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Fill containers with produce. Containers that are appropriate for whatever fruit or vegeta- ble you are picking will be provided at the end of every row in the field. It may be part of your job to load the empty containers onto a truck and drive them to the field, or you and the other workers may ride on the truck with the containers out to the place where you stopped picking the previous day. Load containers for transport. When darkness falls, you will be forced by lack of light to leave the fields and pack up the produce that you have picked so it can be shipped to packag- ing and distribution centers. This part of your job may involve heavy lifting or—increasingly as technology advances and farming becomes more automated—it may involve operating equipment that packs and stacks produce for transport. A: Four keys to success . . . hard work, long hours is the biggest key. Getting higher education at an agricultural college will help the business end as well as the ani- mal husbandry part. Being able to run the farm as a business while still realizing that you are dealing with live animals is a major issue. You must learn to think with your brain and not let your heart rule the business. I had a hard time with culling. I still do. I get attached to my animals. . . . Some of them end up being shipped to slaughter; it’s a fact of life. If you can’t deal with it, then farming may not be for you. Q: What do you like best about your job? A: I feel at peace when I am with my animals. I have rheumatoid arthritis, so the work keeps my joints limber. I get a real good feeling when an animal I have bred wins at shows or produces a record amount of milk. After being at work all day, the down time I have with my animals is a great stress reliever. Q: What’s the most challenging part of your job? A: As with any type of farming, making a living is the biggest challenge. Milk and livestock prices are very low, while the price of feed, fuel, supplies, veterinary care . . . the normal day-to-day business costs . . . continue to rise. Only farms that have been in the family and are paid off can make a living. Q: What are the keys to success for being a farmworker?

Farmworker  •

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