Farmworker Diversified - AZ

Farmworker Diversified

Crops: Green/Red Romaine, Green/Red Oak, Green/Red Leaf Lettuce, Mizuna, Arugula, Green/Red Swiss Chard, Tatsoi, Spinach, Kale, Culinary Herbs, Microgreens, Strawberries, Celery, and Cabbage.

General Summary

This position requires a minimum of two months of verifiable commercial agricultural employment experience, preferably on a vegetable farm, performing both manual and mechanized tasks related to crop production and harvesting.

Employees must be able to perform physically demanding agricultural work efficiently and accurately under varying weather conditions, including cold, wet spring conditions and extreme summer heat and humidity.

Essential Job Duties

Crop Production

Workers may be required to perform all aspects of vegetable and herb production, including:

• Preparing fields and planting beds.
• Tilling soil and applying fertilizers.
• Planting and transplanting crops.
• Weeding, thinning, hoeing, pruning, and cultivating crops.
• Harvesting vegetables, leafy greens, herbs, strawberries, celery, cabbage, and other field crops by hand.
• Applying pesticides as directed and in accordance with all safety requirements.
• Cleaning, grading, sorting, weighing, packing, labeling, bundling, boxing, and loading harvested products.

Hand Labor

Workers will regularly use hand tools including, but not limited to:

• Shovels
• Trowels
• Hoes
• Tampers
• Pruning hooks
• Pruning shears
• Knives
• Digging tools

Employees will manually remove weeds, prepare planting areas, install plants, remove damaged materials, and replace hoop house poles and related structures while exercising care to prevent damage to crops.

Irrigation

Workers may be required to:

• Install, maintain, repair, and remove irrigation systems.
• Install and remove drip tubing.
• Move and install irrigation pipe and fittings.
• Dig, clean, and maintain irrigation ditches.
• Assist with irrigation setup and water distribution.

General Farm Maintenance

Additional duties may include:

• Repairing fences.
• Assisting with greenhouse and hoop house maintenance.
• Installing or removing plastic mulch, row covers, and crop netting.
• Ditching, shoveling, hauling, hoeing, and ground preparation.
• Maintaining equipment, restrooms, lunch areas, packing facilities, and fields in clean and sanitary condition by collecting and disposing of trash, boxes, labels, packing materials, and other debris.

Mechanized Field Work

Employees may operate agricultural equipment, including but not limited to:

• Tractors
• Planters
• Sprayers
• Cultivators
• Other farm machinery used in crop production

Workers must be able to safely operate equipment with or without direct supervision, follow instructions, communicate effectively with supervisors, and complete assigned work efficiently. More complex or non-routine assignments will be performed under supervision.

Workers must comply with all company safety policies, pesticide safety requirements, re-entry intervals, and all posted safety instructions.

Packing Operations

Workers may also perform packing house duties, including:

• Packing vegetables into totes, bins, clamshells, boxes, or other containers.
• Tying or bundling products.
• Weighing and labeling products.
• Loading harvested products by hand.

Personal Protective Equipment

Employees must wear all required personal protective equipment (PPE) while performing assigned duties.

Workers are expected to report to work each day wearing appropriate work clothing and sturdy work boots or other durable footwear. Employees reporting in inappropriate attire may not be permitted to begin work.

Physical Demands and Work Environment

This position involves strenuous manual labor performed outdoors and in packing facilities.

Workers must be able to:

• Stand, walk, bend, kneel, squat, and stoop for extended periods.
• Perform repetitive movements throughout the workday.
• Lift, carry, push, and pull products weighing up to 60 pounds, including loading products onto trucks to heights of approximately five feet.
• Harvest crops by hand for extended periods.
• Work in packing facilities performing boxing, weighing, packing, and loading duties.

Work may be performed under varying environmental conditions including:

• Temperatures ranging from 10°F to 105°F.
• High humidity.
• Direct sunlight.
• Moderate winds.
• Wet field conditions from dew or rain.
• Light rain or occasional snow when field operations continue.

Individuals with allergies to ragweed, goldenrod, bees, insecticides, herbicides, fungicides, or similar agricultural materials should consider whether they can safely perform the essential duties of this position.

Reasonable accommodations may be provided for qualified individuals with disabilities.

Sanitation Requirements

Because employees handle crops intended for human consumption, strict sanitation practices must be followed at all times.

Employees are required to:

• Wash their hands thoroughly with soap and water after using the restroom.
• Wash hands before eating, drinking, smoking, or returning to work.
• Wash hands before entering harvest fields or packing facilities.
• Follow all company food safety, sanitation, and hygiene policies.
• Maintain clean and sanitary work areas throughout the workday.