Nursery & Orchard Laborer
Employer
Sage Hill & Hendricks Rd
Othello, WA 99344
United States
Job description
Mow, cut, and weed fields. Perform ditching, shoveling, hoeing, hauling, ground preparation, digging, and other manual tasks. Bending, stooping and kneeling required. Use hand tools including but not limited to hoes, shovels, shears, clippers, loppers, and saws. Lift, carry, and load/unload products or supplies. Use power equipment including but not limited to: tractors, planters, mowers, plows, sprayers, cultivators, power shears, chain saws, high lifts, fork lifts, skid loaders. Must operate agricultural equipment safely, with or without direction. Assist with farm building/field maintenance and repairs. Planting: Propagate plants by placing buds/scions. Plant seedlings or 'liners' by hand or with mechanical planter. Clear cull stock, brush and debris. Dig holes and shovel dirt. Tree Training: hoeing, tree painting, weed mat application. Tie/position trees and limbs, together and to trellises, using string, tape, wire or other fasteners and supports. Thinning: Hand thin to control the size and quality of fruit. Remove fruit blossom, bud and/or identifiable fruit from within a cluster of other fruits. Use manual and mechanized pruning tools and equipment. Identify and remove stubs or broken branches, downward-growing branches, branches rubbing against each other, shaded interior branches, dead wood and shoots-suckers. Use/handle ladders up to 5 ft. in length and weighing up to 60 lbs. or perform work on motorized platform. Prepare fields/soil for planting. Remove cull stock, debris, tree stumps, brush, fems, vines and other growth from planting area using tractor, mattocks, brush hooks and/or axes. Plant, cultivate and maintain nursery stock and/or bedding plants in condition for shipping and sale to customers. Pot seedlings or 'liners' by hand or mechanical planter. Propagate plants from cuttings. Perform general plant maintenance. Prune, trim, space, transplant and cull plants to ensure availability of marketable products. Irrigate and apply fertilizer. Pack, label, tag, pull, and store plants by variety. Count, grade, and inventory plants. Selects trees for cutting according to markings, size, species and grade. Cut trees using axe or chain saw. Drag cut trees from cutting area. Runs trees through tree baler. Inventory and grade trees. Products must be handled carefully to prevent damage. Work is done in the field for long periods of time. Workers may assist in handling product weighing up to 60 pounds and lifting to a height of 5 feet. Workers must work on their feet in bent positions for long periods of time. Work requires repetitive movements and extensive walking. Work required in fields when plants are wet with dew and rain, and may be required during light rain, snow, moderate winds, direct sun, high humidity and extreme temperatures. Temperatures in fields during working hours can range from 10 to over I 00 degrees F. Workers may be required to work during occasional showers not severe enough to stop field operations. Allergies to ragweed, goldenrod, honey bees, insecticides, herbicides, fungicides, or related chemicals may affect a worker's ability to perform the job. Workers should be able to do the work required with or without reasonable accommodations.
Special Requirements
This job requires a minimum of 3 months of agricultural experience, preferably working in a nursery handling both manual and mechanized tasks associated with production of tree fruit. Applicants must be able to furnish verbal or written statement establishing relevant prior work experience. Saturday work required. Must be able to lift/carry 60lbs.