Farm Laborer

Greenhouse workers will seed Styrofoam trays, and place them onto waterbeds in greenhouses, and monitor the water and fertilizer levels daily. Once plants are larger, they will be moved outside onto float beds, and trimmed back with a mower, set up on a pulley system that is pushed and pulled up and down the float beds. Workers will then reseed trays to start new plants in the greenhouses again. The workers will keep the area around the greenhouses and float beds cleared of debris and weeds, while maintaining all the plants until ready to set. During the setting process, workers will ride a four-row setter, feeding plants into cups on a carousel that feeds the plants into the ground. This process requires long periods of sitting and loading trays from wagons, onto the setter. Workers will rotate following the setter on foot to check for plants that may have fallen out or gotten missed and replanting them by hand. Workers will have to "chop out" the tobacco, this involves walking the rows, with a garden hoe, and chopping the weeds out between the plants. Topping involves walking the fields of rows and breaking off the top couple of inches of blooms from the tobacco plants. Cutting/spiking hauling involves workers using a tobacco knife to cut the plants at the bottom of the stalk and piling them into sections of (6) plants, then going back to place them on wooden sticks of using a metal spike, then standing the stick up in the field. After 2- or 3-days workers will haul the sticks by loading them onto wagon/trailers, then hanging the sticks into large barns sectioned off by tear poles. Workers must be able to lift 50 to 60 pounds, repeatedly. Stripping- workers will take down the sticks of tobacco in the barns, remove the stalks, and place in piles: workers will remove/tear the leaves from the stalks, learning to grade into 3 piles by color and looks, then bundle into large burlap bags labeled/tied and tagged with numbers for baling. Workers are expected to bundle/tie up their sticks, discard empty stalks onto wagons, and be responsible for their bags, plastic, and cleaning up the barns after stripping. Workers will help with the baling process, by putting the leaves into large baling machines that compress the leaves into bales and weighs it. Workers will do basic farm jobs (cleaning, fencing, mowing, weed eating, etc.) during the between times of tobacco process, to help ensure their 3/4 guaranteed hours of their contracts. Lifting 50 to 60 pounds, climbing, bending, and repeated movements are ALL requirements of tobacco labor workers.

Salary : $14