and value.
Apple/Peach Harvest: Maximization of fruit quality is of paramount importance. Different varieties of apples and peaches will be picked according to established company procedures based on the end use (spot picking for fresh; small percentage of culls for processing). Workers must be able to differentiate between colors accurately in order to perform color-specific picking. Workers will use a picking bag or basket and ladders up to 12' in length and will place picked fruit in bins. Hand harvesters may be instructed to pick culls and peelers (as directed and identified by supervisor) and drop on ground or place in bin. Hand harvesters may be required to selectively pick only fruit of a certain color and/or size.
Care must be taken when picking to not damage or bruise fruit. Workers must be able to pick and dump fruit without stem punctures, bruising or other damage which diminishes quality. Observation, by supervisor, of bruised, damaged or cull fruit will result in written disciplinary action up to and including termination. A written disciplinary notice may occur when a bin is inspected and a significant damage is apparent.
Special Requirements
Three months of experience in agriculture work.