Description
Manually harvest fruits, vegetables, nuts, and horticultural crops. Pick, cut, and gather produce using hand tools and harvest aids; operate harvest machinery when needed. Inspect, sort, grade, pack, and load products while maintaining tools, field sanitation, and food-safety standards; report yields and quality to supervisors.
- • Follow food safety, hygiene, and worker safety procedures.
- • Perform minor maintenance on harvest machinery and tools.
- • Handle produce to prevent bruising, contamination, and damage.
- • Place liners and pads in containers before packing.
- • Move harvested products to packing or cooling areas.
- • Participate in pre-cooling, storage, and shipping preparation.
- • Build and wrap pallets for shipment.
- • Record time, crew, or piece counts as required.
- • Communicate supply needs for boxes, bins, ice, or liners.
- • Remove culls and debris from fields and packing lines.
- • Replace worn picking bags, ties, and liners as needed.
- • Harvest fruits and vegetables by hand.
- • Cut, pick, and bunch crops using knives, shears, and hooks.
- • Operate harvest aids, conveyors, and picking platforms.
- • Drive or assist with tractors and self-propelled harvesters.
- • Inspect produce for ripeness and defects during harvest.
- • Sort, grade, and count harvested products.
- • Pack, label, and palletize boxes, bins, and totes.
- • Weigh and record yields, lot numbers, and field locations.
- • Load produce onto trucks and move bins or pallets.
- • Maintain cleanliness of harvest areas, tools, and equipment.
- • Apply post-harvest treatments as directed.
- • Report crop conditions and harvest progress to supervisors.
- • Set up ladders, picking bags, and field sanitation stations.
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O*NET occupational data (work activities, skills, knowledge).
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Last reviewed: Jan 2026
