Tractor Driver and Fruit Worker (all-rounder) in Colchester

• Employer: G & S Coode-Adams (Feering Bury Farm / Coggeshall Hall Farms)
• Location: Feering, near Kelvedon and Coggeshall, Essex
  Reports to: Sergiu Ungureanu

Hours: 40-45 hours a week, with longer days at busy times; some weekend work during spraying and harvest

Pay: £28,000 - £40,000 a year (based on experience and qualifications) plus paid overtime at harvest and a bonus scheme
Start date: 6th January 2027 or as soon as possible

About the farm

A family farm growing vines and blackcurrants, alongside cricket-bat willow.

We run a complex irrigation system and operate Sustainable Farming Incentive (SFI) and Countryside Stewardship Mid Tier environmental schemes, with parts of the farm managed for wildlife and biodiversity.

The work is varied, practical and seasonal, with a small team and responsibility for the person in this role.

The business is expanding: we are increasing the blackcurrant acreage, putting more attention into the vines, and diversifying into other crops and offers.

We are looking for someone who wants to grow with it.

The role

This is a skilled job that involves both handwork and tractor driving.

We want someone who can jump on anything: a tractor and sprayer one day, pruning or tying down the next, and whatever the farm needs after that.

There is no fixed split between machinery and hand work; it follows the season and the crop.

The work is outdoors in all weather, from winter pruning to summer spraying and harvest.

You will often work on your own.

We need someone who works with precision, who can be trusted to plan and finish jobs without supervision, and who spots problems and deals with them before being asked.

Main duties

• Tractor and machinery work
• Drive tractors safely with a range of implements, including mowers, mulchers, flails, cultivators and trailers, between narrow rows of vines and bushes.
• Carry out spraying of vines and blackcurrants (once certificated), following the spray programme, product labels and wind/weather limits.
• Carry out daily checks, greasing and basic maintenance of tractors and equipment, and report faults promptly.
• Help with harvest-time machinery work, transport and loading.
• Vineyard work
• Winter pruning, pulling out and tying down.
• Trellis and post repair, wiring and tying.
• Bud rubbing, shoot positioning, tucking in and leaf removal through the growing season.
• Help with grape harvest.
• Blackcurrant work
• Pruning, cutting out old wood and tidying plantations.
• Weed control around bushes and general upkeep of rows and headlands.
• Help with harvest and post-harvest work.
• Irrigation
• Run the irrigation system day to day: setting up, starting and stopping, and checking that water is reaching the right places.
• Check pumps, filters, pipes and drip lines, find and fix leaks and blockages, and report bigger faults.
• Keep simple irrigation records and flag crops that are too wet or too dry.
• Environmental schemes and wildlife
• Carry out work under our SFI and Mid Tier agreements to the required standard, including sowing, cutting, mowing and hedge work at the right times of year.
• Respect margins, buffer strips, no-spray zones and wildlife areas when driving, spraying and cultivating.
• Keep records needed for scheme compliance and inspections.
• Notice and report wildlife, habitat damage or anything that might put scheme payments at risk.
• General farm work
• Hedge, ditch, track and yard upkeep.
• Willow and wood-chip work as needed.
• Any other reasonable farm tasks.
• Records and safety
• Keep accurate spray records, and records of hours and jobs done.
• Store, handle and dispose of chemicals safely, and clean spraying equipment correctly.
• Follow farm health and safety rules and wear the correct protective equipment.

About you

Essential

• Happy to switch between machinery and manual jobs as needed.
• Physically fit and comfortable with long days of heavy manual work outdoors in all weather.
• Precise and careful: accurate driving between narrow rows, correct sprayer settings and doses, and neat, consistent work.
• Self-reliant: able to work alone for long periods, manage your own day and get the job done to a high standard without supervision.
• Uses initiative: notices disease, pests, damage or machinery faults early, acts on them or reports them.
• Reliable and honest, including about mistakes.
• Able to work with a small team and with seasonal workers when needed.
• Full UK driving licence (or one valid for UK use).
• Right to work in the UK.
• Preferred
• Proven experience driving tractors with implements, ideally in vineyards, orchards or soft fruit.
• Pesticide spraying certificates: PA1 (safe use of pesticides) plus the relevant sprayer module, such as PA2 (boom sprayer) or PA3 (air-assisted orchard sprayer).

These are not essential: we will train the right person and pay for the certificates.

• Experience with vine pruning and canopy work.
• Experience with blackcurrants or other bush fruit.
• Basic mechanical skills.
• Keen to learn new crops and ways of working as the farm diversifies.
• Experience with irrigation systems: pumps, filters, drip or trickle lines.
• Understanding of farm environmental schemes (SFI, Countryside Stewardship) and an interest in wildlife and habitat management.
• Good spoken English, or enough to follow safety instructions and spray records.

What we offer

• £28,000 - £40,000 a year, based on experience and qualifications, plus paid overtime at harvest (the salary will increase as training is completed)
• We pay for training, including spray certificates (PA1 and sprayer modules) for the right person
• Bonus scheme based on a share of profits.
• 28 days including bank holidays, or as agreed
• Workplace pension
• A career path: as we expand the blackcurrants, invest more in the vines and diversify into new crops and offers, there will be more responsibility and new skills to learn for the right person

If shortlisted, you will be invited for an interview and to look around the farm.

We will then offer the successful candidate a three-month probationary period followed by full employment.