Highland Specialty Grains - Assistant Breeder

This a Full-time position with Overtime located in Moses Lake, WA.  Wages depend on experience and qualifications.  Benefits provided are Health Insurance, HSA with Company Match, 401k with 3% Company match and discretionary profit sharing.

Job Description

50% Field Work

• Assisting in the development of unique varieties of barley, spring, winter, and durum wheat
• Coordinating with the breeder to develop successful strategies in identifying adapted and marketable line
• Crossing and parental selection
• Quality parameters and testing methods
• Shortening variety development cycles
• Oversight of nurseries
• Planting, Spraying, and Harvesting of nurseries is vital to the success of a breeding program and this person will be expected to participate in all aspects of the trialing process
• Trial lay out and sowing of nurseries
• Flagging, alley way marking and cutting, planter preparation
• Note taking and aiding in the selection process
• Spraying of herbicides and growth regulators
• Harvesting: harvest of trials, collecting sub samples, early generation populations, F4 and F5 rows, and progeny rows
• Coordinating with farmers, technicians, and breeders for nursery needs
• Transporting & operating machinery for planting, harvest, or maintenance

30%  Seed Lab/Office Work

• Running and maintaining an organized and clean office space
• Assisting all programs in seed preparation for planting & basic lab analysis

20% Travel & Offsite field work

• Planting, harvesting, and crossing in Yuma, AZ

Work Environment

Small grains cleaning facility. Frequently required to work outdoors, in dusty environment, moderate to high levels of noise. Occasionally required to operate light machinery and trucks. Must be able to lift 50 lbs. repeatedly.