Farmworkers and Laborers, Crop

H2ajobs; Frostproof (FL); On-site; USD 17,000 - 22,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Housing

Meals provided

Transportation assistance

Job summary

H2ajobs in Florida is seeking farm workers to assist with Citrus Harvesting and related tasks on a grove. Workers will hand-pick fruit, carry equipment, and follow supervisor instructions to ensure safe, high-quality harvests.

Duties include planting trees, basic field care, and packing tasks in the packing house, with supervisor guidance and basic housing provisions described in the listing.

Qualifications

• Experience wanted: 1 months

Responsibilities

• Harvesting citrus by hand under supervisor's instructions.
• Planting citrus trees by hand, clearing weeds, digging holes to spec, and set trees at ground level.
• General field caretaking including weed removal and basic irrigation line maintenance.
• Citrus packing duties in the packing facility: sorting, grading, packing, labeling, and keeping areas clean.

Skills

Stamina

Job description

Workers will perform assigned duties as described in this clearance order.

Citrus Harvesting: Harvesting citrus fruit by hand under supervisor's instructions. The worker will place a picking sack over their shoulder and carry an 18' to 20' ladder from the field truck to the particular area of the grove to be harvested. The picking sack is a canvas bag equipped with a shoulder strap for support, an opening for the insertion of fruit, and an opening to remove fruit. A fully loaded sack weighs between approximately 80 and 100 pounds, depending upon the size, condition, and variety of fruit. Worker positions the ladder against the tree and within reach of the fruit in a secure, leaning position, taking care not to break limbs, damage the tree, knock off fruit, or interfere with other workers, ensuring a secure position to prevent slipping or falling. Worker will remove fruit from the tree by hand and place it into the picking sack. When the picking sack is full, the worker will transport the full sack to the designated fruit tub or bin.

Planting Citrus Trees: By hand under supervisor's instructions, planting a tree at a tree space where a tree has been removed (resetting). The worker will clear weeds if needed and dig a hole 3 feet on each side of the removed tree space in line with the other trees in the row. The hole must be approximately 14 inches deep and 5 inches round. Soil removed from the hole must be placed evenly around the perimeter. Worker will evenly sprinkle 1 pound of young tree fertilizer on the soil around the hole, remove the young tree from the citrus pot over the hole, and place the tree in the hole at ground level so the potting mix is even with the surrounding ground. Worker will use their hands to pack the soil mixed with fertilizer firmly around the tree, water the tree roots with 1 gallon or more of water, and place additional soil around the tree roots after watering. Worker will notch the bottom of a plastic pot and slip it over the newly planted tree to act as a sprout inhibitor and tree protector. Worker will properly place the micro-sprinkler between the newly planted trees in the reset space. Workers are expected to perform high-quality work, ensuring proper placement and proper tree planting techniques.

General Field Caretaking: Assisting with tree treatments, removal of grove debris, assisting with basic irrigation line maintenance and repair, and general grove maintenance. Workers will remove weeds by use of a hoe/pickaxe from the walk-way and remove all weeds growing around plants by hand. Workers will remove weeds from the growing area by raking piles of debris and dispose of it as directed by the farm manager and/or crew supervisor.

Citrus Packing and Packing House Care: Under supervisor instructions, workers will perform basic entry-level duties in the packing facility located on the farm premises. In accordance with applicable regulations, all packing activities involve agricultural products where more than 50% of the commodity processed is produced by the contracting fixed-site employer. Duties include manual sorting and grading of harvested citrus on moving conveyor belts by visual inspection, removing damaged, decay-marked, or off-spec fruit, and placing it into designated discard chutes or bins. Workers will manually wipe or clean fruit as needed, hand-pack graded citrus into cartons, boxes, or bags according to size and quality specifications, fold and assemble cardboard packing boxes, stamp or label packages, and stack packed boxes onto wooden pallets. Workers will keep packing lines, floors, and surrounding work areas clean, swept, and free of debris and fallen fruit.

• Housing: Employer-provided (including mobile or range)
• Meals: Employer-provided housing includes free and convenient kitchen facilities with appropriate equipment, appliances, cooking accessories, and dishwashing facilities for meal preparation. Also will provide transportation once per week to go to the stores and do laundry.
• Transport: For workers hired from beyond normal commuting distance, after completion of 50 percent of the work contract period, the employer shall reimburse the worker for cost incurred by the worker for transportation and daily subsistence, as required by DOL regulations, from the place from which the worker has come to work for the employer to the place of employment.

Experience wanted: 1 months

This type of work, involves working conditions that require tremendous stamina, a high level of physical activity in cold or extremely hot conditions in direct sunlight and in adverse weather such as rain. The work requires a high level of physical conditioning