Agriculture Specialist 1-3

State of Louisiana•Baton Rouge, LA

1d•Onsite

About The Position

This position is located within the office of Animal Health & Food Safety, Poultry & Egg Division, in East Baton Rouge Parish. This position will serve East Baton Rouge and surrounding parishes. The Department of Agriculture and Forestry is looking for dedicated professionals—apply today and make a difference. The Poultry & Egg Programs are responsible for voluntary grading service on poultry, eggs and egg products, resident grading at USDA approved poultry and egg plants, fee grading for poultry and eggs performed by federally licensed state graders; state grading and certification of poultry and eggs for state institutions and parish schools, inspecting retail outlets while enforcing the Louisiana Egg Marketing Act. In addition, the employee will perform Fruit & Vegetable inspections for state institutions as needed. Supervision for this position is received from an Agriculture Specialist Program Manager.

Requirements

Three years of experience in one or a combination of the following: Administrative services, Inspecting or enforcing compliance with agricultural laws, rules, or regulations, Inspection and testing of weighing and measuring devices OR a bachelor’s degree in forestry, an agricultural, biological, chemical, environmental, health, or physical science, or an information technology, mathematics, or business field.
Moderate light lifting, 30 pounds with occasional lifting of up to 50 pounds
Reaching above shoulders
Climbing stairs
Frequently reaching above shoulder height
Occasional bending or kneeling
Drive a vehicle to perform inspections
Lifting items such as tools, computer, scanner, luggage or other items used to travel and perform duties/attend class throughout the state
Climbing on and off transport and tractor

Nice To Haves

Following Policies and Procedures: The ability to follow, reinforce, adapt, or develop policies and procedures to maintain compliance with federal and state legal requirements, State Civil Service rules, and organizational policies.
Learning Actively: The ability to pursue learning, seek feedback, and integrate new knowledge to improve personal and professional performance.
Making Accurate Judgments: The ability to assess options, weigh risks, and make sound decisions using available information and logical reasoning.
Displaying Professionalism: The ability to uphold workplace standards through consistent conduct, responsible communication, and consideration for others.
Thinking Critically: The ability to analyze information objectively, identify connections across sources, and form logical, well-supported conclusions.

Responsibilities

Performs regulatory inspections to ensure proper grade of egg and egg products in their assigned work area as required by the Louisiana Egg Marketing Act.
Obtains and maintains a USDA license and performs grading of eggs, poultry and poultry products.
Ensures that egg and egg products have the proper grade assigned by checking retail stores, distribution warehouses, or any other facility that handles egg and egg products.
Takes appropriate enforcement actions to ensure regulatory non-compliances are corrected.
Coordinate and ensure that required field work inspections are completed in a timely and efficient manner.
Inspects and grades eggs, poultry or poultry products in a plant environment as a relief grader to ensure that all USDA regulations are followed and the product is in compliance.
Ensures that all Federal and State rules and regulations governing eggs, poultry & poultry products are followed.
Issues USDA certificates as needed, keeps USDA files up to date as required and works with appropriate USDA supervision as required by Federal/State cooperative agreement.
Responsible for grading and certification of eggs or poultry for state institutions and parish schools.
Ensures that poultry and egg contracts adhere to the specifications requested by state institutions or applicants.
Assist with coordination of Emergency Programs including planning, exercising, responding and recovery from all hazards affecting agriculture and the citizens of Louisiana as a member of LDAF Incident Management Team as assigned by Incident Commander.
Performs other duties as may be assigned.