What to Expect: PICKING – Tomatoes (Greenhouse) – Ethnic Council of Shepparton and District

The Harvest Trail has prepared one guide for people looking for work, what to expect if offered Tomato Picking – in a greenhouse – in Shepparton and Surrounds.

Picking Tomatoes – What to Expect

Maintaining and nurturing plants to maximise their growth potential such as de-leafing, clipping, pruning, pest management and other quality duties
Working in a hot, humid environment.
Picking and packing season lasts for 10 months with positions readily available. During the remaining months maintenance work is undertaken.
Working inside the greenhouse away from weather conditions that may interrupt work. This also provides more produce, healthy plants and optimal growing conditions
Early morning starts, the day usually starts at 6.00am and finishing between 3.00pm and 5.00pm
Standing while working for 8 hours a day
Working well in a team

What you need

Ability to undergo and pass inductions and training as required
Ability to following instructions, willing to learn and adapt to new processes
Good communication skills
To be self-motivated, reliable and punctual
Physically fitness to enable to you to undertake tasks like; standing for long periods and able to work at a reasonable pace
Own transport to get to and from farm each day
Be able to distinguish between ripe coloured fruit and fruit yet to ripen

Common Barriers

If one of these barriers applies to yourself, please contact your HTS office staff, we may be able to assist to overcome barriers
such as:

Transport
Driver’s licence
Accommodation nearby
English as a first or second language

What Is In It For You?

You will have the opportunity to work with some great people and meet people from all nationalities and walks of life
There may be further career opportunities for those that excel with further training potentially leading to roles with more responsibility
Working in a sustainable environment where greenhouse operations use less water and less fertiliser
Help farmers in Australia move their product from greenhouse to plate in a sustainable fashion

To find out more, contact the Harvest Trail:
Harvest Trail Information Service 1800 062 332
email: htis@madec.edu.au

Greenhouse Tomatoes — Tomatoes in Greenhouse

Image Credit: Wikimedia Commons / Kolforn, Wikimedia Commons / Alexander Roumega

	The Ethnic Council of Shepparton and District acknowledges the Yorta Yorta People of the land which comprises the Goulburn Valley. We pay respect to tribal Elders, past, present and emerging and we celebrate their continuing culture and acknowledge the memory of their ancestors.
	The Ethnic Council of Shepparton and District is a peak body whose mission is to promote and represent the social, cultural and economic well-being of ethnic communities in the Goulburn Valley Region through the provision of quality and innovative settlement, refugee support, community development, and information and advocacy services.