The Drummond family have been farming in Herefordshire Since 1956. Eric Drummond senior, who had previously farmed in Scotland, came to The Homme in Ross-on-Wye with its 90 hectare’s of mixed farming which included potatoes, cereal crops and blackcurrants whilst also rearing sheep and cattle
We specialise in growing high quality Strawberries for the Major Supermarkets. Broiler farming has been a key part of the business for a long time we specialise in growing pullets and cockerels for different markets.
Work
We grow top quality strawberries, we normally pick our fruit between April and November each year but we cannot harvest our fruit without good pickers. While you may be on a working holiday, we are not a holiday camp and expect all of our employees to work hard. However, life is not about all work and no play: we provide you with excellent leisure and recreation facilities.
Every year we employ about 300 seasonal workers, who come from 3 different countries, Bulgaria, Romania and Poland. We can only employ workers who have the right to work in the UK. Some employees are invited back for another season having proved themselves in the previous season to be reliable and hardworking individuals. The returnees in turn set an example for new workers with regards to work practice and life in England.
Most of the work will be picking fruit by hand in covered tunnels, which provide protection from wind and weather. Once the fruit is picked it is checked for quality on the field and then transported to our pack house and put into our big fridge within 2 hours of being picked. This ensures our high-quality standards are maintained.
The work is very hard and involves much bending, twisting and lifting so you will need to have good physical fitness.
You will work in a team of up to 50 people. In addition to picking fruit, there are other tasks such as tunnel construction, irrigation installation, maintenance, husbandry and general production work that has to be undertaken throughout the year.
Hours of Work
We normally work a five or six-day week for no more than 8 hours per day. The hours you will work each day is determined by crop, weather and customer demand. Your harvest manager decides on the length of the working day and no harvesting takes place unless the field assistants are present.
Pay
The majority of the work on our farm is paid on a piecework basis. Piecework means you get paid for every kilogramme of fruit that you pick. The harder you work the more you will be paid. This system means that you could earn more than the UK minimum hourly rate of pay as determined by the UK agricultural wages board.
We recommend that you open a bank account in your own country before leaving so that you can arrange credit transfers direct to that account whilst you are in the UK. When you arrive at the farm you will be issued pre-paid Barclaycard which will enable you to withdraw your money from the bank`s cash machine and pay in the shops. The UK bank system is very safe and secure. Wages are normally paid directly into your bank account once a week or when you leave the farm, or on request.
Location
E.C. Drummond is located at The Homme in Hom Green, Ross-on-Wye in Herefordshire HR9 7TF. We are a 5-minute drive from the bottom of the M50 motorway.
