Job description

Farm apprentices are involved in all farm activities, including animal management, husbandry, butchering, fencing, pasture management, garden management, agri-tourism and vacation cottages. They work with us in the field and on the farm, five full days a week.Position includes housing and $400  a month stipend.  Increases $25 each month.

Living Accommodations:
We provide housing for our farm help in an apartment constructed in the top floor of our barn complete with a full kitchen, outdoor bathroom and a curtained bedroom for each person.

Food provided. Farm help is responsible for providing all of their own meals with access to large kitchen garden, stone-ground corn, meat seconds, and eggs.

Educational Opportunities:  Expect to learn through working.  We also share information about the planning we do to make our farm efficient and profitable, including poultry and feed calculations, equipment lists, marketing tips and more.Types of work you will learn and be expected to do:

Sheep:  Feeding, maintaining general health, barn cleaning, husbandry, hoof trimming, parasite management, weaning.
Poultry:  Feeding & watering, maintaining general health, gathering, washing and packing eggs, on farm processing and packaging
Rabbits:  Feeding & watering, maintaining general health, breeding, processing and packaging, barn cleaning
Pasture Management:  Rotational grazing, manure spreading , controlling invasive plants, seeding, soil health
General Farm Maintenance:  weed trimming, fence building and maintenance, gardening & weeding, mowing
Other:  Tailgate market sales, wholesale deliveries, vacation rental preparation and cleaning, interacting with visitors on the farm, how to operate a tractor
Corn:  Harvesting, shucking, shelling, grinding, and packagingKitchen Gardening:  Planting, weeding, harvesting, storage

Skills Desired
We ask that all applicants be interested in farming, have the ability to work consistently on repetitive tasks, be in good physical and mental shape, enjoy physical labor and have a positive attitude.  We hope that all farm help will be able to have fun and stay focused while working hard.  Successful applicants will have former farming experience and the ability to take directions and show initiative.

Our work week
Farm work is honest hard work with tasks often being long and tedious.  Our normal work day begins at 7AM and ends around 5:30PM.  Occasionally we need to work a little longer to complete a task for the day but we typically work 50 hours per week.Plans for feedback
We have a weekly meeting to discuss planning, performance, and upcoming farm changes.Our Production
The majority of our production is with animals on about 20 acres of pasture.  We raise various types of poultry and all are processed on the farm with the exception of the egg laying hens. We have high expectations for keeping our animals healthy and happy, the farm and cottages presentable, taking time to tour cottage visitors, and have the best products available for our customers.

What you Learn
Our apprenticeship will give you first-hand knowledge of what it takes to run your own farm.  Work is hard with little monetary rewards, but a great satisfaction from working with animals and the earth.You will gain experience with animal production, feeding, cleaning, processing, using farm equipment such as tractors and their implements, and tending to all livestock (poultry, sheep, pigs, rabbits, and cows).

Compensation

this position is: stipend / non-monetary compensation

Application instructions

Deadline

no deadline