Farm Worker

Crops: Apples, Grapes, Cherries, Root crops, Corn, Wheat, Beans, Sunflowers, Oilseeds canola General Duties: Workers will perform any of the following duties: Orchard/farm clean- up, including picking up garbage, removal of grass, dirt, string, rocks, wire or any other debris from within or around fields, orchards, buildings, either by hand or using tools or equipment; remove weeds by hand or using hand or power tools; spread compost/fertilizer; place pest control devices including traps, pheromones and paints, and remove diseased plant parts, either by hand or using various machines and tools. Workers will install, deploy, repair and remove shade cloth and trellis by placing posts, wires and cloth for support and shade of orchards using hand and mechanical tools; install, maintain and operate irrigation system, to include placement of irrigation pipes and sprinklers and checking of lines to ensure proper operation using hand and mechanical tools. Clean and distribute buckets, totes, lugs or bins into fields/orchards prior to picking either by hand or with the aid of equipment. Sort and remove defective fruit, plant debris, leaves, etc. from plants or harvest containers. Place liners and tags in or on harvest containers by hand or using various tools. Ability to pick up, use and safely handle and work from a 12 foot orchard ladder weighing approximately 40 lbs. or from a mechanized platform up to 8 feet high, is necessary for performance of general orchard duties. Tree Training: Workers will perform tree training duties including but not limited to the following activities: hoeing, tree painting, weed mat application, tree tying/positioning, – includes tying limbs to trellises and tying limbs together, using string, tape, wire or other fasteners and supports. Other tying activities will be determined by orchard management and communicated to all employees. Propagation/Planting: Workers will propagate plants by placing buds/scions in plants using knives, tape, wax or paint. Workers will prepare fields for planting by clearing cull stock, brush and debris; dig holes, plant seedlings or ‘liners’ by hand (including riding on the planting machine, reaching and grabbing a tree and dropping it in the hole and inserting liners in a mechanical planter); shovel dirt around newly-planted trees. Thinning: Thinning is a manual process used to control the size and fruit quality of grown fruit. Employees will be instructed by supervisors in the correct procedures for each thinning task. Ability to pick up, use and safely handle a 12 foot orchard ladder weighing approximately 40 lbs. or work from a mechanized platform up to 8 feet high, is necessary for performance of thinning tasks. This process requires the employee to be able to appropriately remove the smallest fruit blossom, bud and/or identifiable fruit from within a cluster of other fruits. Workers will be expected to be able to identify and remove fruit that is misshapen, damaged and/or have other quality problems as directed by supervisors.

Salary : $17