He always has on him several pairs of gloves and a pruner. When he does not pick apples, he ensures the proper maintenance of fruit trees. Discover with Jordan Chiron the trade of arboreal agent.
On weekdays, at 8:30 am, Jordan Chiron is in the orchards, whatever the weather conditions. At 29, he is an arboreal agent at the Domaine de Vauléard, in Montreuil-Juigné (Maine-et-Loire).
He participates in the collection of some 90 tons of apples picked per hectare in good years. At the end of August, he began with the HoneyCrunch, a variety produced exclusively in Anjou and must be picked up in three weeks to not lose in conservation.
"I touch a little bit of everything here"
At the beginning of the week, he tackled the Joburn, a late variety that stays until February. "Once picked, the fruit does not ripen anymore. We have to pick it up when it has the right size and the right color, "he says, holding out a smooth, red apple. If he now has the eye, he has sometimes released his measuring device to verify that the fruit meets the 60 millimeters in diameter regulatory.
Hired on permanent contracts in August, he has today diversified his missions by putting on the caps of team leader and tractor driver, from late August to early November. Beside picking, he supervises the seasonal workers to whom he transmits the instructions given by the head of culture each morning. "We work with motorized platforms that can go up to 3.50 meters, and are useful for picking up fruit," he says. On these, he takes care of loading the empty paloxes, these wooden crates which can hold 350 kilos of apples, then to handle those which are filled. "I also control the picking, to remove stung fruits, rotten or misshapen, intended for industrial processing," he continues.
If Jordan is a lover of nature, he has not always practiced in agriculture. "I very soon turned to a metal locksmith CAP, which I completed with a BEP and a baccalaureate pro. I worked in this sector in the interim, before turning to masonry in Paris. On returning to Anjou, a few steps from the orchards, he landed a seasonal job, before being hired year-round.
In the coming weeks, he will roll the anti-hail nets, which protect the fruit trees in the spring, pick up leaves and apples left on the ground, restructure the trees, ensure the work of size, mechanical and manual, in order to prepare the next season . "I touch a little bit of everything here. It's very interesting to follow a tree drive from A to Z. "
How to become an arboreal agent?
After the 3rd year, you can prepare in two years a CAP agricultural trades of agriculture specialty crop production: arboriculture, horticulture. The training brings the first skills in arboricultural techniques: planting techniques, tree pruning, harvesting, packaging ...
Prepared in three years directly after the 3rd or after a CAP, the vocational baccalaureate horticultural productions brings in addition skills in team animation, organization of work on a building site, realization of technical choices, evaluation of production costs ... The diploma allows access to the profession but also has the advantage of evolving more easily thereafter towards team management functions.
After the baccalaureate, you can also prepare a BTSA horticultural production to become a farm manager or farmer in an arboriculture operation. The training allows you to acquire skills in production management, management of a company, management of human resources ... Knowledge in biology, agronomy or economics is particularly useful for students to make relevant production choices.
Cost of studies : free in public high school, from € 300 to € 1,300 per year in private high school; paid in apprenticeship.
With the collaboration of Onisep