- Full Time:
- Yes
- Number of Workers Requested:
- 9
- Job Duties:
- Manually plant, cultivate & harvest apples. Use hand tools such as shovels, trowels, hoes, tampers, pruning hooks, shears, knives & saws. Till soil and apply fertilizers; transplant, weed, thin or prune crops (may require the use of chainsaws); apply pesticides; clean, pack & load harvested products. Construct trellis, assemble bins, repair bins, fences & farm buildings, participate in irrigation or drainage activities. Set up and operate irrigation equipment. Operate tractors, tractor-drawn machinery, & self-propelled machinery to plow, harrow & fertilize soil, or to plant, cultivate, prune, thin, train trees, spray, protect with hail netting, enhance crop light exposure and harvest crops. Operate trucks or other multi-purpose vehicles to transport workers from place to place around the farm properties during the workday (including on public roads to reach the farm fields) and/or transport workers to the grocery store or bank on an as needed basis. Those workers who possess a valid driver’s license may operate trucks or other multi-purpose vehicles, but no workers will be rejected for not having a driver’s license. Use equipment, sanitizers, and hand tools to sanitize bins, machinery and equipment to meet food safety regulations. Repair and maintain farm vehicles, implements, & mechanical equipment. Harvest apples by hand. Apply hail netting, reflective orchard floor covering, pesticides, herbicides, or fertilizers to crops. Remove or move hail netting or reflective orchard floor covering from block to block or to storage building. Inform supervisor of crop progress. Identify plants, pests, & weeds to determine the selection and application of pesticides and fertilizers. Clear and maintain drainage ditches. Participate in employer provided and other training for pesticide use & application, food safety practices, equipment operation and safety and general work safety. Follow all food and other safety procedures. Record information about crops such as pesticide use, food safety threats or practices, yields, or costs. Apples injured by bruising during picking shall not exceed 0% (WNY) for fresh and 0% (WNY) for processing. Due to investments in high density plantings and automation, productivity must be at least 7 bins (140 bushels) fresh market and/or 8 bins (160 bushels) processing fruit per day. A few fresh varieties require stem clipping of each apple before placing the apple in the picking bag. Productivity for stem clipped apples must be at least 5 bins (100 bushels) per day. Workers are expected to work at least the number of days and hours specified. Depending on weather, crop or other conditions, workers may be requested, but not required, to work up to seven days per week and/or on the Sabbath and up to 12 hours per day. Workers should report to work with their own suitable work clothing and footwear. Field temperatures may range from below 0 (F) to 90+ degrees (F) with possible wet morning conditions. Due to both worker safety and food safety concerns, workers must be able to speak and understand enough English to follow directions and communicate safety threats to the farmer, other workers and supervisors.
Orchard Development & Maintenance: Workers will be required to plant, adjust planting depth by the tree graft union, stomp soil around new plantings, spread fertilizer, pick up roots, stones and limbs, hoe trees, strip suckers or unwanted growth from trees, dig root suckers, rub out buds, remove vines, lay irrigation pipe or tube, repair and maintain irrigation system, strap, paint tree trunks and tie or thin out the crop load on fruit trees. Instructions will be given for each task and standards of performance communicated to workers.
- Job Classification:
- 45-2091.00 - Agricultural Equipment Operators