Agriculture Worker

Flying Pearl Farm LLC; Tennessee; On-site; USD 17,000 - 22,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Housing provided

Meals provided

Grocery transport

Job summary

H2ajobs on a Tennessee farm is seeking workers for seasonal organic production of tomatoes, melons, onions, and potatoes. Work is manual, with hand tools, no machinery, and involves field prep, planting, weeding, pruning, and crop care in both outdoor fields and greenhouses.

Responsibilities include harvesting by hand, caring for crops in greenhouse conditions, and seasonal maintenance. Housing and meals are provided, plus weekly grocery trips; inbound transportation is arranged; no prior

Qualifications

• No minimum education or prior agricultural work experience required.
• Willing to perform manual outdoor and greenhouse work.

Responsibilities

• Clear and prepare fields for planting; remove weeds and debris; prepare soil and beds.
• Plant, transplant, water, weed, hoe, mulch, and care for crops by hand.
• Prepare greenhouse growing areas, seed trays, transplant seedlings by hand, and maintain structures.
• Harvest crops by hand and handle at packing or storage as needed.
• Keep fields, greenhouses, beds and tools clean; assist with transportation and loading.

Job description

Perform seasonal agricultural work associated with the organic production of tomatoes, melons, onions, and potatoes on the employer's farm. Work is performed primarily by hand using ordinary hand tools. No agricultural machinery operation is required for this position.

Workers will manually clear and prepare fields and growing areas for planting. Duties include removing weeds, old vegetation, and plant debris; preparing soil and planting beds; forming rows; spreading compost, mulch, and approved organic soil amendments as directed; and preparing growing areas for seasonal crop production.

Workers will manually assemble, erect, prepare, maintain, and perform minor repairs to greenhouses and crop-protection structures used in the employer's agricultural operation. Workers will prepare greenhouse growing areas, planting beds, seed trays, and containers; fill trays and containers with growing media; sow seeds; care for seedlings; and transplant plants by hand.

Workers will plant, cultivate, and care for organic tomatoes, melons, onions, and potatoes. Duties include seeding, transplanting, thinning, hand weeding, hoeing, mulching, staking and tying plants, pruning when appropriate, watering and irrigating crops, and performing other manual crop-care activities throughout the growing season.

During colder months, workers will care for crops, seedlings, and plants maintained in greenhouses or other protected growing areas. Workers will water and care for plants, prepare seedlings and transplants, maintain planting beds, and assist with agricultural frost- and cold-protection measures used to protect actively growing plants.

Workers will inspect crops for weeds, insects, disease, frost, cold stress, and other conditions affecting plant growth and will report observed problems to the employer. Workers will perform manual weed and pest-control activities in accordance with the employer's organic farming practices and instructions.

As weather and planting conditions permit, workers will prepare outdoor growing areas for spring production and will seed, plant, and transplant crops by hand. Workers will continue weeding, cultivating, watering, staking, tying, pruning, and otherwise caring for plants throughout their growing cycles.

Workers will manually harvest crops as they mature. Duties include picking tomatoes and melons; digging, pulling, and gathering onions and potatoes; collecting harvested crops; and carrying harvested agricultural products from the field. Workers may clean, sort, grade, and hand-pack crops grown and harvested on the employer's farm when such activities are performed as part of the employer's farming operation.

Workers will keep fields, greenhouses, planting beds, growing areas, hand tools, harvesting containers, and work areas clean and orderly. Workers may load, unload, and carry seeds, plants, soil amendments, hand tools, containers, and harvested agricultural products in connection with the employer's farming operation.

Housing: Employer-provided (including mobile or range)

Meals: Employer will provide workers with free weekly transportation to and from a local grocery store to purchase groceries and personal necessities.

Employer will provide workers, at no cost, free and convenient cooking and kitchen facilities within the employer-provided housing, including a stove/oven, refrigerator, microwave, dishwasher, sink, and food preparation and storage areas. Workers will purchase and prepare their own food and meals. Employer will provide free weekly transportation to and from a local grocery store for workers to purchase groceries and personal necessities.

Transport: INBOUND TRANSPORTATION

The employer will provide, pay in advance, or reimburse workers for reasonable inbound transportation and daily subsistence costs from the place from which the worker departed to the employer's place of employment when the worker completes 50 percent of the work contract period, as required by H-2A regulations.

See Addendum C for outbound transportation.

Experience wanted: 0 months

No minimum education or prior agricultural work experience is required. Workers will receive instructions regarding the employer's organic farming practices, work procedures, and assigned duties. Workers must be willing and able to perform manual agricultural work associated with the production of organic tomatoes, melons, onions, and potatoes, including work performed outdoors and inside greenhouses.

Workers must be able to safely use ordinary hand tools provided by the employer and follow the employer's instructions and established farm procedures.