Agricultural Technician III; Seasonal Ventura County, CA

Agricultural Technician III (Seasonal) job at Department of Food & Agriculture. Ventura County, CA.

Under direction of the Senior Environmental Scientist (Supervisory), the incumbent will independently perform the most complex range of field and office support duties, for various fruit fly delimitation programs, maintain fruit fly trapping routes, coordinate the application of pesticides, maintain pesticide inventory and vehicle fleet, oversee pesticide applications performed by outside vendors, perform plane inspections for Japanese beetle, fruit removal and tree removal, communicate with the public at educational public meetings, coordinate with other agencies, and perform various insect/disease surveys for targeted pests.

These activities include working independently and in cooperation with other staff, overseeing treatment activities, preparing written reports, performing quality control inspections for treatment-survey-trapping programs, training new employees, and acting as the back-up trapper/applicator. The incumbent must be able to establish working relationships with those contacted during work and work well under pressure while completing assigned work and meeting required deadlines.

• Follow established protocols to independently perform the full range of most complex and responsible duties in a field and/or office and/or laboratory setting concerned with the control of plant pests and diseases and/or the inspection of agricultural commodities. This may include field office support duties, deploying and servicing traps, performing visual surveys, or applying control measures for target pests such as, but not limited to, various fruit flies, plant diseases, Japanese Beetle, and Spongy Moth.

• Plan, organize and maintain daily trapping routes, visual surveys, or treatment programs and monitor outside vendors to ensure compliance with Department policies and procedures, and State laws, rules, and regulations; enforce and implement new procedures or processes with seasonal employees, when necessary.

• Assemble equipment and mix chemicals using the appropriate protocols; assure that the Department is in compliance of all pesticide rules and regulations.

• Work with field staff in solving technical problems such as equipment breakdowns and trap deployment, using effective communication skills, knowledge, manuals, and/or facility operational procedures.

• Safely operate and maintain State vehicles to travel to designated work areas locally and throughout the state.

• Prepare and complete accurate and detailed technical reports (daily, weekly, and/or as required) associated with detection trapping, delimitation trapping, survey, and treatment activities, or other related activities.

• Carefully document address, host type, and location of sample on property or in field by drawing a hardcopy map and/or taking coordinates with a GPS unit and/or completing a Pest and Damage Record (PDR).

• Screen wet and dry traps for target pests (insect/disease/plant). Examine contents of traps, which may contain hundreds of plant samples, insects and debris, to make preliminary identifications of specimens, which resemble target pests.

• Collect suspect insect and/or plant specimens from traps or host plants using various insect/plant collection tools according to established protocols.

• Communicate effectively and in a professional manner with homeowners, the general public, the Agricultural Commissioner’s Office, the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA), and staff from other agencies in order to perform assigned duties.

Candidates may perform these essential functions with or without reasonable accommodation.

• The duties of this position are primarily conducted outdoors. The incumbent works in extreme weather and temperature conditions. Changes in lighting such as alternating bright sunlight and dark shade are encountered. Noise levels constantly vary. Terrain encountered varies from smooth and stable to irregular and unstable. Incumbent may experience regular exposure to dust, pollen and moisture. Some trap types use a specific chemical insect lure;
  
  some of these lures may…