*Jobseekers* If you are interested in the position, meet the experience requirements, and are willing to commit to the entire contract period, please go to your local workforce center to be apprised of all terms and conditions of employment and application instructions. *Position: Farm Worker *Requirements: Must have 3 months of experience Must be able to lift 60 pounds Extensive sitting or walking Extensive pushing or pulling Exposure to extreme temperatures Frequent stooping or bending over Repetitive movements Drug screen *Job description: Crops: Cabbage, beets, apples, cherries, and radishes. This job requires a minimum of three months of prior experience working in a tree fruit orchard or row crop farming, handling both manual and machine tasks associated with commodity production and harvest activities. Workers must be able to perform all work activities with accuracy and efficiency. General Workers will perform any of the following duties: Orchard and field clean-up, building and repairing tree trellises, and other hand tasks. Training of apple and peach trees to trellises including limb positioning, clipping and tying limbs and shoots to wire. Must be able to train trees to trellis without constant management supervision. Propping and tying of apple and peach trees and limbs. Cultivating the fields and mending the soils for row crops to be planted. Workers may also operate tractors. Workers will be instructed in safety and operation of the tractor before driving tractor. Tractors should be driven in a manner to protect operator, other workers, products, trees, crops and equipment. Repeated failure to obey safety requirements and operating instructions may result in termination. Planting: Workers will prepare fields for planting by clearing cull stock, brush, and debris; dig holes, plant seedlings or liners by hand (including riding on the planting machine, reaching and grabbing a tree and dropping it in the hole and inserting liners in a mechanical planter); shovel dirt around newly-planted trees or seedlings. Thinning: Thinning is a manual process used to control the size and fruit quality of grown fruit. Employees will be given appropriate training by supervisors. Ability to pick up, use and safely handle a 12 foot orchard ladder weighing approximately 40 lbs. is necessary for performance of thinning tasks. For row crops, thinning employees must be capable of bending over for long periods of time. This process requires the employee to be able to appropriately remove the smallest fruit blossom, bud, and/or identifiable fruit from within a cluster of other fruits. Workers will be expected to be able to identify and remove fruit that is misshapen, damaged, and/or have other quality problems as directed by supervisors. For row crops, workers must be able to identify and remove the smallest seedlinPruning: Pruning numerous varieties of apple and peach trees according to established company procedures based on the difference in the treatment of different varieties. Work will be performed on trees for long periods of time using a variety of pruning equipment including hand shears, hand loppers, hand saws and 12-foot ladders. Pruning and thinning may be done from the ground or ladder up to 12 feet in height or from a motorized platform. Workers pruning trees may be required to selectively prune only trees of a certain size as instructed by the crew boss. Workers are expected to have requisite pruning skills to be able to identify and remove stubs or broken branches, downward-growing branches, branches which rub against each other, shaded interior branches, dead wood and shoots/suckers with hand pruning saws and clippers, mechanized clippers and pole pruners. Occasionally, workers may be required to use chain saws and other mechanized equipment in pruning activities. Careful pruning requires knowledge of what to prune, how much to prune, and fruit trees growth habits. The primary reason for pruning fruit rees is to improve fruit quality and thus increase crop marketability and value. Apple/Peach Harvest: Maximization of fruit quality is of paramount importance. Different varieties of apples and peaches will be picked according to established company procedures based on the end use (spot picking for fresh; small percentage of culls for processing.) Workers must be able to differentiate between colors accurately in order to perform color specific pick *Anticipated hours of work per week: 40 hours a week. *Schedule: Monday- Friday 8am to 4:30pm Saturday and Sunday off *Anticipated period of employment: 5/11/2025 to 10/31/2025 *Application deadline: 8/5/2025 *Job location: Hotchkiss, CO *Pay: $17.84 Effective 1/1/25, overtime must be paid after 48 hours worked per week, or 56 hours worked per week for up to 22 peak weeks for highly seasonal employers. * Contact the local workforce center for more information. ***WFC STAFF: OFFICIAL JOB ANNOUNCEMENT (ETA 790) IS ATTACHED TO THIS JOB POSTING UNDER DOCUMENTS