Crops: tomatoes
Workers will plant, cultivate, and harvest tomatoes. Workers will be required to remove weeds by hand or with a hoe. Workers will bend and stoop to pick vegetables according to size, color, shape and degree of maturity and place into field containers. Workers may carry full container weighing approximately fifty (50) lbs. and empty into field bin or load onto trailer. May be required to pull and discard culls as directed by supervisor. Pickers will take care not to bruise or scar produce. Pre-harvest activities may include staking, tying, transplanting, and pruning. Workers will stand on feet for long periods of time. Workers are required to work in fields when plants are wet with dew or rain. Temperatures in fields during working hours can range from forty (40) to over one hundred (100) degrees.
Tomato planting, and cultivation: Workers will help in installing plastic and drip irrigation tubing on raided beds in tomato rows in the field. Workers will cover edges of plastic with soil using long handle shovels being careful not to tear or puncture plastic, Workers will not be expected to operate equipment used in application of the plastic row covers.
Plant Bed Preparation: Laying plastic mulch over prepared beds, which are been fumigated. This includes other jobs necessary to get the plant beds ready for planting, including placing drip tube under the plastic and connecting drip tube to lateral lay flat.
Crop Maintenance and Cultivation: Workers will plant weed, drive stakes, and apply string every two plants, prune all suckers to the first main fork on the tomato plant being careful not to break leaves or injure the stem of the plant. Workers will also tighten stakes loosened by wind and water runoff. Helping to drain areas of the field with shovels, cutting the ridged areas of the rows covered in black plastic to allow the pooled water to drain.
Workers are expected to begin work early in the mornings except when harvesting/ picking tomatoes. If it is necessary for workers to work in the rain, the employer will provide workers, without cost to them, appropriate rain gear. Workers should not have allergies to ragweed, goldenrod, pesticide sprays residues or related chemicals.
Harvest: Tomatoes vines and product must be free of moisture before harvest begins. This drying usually occurs before noon therefore workers are expected to begin work around noon and continue until 8:00pm.
Care must be exercised to prevent bruising of the tomatoes. When the picking buckets are full, the worker will carry them to the truck where they are dumped into bins for transport to the packinghouse
After the tomatoes are transported to the packing house, workers will assist in the unloading, dumping, grading, and packing. (see packing duties below)
Field Packing: Care must be exercised to prevent bruising of the tomatoes. When the picking buckets are filled the worker will carry them to the truck or other designated place where they are graded and field packed. Worker will clean tomatoes, when necessary, with cleaning cloth furnished by employer. Worker will separate tomatoes into extra-large and large sized and into light pink, pink and red colors, and place in individual 25-pound boxes. Workers will stack filled and lidded boxes on pallets for transport to the packinghouse. Worker may assist in unloading boxes from trucks to the packing house.
After harvest is complete, workers will remove plastic and irrigation drip tape from rows of tomatoes and place in piles for loading onto trucks, being careful to completely revoke all plastic and drip tape from field. Workers will cut string from stakes and then pull, pile and load tomato stakes.
Workers will install and maintain irrigation systems and water lines. Move and install irrigation pipes and equipment, remove drip tubing or install drip tubing, dig and maintain ditches.
Employment period: Aug 15, 2026 – May 31, 2027
