Seasonal Job Roles
Seasonal Job Roles
We have work throughout the year, but our busiest seasons are Harvest, Pruning and Canopy Management. All the work we do can be counted towards the ‘Specified Work’ for your second year visa.
Here’s our quick guide to what each season involves.
Harvest
Early February – Mid April
Harvest season is the picking season. Grape picking is about as straight-forward as it sounds, but there are a few things to keep in mind.
- When grape picking, it’s really easy; just use your snips to cut off each bunch and let them fall in the bucket.
- Grape Picking has a relatively short work day at around 4 hours and they start early in the morning – this is because it gets too hot to pick in the heat of the day, and the fruit is at its best at dawn when there’s still moisture in the air. Just think of the early finish as bonus beach time!
- Like all farm work, some equipment is required, but don’t worry, you won’t need to pay anything for this until you’ve actually started working.
- Grape Harvesting works on piecework rate rather than hourly, which means you get paid a certain rate based on how many buckets of grapes you pick. Don’t worry though, you’ll be a master picker in no time, and sometimes the following work during the season is hourly - even some picks too.
- Bird Netting
- Fruit Dropping
- Bunch Thinning
- Weeding
Pruning
Mid June – Early September
There’s lots to do in Pruning season, from cane and spur pruning to de-legging and vine training. Pruning is basically the removal of any extra branches and spurs that aren’t going to grow grapes over the following years. There’s more to it- like training the vines with wires or de-legging the trunks to remove small new shoots.
- Pruning season has longer days- usually around 6-8 hours, weather depending. Since the work is done over the winter period the hours can vary if there are storms, however you may well be working in the rain. We do provide you with wet-weather gear at no upfront cost though, so you won’t be getting wet feet!
- As with picking, we provide all your equipment with no cost to you until you start work, but as the equipment list is more extensive we will buy some of it back at a percentage if you’ve kept it in great condition.
- Pruning is also on a piecework rate, this means you get paid per vine that you prune so break out the secateurs! There is also some hourly work available throughout the season.
Canopy Management
September – December
Canopy Management is the maintenance of the fruit and vines in preparation for a better Harvest season. The roles and tasks are a continuation of a lot of the work we do during the pruning season so most years our pruners turn into canopy managers, but we always welcome new applicants and enquiries.
All year round, the work we offer isn’t just a way to make money and spend another year enjoying Australia, it’s also an awesome opportunity to meet both locals and other travellers, while staying in one of the most amazing and beautiful areas in Western Australia - though we’d say the whole of Australia!
If you’re interested in any of the work we offer, please get in touch with us or fill out a pre-registration form and we’ll get back to you as soon as possible.
