Farmworkers And Laborers

Job description

The job requires a minimum of three months experience in tasks associated with farm experience.

The job requires extensive standing and walking. Workers are frequently required to use their hands and arms to handle, feel, reach, climb or balance. Workers are occasionally required to stoop, kneel, crouch, or crawl under trellis wires. Workers must be able to lift/carry up to 60 lbs throughout the course of the day.

Thinning: Thinning is a manual process used as part of orchard maintenance to control the size and quality of grown fruit. All workers will be provided appropriate training to supervisors to ensure proper techniques for thinning are utilized. Workers must have the ability to pick up, use and safety handle a 16-foot orchard ladder weighing approximately 40 pounds to perform thinning tasks. Thinning requires the worker to remove, in some cases but not limited to, the smallest 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 with other quality problems as directed by supervisors.

Pruning: Workers may be required to prune numerous varieties of apple trees according to established company procedures based on the difference in the treatment of different varieties. Workers are required to possess or acquire pruning skills in order to be able to correctly identify and remove branches which rub against each other, downward-growing branches, shaded interior branches, stubs or broken branches, dead wood and shoots/suckers and selectively remove diseased limbs and branches due to fire blight and/or bacterial canker with hand pruning saws and clippers, and pole pruners. Such pruning may occasionally require workers to use chain saws or other mechanized equipment.

While pruning, workers will be required to perform work for long periods of time using a variety of pruning equipment, including hand shears, hand loppers, hand saws and 16-foot ladders. Workers pruning apple trees may be required to selectively prune only trees of a certain size as instructed by the supervisor.

Special Requirements

Drug/Alcohol Testing: Alta Citrus may conduct a drug/alcohol test at the employer's expense on all new applicants post-employment.