Farm worker
Employer: AA Farms LLC
Location: Columbia, SC
Workers needed: 2
Pay: $12.56/hour
Season: Jan 15, 2027 – Sep 1, 2027
Experience: 1 months
Employer-provided housing; Transportation provided/reimbursed
The job
Crops/Commodities:
Grapes, berries, christmas trees and honey production.
Primary duties (performed the majority of workdays):
Plant, cultivate and hand-harvest berries. Prune, trim, and maintain crop. Spread and remove ground covers. Place and monitor bug traps. Trellis berry plants. Train berry canes. Monitor growth for tipping/pruning. Pick/harvest berries according to quality standards. Load/transport harvested berries. Assist in field or warehouse packing.
Plant, cultivate, and/or harvest grapes. Manage vineyard canopy to permit light and air circulation. Thin fruit and remove shoots, leaves and vines. Performs vineyard maintenance activities including but not limited to weed control and trellis installation and repair. Install and maintain bird netting. Assist/move harvested fruit from field to processing area. May perform general indoor tasks or post-harvest activities when outdoor vineyard work is not available (all such activities will be performed incident to or in conjunction with vineyard operation). Must possess the requisite skills and knowledge of what, when, where and how much to prune on a grape vine. Identify and remove the proper canes and vines while retaining the fruiting wood and renewal spurs. Must demonstrate and consistently utilize pruning practices that assure vine balance and preserve vine health.
Prune and pull cut Christmas trees to end of row or to assigned area. Load trees onto trailer and unload trees placing into piles as instructed. Shear trees with proper taper for quality. Shake and bale trees. Remove tree stumps and debris from fields. Tie/position trees by tying or wrapping as necessary. Pack, label, tag, pull, and sort trees. As a minor activity, workers may prepare fields/soil for planting, transplant, train, trim, shear, space, and cull trees and/or plants to ensure availability of marketable products. Stacking firewood and picking cones off Christmas trees. Licensed drivers may drive trucks or other vehicles to haul crops, supplies, tools, or farm workers on or off the farm, and may be offered additional hours.
Install/maintain irrigation systems and water lines. Move and install irrigation pipes and equipment. Dig and maintain ditches. Install and remove levee gates.
Perform manual and mechanical duties related to commercial beekeeping and honey production. Must be familiar with working with bees in all stages, from egg through mature workers, drones and queens. Must work all aspects of beekeeping.
Make, paint and clean boxes. Assemble hives using hand tools. Inserts honeycombs into hive. Access colony to determine if food or medicine is needed. Feed and medicate bees for diseases, parasites, and pests. Sterilize hive and burn diseased hive or bee colony.
Run queen breeding yard. Raise and replace queens. Make divides. Prepare bees and bee equipment for pollination.
Harvest/extract honey. Collect royal jelly. Uncap harvested honeycombs and extracts honey. Remove frames covered with bees and shake into cages. Manipulate and service hive structures. Haul bees to and from different hive locations.
Must have no fear of bees and be non-allergic to bee stings, pollen, honey or other products of the hive.
Perform mechanized extraction. Must be familiar with mechanized extraction equipment. Cap and handle combs. Mechanically separate wax from honey. Maintain extraction equipment. Assist with refining wax and processing honey. Prepare honey by filtration and/or moisture reduction before final packaging. Blend and filter wax before final packaging for sale.
Apply pesticides, herbicides, fungicides, and other crop protectants. Apply fertilizers, plant growth chemicals, conditioners, and other plant related treatments at the correct times depending on plant type, growth, climate and crop conditions.
Workers must operate all equipment properly and in a manner that protects operator, others, the employer's products and property.
Housing: Employer-provided (including mobile or range)
Meals: Employer does not provide meals. Employer-provided housing includes free and convenient kitchen facilities with appropriate equipment, appliances, cooking accessories, and dishwashing facilities for meal preparation. For workers residing in employer-provided housing, employer also provides free transportation once per week to/from closest town or city for personal errands (e.g., groceries, banking services). Dining, kitchen/cooking facilities and other common areas are shared by all workers. In the event that kitchen facilities become unavailable during the contract period, employer will provide three daily meals in accordance with 20 CFR 655.122(g). In such circumstances, employer will deduct the cost of such meals up to the maximum allowable amount published in the Federal Register, or as otherwise approved by the U.S. Department of Labor.
Transport: Employer pays/reimburses foreign workers for all visa-related costs (excluding passport fees) in the first workweek. For non-local workers, employer arranges/provides inbound transportation via common carrier mode of transportation (e.g., bus or plane) and reimburses workers for daily subsistence and reasonable lodging costs, if applicable. Use of employer-offered transportation is voluntary.
Experience wanted: 1 months
This job requires a minimum of 1 months of agricultural field work experience handling manual and mechanized task associated with the production of grapes or berries. Applicants must be able to furnish verifiable job reference(s) or comparable third-party documentation from recent employer(s) establishing acceptable prior experience. Additional hours may be offered during peaks periods within season, this may include weekends. Must be able to lift/carry 60 lbs. Employer-paid pre-employment and post-hire drug testing required. Perform prolonged walking, sitting, stooping, bending, reaching, pushing, pulling, lifting and carrying.
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