Farmworkers and Laborers, Crop, Nursery, and Greenhouse

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

Benefits offered by this job

Housing

Meals provided

Transportation to stores

Laundry facilities

Job summary

H2ajobs in Florida seeks agricultural workers for harvest and field tasks, including citrus, blueberry and strawberry picking. Workers carry picking equipment, haul ladders, and pick fruit by hand under supervisor guidance.

The role requires manual labor in varying weather; housing and meals are provided, transportation to stores and laundry may be arranged, and safety protocols must be followed during grove operations.

Qualifications

• Experience wanted: 1 months
• Ability to perform heavy manual labor and endure heat, cold, and outdoor conditions

Responsibilities

• Harvesting citrus by hand under supervisor’s instructions, carrying an 18–20 ft ladder and a picking sack, placing fruit into the sack and transporting full sacks to designated bins.
• Field maintenance caretaking including tree treatments, debris removal, irrigation line maintenance and repair, and general grove upkeep.
• Hand weeding: walking fields and pulling weeds with hands or a hoe.
• Harvesting blueberries by hand: walking rows, using a 1 gallon picking bucket, removing fruit without damaging trees, and unloading into trucks or bins.
• Strawberry harvest: picking all ripe berries, sorting by size/quality, packing into containers according to strict production standards, and following supervisor directions for grading and packing.

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.

Field Maintenance Caretaking: Assisting with tree treatments, removal of grove debris, assisting with irrigation line maintenance and repair, and general grove maintenance.

Hand weeding: Workers will walk through the fields pooling the weeds around the plants using their hand or a hoe.

Harvesting Blueberry by hand, the worker will walk down the blueberry field rows where the blueberry will be harvested. The worker will place a 1 gallon picking bucket with a strap over his shoulder from the field truck to the particular area of the field where the fruit will be harvested. The 1 gallon picking bucket is a canvas, equipped with a shoulder strap for support. Worker positions himself in front of the blueberry tree and will remove the fruit from the tree and place into the 1 gallon picking bucket taking care not to break any limbs, damage the tree, or knock off the fruit. When the 1 gallon picking bucket is full he will take it to the truck at the end of the row where he will unload his fruit into a small tub or container.

Strawberry Harvest: Workers will move down assigned rows picking all ripe berries, grading berries while harvesting, taking care to sort and pack containers by size, shape, color, quality and quantity as directed. Each worker must pick the plants clean of all ripe fruit, sort and pack all good berries into specified containers, within the box, according to very high quality standards as set forth in the Company Production and Quality Standard. Bad berries will be packed or disposed of as determined by the Supervisor. Each worker shall handle berries carefully to avoid bruising. Bruising will weaken the berry. Each harvesting worker is expected to move with the crew from row to row to maintain the efficiency level. Upon completion of each box picked, the worker will place their assigned numeric sticker on the box, take his/her packed box to the crate shed to be viewed for grade, receive credit on his/her assigned numeric sticker, and receive a new box with containers. Any containers that are over or under packed, or consist of poor quality fruit, will be returned to the worker for repacking. Upon completion of an assigned row, the worker will move to the next vacant row to be picked. Harvester may receive disciplinary notice if quality standards are an issue.

• 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.
• La vivienda proporcionada por el empleador incluye instalaciones de cocina gratuitas y convenientes con equipos, electrodomesticos, accesorios de cocina y lavaplatos apropiados para la preparacion de comidas. Tambien proporcionara transporte una vez por semana para ir a las tiendas y lavar la ropa.
• 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.