Watermelon Planting, Field Work, and Harvesting

The worker will perform job duties as assigned by supervisor. They will vary from time to time depending on crop ripening and weather. The watermelon planting, field work, harvesting, and packing is temporary and will last from April to July. Field Work- During the contract, the worker will prepare the fields for planting. This will consist of putting down ground cloth, digging trenches, putting down irrigation, planting, weeding, and other miscellaneous work. Watermelon and Pumpkin Planting- The worker will go down the fields carrying trays of transplants and plant them individually in the prepared planting bed by bending down and planting the transplants in the ground. This process will be repeated until planting has been completed. Watermelon Hand Harvesting-In order to perform this kind of work, the worker must be able to walk down the field row and use a knife to hand cut ripe watermelons off the vine for harvesting. The watermelons are then loaded in a bus by forming part of an assembly line, in which the first worker bends down picks up the watermelon and it is passed on to consecutive workers by passing, catching, lifting, until it reaches the worker on the bus, who then sets it down and stacks them until the bus is considered full. Pumpkin Hand Harvesting -In order to perform this kind of work, the worker must be able to walk down the field row and use a pair of loppers to hand cut ripe pumpkins off the vine for harvesting. The pumpkins are then loaded in a flat truck by forming part of an assembly line, in which the first worker bends down picks up the pumpkin and it is passed on to consecutive workers by passing, catching, lifting, until it reaches the worker on the loading truck, who then sets it down and stacks them inside until it is full. Watermelon and Pumpkin Packing- The watermelon is transported by bus to the packing shed. Upon its arrival, it is unloaded by a group of workers and placed on a conveyer belt. The group of workers on the conveyer belt are responsible for sorting, labeling, and packing the watermelon in cardboard containers. While the workers are waiting on the next load of watermelons and pumkins to arrive, they will be responsible for assembling card board containers. Field Drivers-The field drivers will drive the buses out to the field where the field workers who are harvesting the watermelons and pumpkins will load them on to the bus until full. They will then drive the fully loaded bus back to the packing shed where the packing shed workers will unload them onto a belt. The process is then repeated again. Farm Equipment and Vehicle Operation-The workers may need to drive and/or operate various agricultural farm equipment and vehicles to perform the work on the farm such as field trucks, tractors, and forklifts. The workers must use safety and precaution when using agricultural farm equipment and vehicles. All passengers must be seated and practice safety and precaution. The passengers must wait to exit the agricultural farm equipment and vehicles when the driver comes to a complete stop and gets off the vehicle. The workers will keep the agricultural farm equipment and vehicles free of trash. Only properly licensed drivers will be permitted to operate the agricultural farm equipment and vehicles. Workers must take care to operate all equipment safely and follow all safety requirements outlined by the employer. The workers may also need to transport workers to and from work each day from the employer provided housing and serve as a team leader.

Salary : $15