Agriculture Equipment Operator - OR

Job Title: Ag. Equipment Operators

Category: Non-Exempt ~ Seasonal H2A

Department: Production, Harvest, Post-Harvest, Irrigation, Technical Services

Location: All Locations

At Duncan Family Farms (DFF), we believe our primary responsibility is to produce clean, healthy, life-giving food. As a leading certified-organic grower, we harvest thousands of acres of produce those ships directly from our farms to processors in the United States, Canada, and the United Kingdom. Some of our products include Spinach, Spring Mix Lettuce, Kale, Arugula, and Culinary Herbs. Due to our innovative programs, Duncan Family Farms has won numerous awards and is nationally recognized as a ‘showcase’ of progressive farming techniques. Recent growth has enabled the expansion of our technological portfolio as well as our technical personnel. Duncan Family Farms is based in Goodyear, Arizona, and has farms across the United States.

Job Description and Requirements

The job requires a minimum of 3 months of verifiable commercial agricultural employment experience, preferably on a vegetable farm, handling both manual and machine tasks associated with commodity production and harvest activities. Workers must be able to perform manual as well as mechanized activities with accuracy and efficiency. This is hard, strenuous labor, under cold, wet conditions in the spring, and extreme heat and humidity in the summer.

Workers will be required to drive and control equipment to support agricultural activities such as tilling soil; planting, cultivating, and harvesting crops. Workers will be asked to Operate vehicles, mechanized devices, or equipment. The workers will be running, maneuvering, navigating, or driving vehicles or mechanized equipment such as forklifts, tractors, and passenger vehicles. Workers will control machine processes using either mechanisms or direct physical activity to operate machines or processes. Workers will direct and monitor the activities of work crews engaged in planting, weeding, or harvesting activities. Workers with a clean driving record (no major moving violations such as but not limited to Driving While Intoxicated or Reckless Driving) and able to obtain an insurable driver's license will be required to drive passenger company vehicles.

In addition, workers will be required to perform variable tasks such as the load agricultural products for shipment, prepare materials for plant use, load materials or equipment for processing; driver passenger vehicles; record agricultural data, attach equipment extensions or accessories. Work will also include mechanized fieldwork using power equipment. By way of example and not limitation power equipment may include tractors, planters, sprayers, cultivators, and other equipment. Workers will be expected to be able to operate agricultural equipment with or without direction. Workers must be able to comprehend and follow instructions and communicate effectively to supervisors.

Unusual, complex, or non-routine activities will be supervised. Field workers will be expected to perform their general duties in a timely and proficient manner without close supervision. Workers must obey all safety rules and basic instructions and be able to recognize, understand, and comply with safety, pesticide warning/re-entry and other essential postings. Workers will be required to perform a variety of duties related to the production of herbs and vegetables. Workers will be required to manually plant, cultivate, and harvest vegetables such as: Green/Red Romaine, Green/Red Oak, Green/Red Leaf, Mizuna, Arugula, Green/Red Chard, Tatsoi, Spinach, Kale as well as other types of vegetables, lettuce crops, culinary herbs, microgreens, and other field crops. Worker will be required to use hand tools, such as shovels, trowels, hoes, tampers, pruning hooks, shears, and knives. Duties may include tilling soil and applying fertilizers; transplanting, weeding, thinning, or pruning crops; applying pesticides; or cleaning, grading, sorting, packing, and loading harvested products. Employees may be required to assist with farm building and field maintenance, repair fences, and/or repair or cover hoop houses. Workers must wear assigned personal protective equipment when required. Must report for work daily wearing work clothing and boots or another durable footwear. Workers wearing clothing inappropriate for work will not be permitted to start work.

Sanitation Requirements: For food and general personal safety purposes, all workers will be required and expected to always follow common sanitary practices. This is particularly critical when hand harvesting crops for human consumption. Employees are required to cleanse their hands by washing them thoroughly with soap and water after using the bathroom and before entering the fields for harvest activities or the packing facility for packing operations. The employer retains the right to discharge an obviously unqualified worker, malingerer or recalcitrant worker who is physically able to but does not demonstrate the willingness to perform the work necessary for the employer to grow a premium quality product. During certain duties, workers may be required to work in teams to accomplish a certain task. When engaged in teamwork activities workers must coordinate with other members of the team to accomplish the task.

Full Growing Season Commitment: The job offered requires that the worker be available for work 8.5 hours per day Monday- Saturday every day that work is available for the full period of employment shown in Item 9, even though work may be slack for brief periods at any point during the season. The worker agrees to be available for work and performs the assigned work for the employer whenever work is available through the full period of employment. Work available is defined as, no work required on the worker Sabbath or federal holidays, but work is required 8.5 hours per day Monday- Saturday. The first day of the week will begin on Sunday evening, which is considered Monday harvest.

Minimum Qualifications

• 3 months experience commercial farming required.
• Experience working with the following crops:

• Green/Red Romaine
• Green/Red Oak
• Green/Red Leaf
• Mizuna
• Arugula
• Green/Red Chard
• Tatsoi
• Spinach
• Kale
• Culinary Herbs
• Microgreens

Physical Demands/Work Environment

Workers will be required to harvest crops by hand and work in the fields for long periods of time. Workers will work in packing areas used for packing vegetables. Workers are expected to perform duties including boxing, weighing, and loading of products. Workers will assist in loading/ unloading trucks with products weighing up to and including 60 pounds and lifting to a height of 5 feet for long periods of time. Workers must be able to work on their feet in bent positions and must be able to bend and stoop for long periods of time. Work requires repetitive movements and extensive walking. Allergies to ragweed, goldenrod, honeybees, insecticides, herbicides, fungicides, or related chemicals may affect a worker’s ability to perform the job. Work required in fields when plants are wet with dew and rain, and may be required during light rain, snow, moderate winds, direct sun, high humidity and extreme temperatures. Temperatures in fields may range from 10 to 105 F. Workers will be required to work during occasional showers not severe enough to stop field operations. Workers should be physically able to do the work required with or without reasonable accommodation. To be qualified for this position, a worker must be willing to perform the considerable manual labor