28
Jun
Martin Portales Rivera has been employed with Southern Valley/Hamilton Growers since 1998 as an H2A (temporary guest worker) employee. As a guest worker, he can spend a certain number of months with us on our farm working and then must spend a certain number back at his home. Over the course of the last 18 years, Martin has spent the months of March thru December working at our farm in Georgia and the remaining two months at his home in Mexico.
Like most of our employees, Martin started his time with us in the fields planting, stringing, and harvesting product. After two years in this role, he began the long and gradual process of training to be a supervisor. The process begins as a standard field worker and then graduates into the fichero (the guy who handles the buckets and writes the tickets). From there, Martin says you must learn everything about the farm until enough knowledge is gained regarding harvest to be a supervisor.
Martin’s crew consists of 42 people and he is responsible for making sure each individual is on task, picking product correctly, and following protocol. He was too modest to tell me this, but I was later informed that his crew is the fastest crew on the farm and they often call on him and his guys when they are tight on time getting a product harvested. His crew always delivers in a crunch, they say. Part of the reason is for 7 or 8 years now he has more or less had the same crew, with the exception of about 10 new people. Once a crew knows they work well together and are trained together, it is best for everyone if they stay together.
Work hours for the crew and supervisor are typically from 7 am thru 7 pm, Monday thru Friday, and then partial days Saturday and Sunday. A hard job and long hours for sure in the midst of the hot Georgia sun. But Martin says he likes to work, he enjoys his job and doing this type of labor. His favorite time is when we are busy and there is lots to harvest, he says. Even before, in Mexico, he did field work so this is something he truly enjoys and is happy to come back to year after year. We are definitely happy to have him come back and work with us and lead a crew each year as well!