Farm Laborer

Greenhouse- workers will lay plastic inside the greenhouses and outside float beds, by putting styrofoam trays through a seeding machine, shaking to settle the dirt and seeds, then placing the trays onto the water. The water and fertilizer levels need to be monitored on a daily bases. the trays will be moved to outside float beds when plants are larger, and trimmed back, using a mowing system that is pulled along the float beds to keep plants trimmed until they are set. Workers will clean the area around the greenhouses and beds to keep it free of weeds and debris. During the setting process, workers will ride a four row setter, placing the tobacco plants into cups on a carousel that drops them into shoots that plant them into the ground. This process requires long periods of sitting and loading trays 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 between the plants. Topping involves walking the rows and breaking off the top couple of inches of blooms and suckers from the tobacco plants. Cutting/spiking/ Hualing- workers will use tobacco knives to cut the plants at the bottom of the stalks and piling them into sections of (6) plants, ( if the tobacco is really small or not good quality- then there may be times that 7 or 8 stalks are placed on a stick) then going back to place those plants onto wooden sticks using a metal spike, then standing the stick up in the fields. After 2 or 3 days, workers will haul the sticks by loading them onto wagon/trailers, then hanging the sticks in large barns, sectioned off by tear poles. Workers must be able to lift 50 to 60 lbs., repeatedly. Stripping - workers will take down the sticks (after several weeks of drying in the barns) remove the stalks, and place in piles: workers then remove/tear the leaves from the stalks, learning how to grade into 3 piles by color, looks, then bundle into large burlap bags, tied, and tagged with the numbers for baling. Workers are expected to bundled/tie up their tobacco sticks, discard empty stalks onto wagons, and be responsible for their bags, plastic, and cleaning up their work area while stripping. Workers will help with the baking process by putting the leaves into large baling machines that compress tobacco into bales and weighing them. Workers will do basic farm jobs (cleaning, fencing, mowing, weed eating, etc.) during the between times of the tobacco process, to help ensure their 3/4 guaranteed hours of their contracts. Lifting 50 to 60 pounds, climbing, walking, bending, and repeated movements are ALL requirements of tobacco labor workers.

Salary : $14