Job Vacancy | Mechanic | Part-time
Permanent part-time ~20hrs per week mechanic or mechanically minded person to assist in the workshop and around the property.
We offer a variety of seasonal and permanent orchard job opportunities. From to Tractor & forklift operators, orchard hands & supervisors to seasonal work such as fruit picking and packhouse jobs in Motueka. We value the people who choose to work with us and offer a good hourly rate, accommodation, support staff and social opportunities.
Permanent part-time ~20hrs per week mechanic or mechanically minded person to assist in the workshop and around the property.
We have a fulltime permanent and several part-time or seasonal roles available for class 4&5 truck drivers.
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We have full-time permanent employment available for General Orchard Hands. The work you do will vary depend on your skills and experience.
We have full-time permanent employment available for Orchard Supervisors. The work is varied and changes throughout the year.
We are always interested in talking to people that are keen to work in horticulture and bring their enthusiasm and skills to the team. If you are looking for fulltime work, please feel free to contact us to see what we have available. We often have positions available for computer-savvy people and people that would enjoy working outdoors in the orchards outside the picking & packing season.
Our season work (fruit picking and packing) begins in late summer in mid February, and peaks in March every year. We are looking to recruit skilled staff at the start of the season but we always have work throughout the season. Although quieter in the winter months we have a variety of orchard work with pruning and maintenance. October and Spring brings a burst of activity with thinning.
Our Packhouse is situated in Riwaka, just 5 minutes from the vibrant township of Motueka. It's a great place to live and work with access to the Abel Tasman National just a 15 minute drive away. Surrounded by beautiful beaches, valleys and mountains our region clocks up some of the longest sunshine hours in the country.
Taking up a large part of the cooler winter months, pruning is important to maintain the health and form of the tree. Duties involved are opening up the tree by removing laterals or new wood growing up vertically, removing obvious old branches that are shading new wood, identifying canker for removal. This enables the tree can put all its energy into producing blossoms and fruit for us, and will let in optimum light for colouring up our fruit. Kiwifruit pruning is all overhead work, cutting out old vines, and tying a designated number of vines per bay for the next season. Both jobs, use secateurs & loppers. Pruning is usually paid on a per tree or Row basis, with kiwifruit paid by a per bay basis.
In late spring and early summer after the blossom has fallen, thinners move through the orchards selectively removing fruit and “thinning” bunches of baby apples so the trees will grow the ideal number of perfectly sized juicy apples.
The excitement and anticipation builds in late summer as the fruit reaches maturity and is finally ready for picking. Our apple crop is 100% intensive plantings in dwarf style trees with high colour varieties, so this means you don’t have to travel to far to fill your bag & bin. We start our picking programme in Early February through until Mid May, using both modern mobile platforms, where you pick onto a conveyor belt that feeds into picking bins as well as the traditional ladder and bag style picking.
Our packhouse operates from late summer to early winter. The fruit is gently washed, sorted and graded by machinery, then the apples are carefully placed into trays, packers turn fruit to best side up and place the trays into cartons by hand, where it then goes by conveyor belt to be stack and labelled by machinery.
For more information please email hr@fairfieldorchards.co.nz or call 03 5284599 if you are interested in any of this type of work. We look forward to working with you!
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