Farmworkers And Laborers, Crop

Job description

Citrus Harvesting: Harvesting citrus fruit by hand under supervisor’s instructions, the worker will place a picking sack over his shoulder and carry an 18’ to 20’ ladder from the field truck to the particular area of the grove to be harvested. The picking sack is a canvas bag equipped with a shoulder strap for support, an opening for the insertion of fruit, and an opening to remove fruit. A full loaded sack weighs between approximately 80 and 100 pounds, depending upon the size, condition and variety of fruit. Worker positions ladder against the tree and within reach of the fruit in a leaning position, taking care not to break limbs, damage the tree, knock of fruit or interfere with other workers, in a secure position to prevent slipping or falling and possible injury to themselves or other workers. Worker will remove fruit from the tree and place into pick sack. When pick sack is full take full sack to fruit tub.
Qualified employers may be required to drive agriculture machinery.
Blueberry Harvesting: by hand, the worker will walk down the berry field rows where the blueberry will be harvested. The worker will place a 1 gallon picking bucket with a strap over his/her shoulder from the field truck to the particular area of the field where the fruit will be harvested. The 1 gallon picking bucket is a canvas, equipped with a shoulder strap for support. Worker positions him/herself in front of the berry tree and will remove the fruit from the tree and place into the 1 gallon picking bucket taking care not to break any limbs, damage the tree, or knock off the fruit. When the 1 gallon picking bucket is full the worker will take it to the truck at the end of the row where the worker will unload the fruit into a small tub or container.
Field Maintenance: workers will tie, stake and prune plants, clean micro jets, assist with irrigation maintenance or installation and remove plastic drip lines, using hands or a hoe worker will remove dead plants and weeds.

Nursery
The Specialized Farm Labor position includes the planting, growing, maintenance, and packing of plant material. All workers are required to adhere to important safety, quality and production standards alongside fellow workers with a positive, professional, team-based attitude and a consideration for the safety and health of fellow workers.
Primary Responsibilities include:
• Accurately and quickly planting young plant material (plugs or liners) while on potting line conveyor
• Accurately and quickly pruning plant material to designated specifications
• Applying cares tags and bar codes
• Assembling, disassembling and/or repairing shipping racks for use or storage
• Assembling and/or moving plant material on shipping trays
• Applying fertilizer
• Unloading trucks and rearranging racks with or without plant material
• Pulling, loading, offloading and/or consolidating plant material (plants, plugs or liners) to/from field or production barn as needed and according to job orders and instructions
• Repairing and maintaining production and non-production areas such as ground cover repair, grass trimming and weeding at times using mower or gas-powered trimmers
• Re-spacing, spreading, consolidating or dumping plant material according to task/job orders
• Executing task work orders and documenting quantities and the status of completion
• Performing general housekeeping duties such as sweeping, mopping, and picking up trash or debris around the farm
• Weeding plant material
• Identifying and reporting plant quality issues including removing debris, dirt or poor-quality foliage prior to shipping
• Operating or working on production line using soil mixers, flat fillers, conveyors, and potting machines
• Replacing plant containers as needed prior to shipping
• Placing lot tags in production lots
• Pruning or trimming plants as instructed by a grower using pruning shears, scissors, or mechanical trimming equipment

Special Requirements

This type of work, involves working conditions that require tremendous stamina, a high level of physical activity in cold or extremely hot conditions in direct sunlight and in adverse weather such as rain. The work requires a high level of physical conditioning. Due to the type of work involved, there is a Probationary Period of five (5) days beginning with the first day of employment, to show possession of the requisite physical strength and endurance to perform this type of work.