- Full Time:
- Yes
- Number of Workers Requested:
- 25
- Job Duties:
- Workers will perform various duties associated with planting, cultivating, harvesting, packing, weeding, irrigating, loading, unloading, and spraying crops. Crops include squash zucchini, peaches, watermelons, muscadine, Cantaloupe, Strawberries Peppers,
Workers will perform various tasks involved in planting, cultivating and harvesting employers crops according to supervisor’s instructions. Workers may till soil, plant stock and do pruning activates using a variety of non-mechanical tools. May remove blossoms to improve yield and quality. May aid in irrigation duties, may aid in minor repair of wooden fruit containers. Workers may thin and/or harvest fruit. Workers will harvest fruit according to color, size and degree of maturity as specified by supervisor and place into half bushel baskets taking the extra time, care and effort not to bruise or scar the fruit. Workers may windrow bull containers or carry full containers weighing approximately 50 lbs. to truck or trailer and stack according to supervisor’s specifications. Fruit thinners will thin fruit using hands to knock off excess fruit, spacing remaining peaches approximately one hand width apart, taking care to walk around entire tree before moving onto next. Workers will be required to stay on their assigned row. Pre-harvest duties involving grapes may include pruning, training, and trellising.
Sanitation Requirements: For food and general personal safety purposes, all workers will be required and expected to follow common sanitary practices at all times. This is particularly critical when hand harvesting crops for human consumption. Employees are required to cleanse their hands by washing them thoroughly with soap and water after using the bathroom and before entering the fields for harvest activities or the packing facility for packing operations.
The following description of job activities applies to Peaches and Muscadines. Workers will thin, prune, pick and pack.
Harvest: Workers will be assigned a row usually with a partner and is responsible for picking all the proper fruit from that row, or half row. Fruit is selected from the tree according to size and/or color standard set by the picking supervisor. In some instance, fruit harvest will be done from a six-foot ladder weighing up to 30 lbs. All workers must be able to lift and carry ladder, as well as work from the top of the ladder. The entire tree must be checked to ensure removal of all fruit meeting-picking requirements. Fruit is placed gently in the picking container until container is full. The full picking container weighing up to 50 lbs. is taken to transport vehicles and gently emptied into a field bin, taking care not to spill or bruise the fruit in the container or in the filed bin. Field bin volume may be checked and determined by weight on state certified scales. Workers are required to stay on their assigned row unless directed by a supervisor to change, of to help someone sporadically. Picking units will be kept free of limbs, leaves or mushy fruit. Workers will be required to pick up and return picking ladders to the ladder wagon provided by the grower at the end of each workday or as directed by the grower or designated supervisor.
- Job Classification:
- 45-2092.00 - Farmworkers and Laborers, Crop, Nursery, and Greenhouse