This is a full-time, temporary position located in Leelanau County.
Workers will perform various tasks involved in planting, cultivating and harvesting fruit according to supervisor's instructions. May perform hand cultivation tasks, hand weeding and hoeing in field. May aid in irrigation.
Must have 3 months verifiable experience pruning fruit-bearing trees. Applicants must be able to furnish affirmative job references from recent employers with comparable operations establishing acceptable previous experience.
Duration of job is 03/23/2015 to 08/31/2015. Must be available to work for the entire period.
Licensed housing will be provided without cost to those who cannot reasonably return to their permanent residence at the end of the workday.
All tools, supplies and equipment will be provided by the employer at no cost to workers. Workers will be charged for any willful damage or loss or failure to return such tools and equipment.
Sanitation requirements: For food and general personal safety purposes, all workers will be required and expected to follow common sanitary practices, as specified by the employer, at all times. This is particularly critical when hand harvesting crops for human consumption.
Care must be taken at all times to ensure fruit is free of bruises and defects. Cherry harvest will be done both by hand and machine-aided.
The following description of job activities applies to apples, pears, cherries and grapes.
Harvest: Worker will be assigned a row usually with a partner and is responsible for picking all the proper fruit from that row, or half row. Fruit is selected from the tree or vine according to size and/or color standard set by the picking supervisor. The entire tree or vine must be checked to ensure removal of all fruit meeting-picking requirements. Fruit is placed gently in the picking container until container is full. The full picking container weighing up to 50 lbs. is then taken to transport vehicles and gently emptied into a field bin, taking care not to spill or bruise the fruit in the container or in the field bin. Field bin volume may be checked and determined by weight on state certified scales. Workers are required to stay on their assigned row unless directed by a supervisor to change, or to help someone sporadically. Picking units will be kept free of limbs, leaves or mushy fruit.
Pruning: While pruning trees, workers will receive proper tools for the particular job, i.e., saw, pruners, chain saws, loppers and hand snips. These tools will be returned to the employer at the end of the task. The supervisor will set a standard or pattern for each orchard and will demonstrate and communicate this to workers. Workers will be assigned rows of trees and must prune each tree according to the predetermined standard. Workers must remove all resulting materials from the trees rendered from performing pruning tasks. When pruning is complete on each tree, each worker is required to rake and scatter the resulting brush in the center of the tractor/equipment middles.
Thinning: While thinning trees, workers will be instructed as to how close together fruit should be spaced and what fruit is most desirable to leave or take. The supervisor will set a standard or pattern for each orchard and will demonstrate and communicate this to workers. Rows will be assigned to each worker and it is the responsibility of the worker to complete the trees on the row according to the supervisor’s instructions. Thinners will thin fruit using hands to knock off excess fruit taking care to walk around entire tree before moving to the next.
Orchard Maintenance: Workers involved in orchard maintenance may be required to hoe trees, girdle, spread fertilizer, pick up roots and limbs, strip suckers or unwanted growth from trees, dig root suckers, knock fruit off trees, remove vines, lay irrigation pipe, repair and maintain drip system, and strap and tie fruit trees. Employer will provide all equipment. Instruction will be given for each task and standards of performance communicated to workers. The specific standards for a job will be disclosed and demonstrated by the supervisor before the work begins.
Use of Ladders: In some instances, fruit picking, pruning and thinning will be done from a sixteen-foot ladder weighing up to 30 lbs. All workers must be able to lift and carry ladder, as well as work from the top of the ladder. When workers use ladders for picking, pruning or thinning, workers will be required to pick up and return ladders to the ladder wagon provided by the grower at the end of each work day or as directed by the grower or designated supervisor.
Performance Standards: Workers must be able to hand-pick the equivalency of apples and pears to fill 18-20 bushel boxes for fresh market, or 700 lbs of cherries, or 2,000 lbs of grapes per 7 hour work day. Workers must be able to maintain harvesting pace at the speed of other workers in crew and must be able to work with a crew.
Farm Equipment Operation During Field Operations: Workers may be required to operate tractors and other farm equipment during field operations as an incidental activity in the production of crops. Before any worker is required to operate any farm equipment, the worker will be instructed in the proper and safe operation of tractor. Workers will be required to operate tractors according to instructions and in a manner that protects the operator, other workers, trees, crops and equipment. Repeated failure to obey operating and safety instructions may result in termination.
