Farmworkers & Laborers, Crop

Work description

Pull weeds/chop: Workers will walk along rows as specified by employer and remove weeds and grass from fields by hand or using a hoe. Plant onions and melons. Hand-harvest onions, satsuma oranges, lemons and melons. Transplant and hand-harvest sweet potatoes. Grade, sort, package sweet potatoes grown on the farm at on-farm packing shed. Pull plastic. May prune satsuma and lemon trees and pick up trimmings. May cover trees for winter protection. Workers will perform assigned duties as instructed by their supervisor. May operate and perform minor maintenance on farm vehicles or equipment. May repair fences, greenhouses, farm buildings and other structures, or perform irrigation activities. Perform farm, field and shed sanitation duties. Mow grass and operate trimmer around farm buildings. Direct and monitor the work of casual and seasonal help during planting and harvesting. All workers are required to follow common sanitary practices at all times. This is particularly important when touching crops for human consumption. Workers are required to cleanse their hands by washing thoroughly with soap and water before entering field for harvest activities and after each break. Smoking and the use of tobacco products prohibited during working time. Use hand tools such as shovels, trowels, hoes, tampers, shears and knives. Clip top stem and bottom roots off of onions with shears as instructed by supervisor and fill a five gallon bucket. Lift and dump full five gallon bucket into bin. Pick up any loose or dropped onions and place back into bucket being careful not to drop from a height greater than eight inches at any time. Melons: Workers will walk along rows and cut melons for harvest according to size, color, shape and degree of maturity by using a knife. May carry harvested melons to field truck and load melons on truck or trailer by hand. May unload and pack harvested melons at on-farm packing shed. Workers will not haul or pack melons at a remote shed off the farm.