Seasonal Nursery Worker

Seasonal Nursery Worker at Pirtle Nursery Holdings LLC in Smithville, TN.

Skill Level 1 Planting: Workers may be required to work as operators of wheel tractors pulling planters and planting wagons. Workers may be required to work on the ground planting trees that are fed through a tractor pulled planter-using shovels. Workers will be required to dig trees. Workers will also be required to plant trees by hand. Pruning: When pruning, it is vital to prune the unwanted branch while protecting the stem or trunk wood of the tree. While pruning trees, workers will receive proper tools for the particular job, i.e., saw, prunes, and hand snips. These tools will be returned to the employer at the end of the task. The cost of tools destroyed maliciously or lost carelessly will be deducted from worker's wages. The supervisor will set a standard or pattern for each container pad/field row and will demonstrate and communicate this to workers. Workers will be assigned rows of trees and must prune each tree according to the predetermined standard. Workers must remove all resulting material from the trees rendered from performing pruning tasks. When pruning is complete on each tree, each worker is required to rake and scatter the resulting brush in the center of the tractor/equipment rows. Bare root tree production: Workers may be required to work as operators of skid steers with bare root blade attachments. Workers may be required to work on the ground tying branches with twine or hauling trees through the field and loading them onto trucks by hand. Workers will be responsible for identifying, budding & grafting bare root trees and seedlings. Workers will also hoe, weed, and grade bare root trees. Loading and unloading: Workers may be required to work on flat bed trailers loading and unloading various sizes of container trees. Workers may be required to work loading or unloading bare root trees by hand into refrigerated trailers/storage facility. Cultivation: Workers may be required to work as operators of wheel tractors pulling cultivators, mowers or hilling disks. Watering: Workers may be required to water trees by hand using pumps and hoses. Farm Equipment Operation: Workers will drive tractors, mowers, and may use other greenhouse equipment including flat filler. Workers will be instructed in the safety and operation of the tractor and other equipment before driving tractor or using other greenhouse equipment. 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. General Duties: Duties performed in the field will be sporadic all through the contract due to the various duties, i.e., preparing soil, planting, pruning, cutting, deadheading, pinching, trimming to shape, spacing plants, potting, fertilizing with granular or liquid fertilizer, cleaning work areas, transporting plant materials in the nursery/greenhouse areas, loading and unloading plants and all other duties associated with plant production. Between harvesting, workers will be required to perform duties to prepare crops for marketing. Workers will also unload pallets from trucks or wagons into fields for transplanting. Worker may unload and restock for storage. Planting, Cultivating, & Harvesting Row Crop: Duties to include, but not limited to: Workers may drive and operate farm machinery to plant, cultivate, harvest and store grain crops such as corn, wheat, soybeans, etc. Attach farm implements such as plow, disc, and drill to tractor and drive tractor in field to till soil and plant / cultivate crop. Perform variety of other duties such as husking and shelling corn, lubricating and repairing farm machinery and unloading grain onto conveyors to storage bins and elevators. Assist in set-up of product for sale of crop.

Work begins January 1, 2027 and ends October 31, 2027.

Pay is $15.83 per hour.

Housing is provided.

Typical schedule: about 40 hours per week.