Join ACORN and Rural Vermont on Sunday, November 3, from 9:30 am - 3 pm* at Tup’s Crossing Farm, 66 Young Rd, Orwell, VT, for a pasture reclamation work brigade!
We will be trimming back and wrapping shade trees in an 8-acre parcel to increase grazing opportunities for a herd of dairy goats. No previous skills are necessary, but experienced chainsaw users are very welcome to bring their saws (please contact [email protected] about this).
Registration for this event has closed. We look forward to gathering with you at a future event.
Democracy doesn't only happen at the polls! To win the changes we need for a thriving future, it will take all of us building meaningful relationships and putting our imaginations to work at a local level.
Join us at an upcoming NOFA-VT member meeting on Tuesday, November 12th from 5:30 to 7:30 at Minifactory in Bristol!
If you’re excited about working with the next generation of farmers, and being outside working on a variety of tasks – this might be the job for you! You’ll help maintain and improve farm infrastructure and manage vegetable production. You’ll also ensure that the farm provides meaningful service and learning opportunities for youth, young adults, staff and volunteers of all backgrounds. A strong candidate will be excited about a blend of behind-the-scenes responsibilities and time in the field supporting crews during the season.
Position Overview
The Farm Production Manager is responsible for the day-to-day operations of an 11-acre organic vegetable and livestock farm. The Farm Production Manager will work closely with two other Farm Production staff to oversee farm systems, manage vegetable production and animal tasks, and ensure that the farm provides meaningful service and learning opportunities for youth, young adults, staff and volunteers of all backgrounds. The majority of youth and young adults who come to work on the farm have little to no farming experience. The Production Manager provides essential mentorship and in-field instruction for everyone on the farm, guiding them in daily production tasks. The Farm Production Manager also helps maintain and improve farm infrastructure, including equipment, hoop houses, coolers, and barns.
Essential Functions:
The core responsibilities listed below are all in collaboration with the Farm Production Team. Leadership in each of these areas will be determined as a team based on interest, skills and experience.
Farm Production
Manage all aspects of vegetable production including soil management, field preparation, propagation, planting, pest and disease management, weed management, harvesting, and post-harvest activities
Support all aspects of livestock production on the farm including brooder management, poultry pasture systems, chicken processing, and daily chores
Maintain and model safe use of farm infrastructure including fencing, irrigation, hoop houses, tractors, mowers, power tools, barns, coolers, and processing equipment
Collaborate on purchasing and maintaining tools, supplies, seeds, feed, and equipment
Maintain regular and thorough records of production, harvest, and sales
Draft and refine Standard Operating Procedures (SOPs) for various aspects of production
Identify and explore generating new revenue for the farm
Identify and explore opportunities for expanding production throughout the season, including winter growing
Program Support
Design and lead farm production training sessions for Corps Members
Support programming on the farm by leading volunteer groups and working with crews in the field
Train and model safety protocols for different tasks on the farm, including tractor and mower trainings and tool maintenance
Work with the Farm Production Team to develop daily work plans for crews and volunteers
Supervise seasonal Leaders with goal setting, regular check-ins and work-planning.
Mentor Crew Members and Leaders, instructing them in specific farm tasks and engaging them in learning about all aspects of the farm
Participate in rotating chore schedule (occasional after hours and weekends)
Who We are Looking For
The following list of skills and experience is for an ideal candidate. If you’re excited about this role but your experience aligns with most but not all of what is listed below, we encourage you to still consider applying!
A minimum three seasons of experience on a production-oriented organic mixed-vegetable farm
Experience leading farm system planning, crop planning and production, marketing and sales, and tractor and/or farm equipment operation
Experience maintaining a safe farm working environment, including an understanding of food safety protocols and the safe use and maintenance of mechanical equipment such as tractors
Strong communication skills, including speaking, listening, and writing
Experience working in teams with shared leadership, decision-making, and problem solving
Experience or an enthusiasm for teaching and working with diverse teams of young people including staff, Corps Members, students and volunteers
Demonstrated commitment to creating and maintaining working and learning environments that are welcoming and inclusive.
Flexible, motivated, responsible and able to handle multiple, often competing, priorities
Willing to both take direction and work independently
Available to work occasional nights and weekends, attend program events as needed.
Our Workplace
This position is based out of the Vermont Youth Conservation Corps campus in Richmond, VT. Our open office offers staff opportunities to interact and collaborate. Staff members can balance working remotely and on-campus in collaboration with their team schedule, tasks and all-staff gatherings. Successful staff are able maintain focus and productivity, balance personal initiative and independence, and plug into our team in ways that help us do our best work as an organization.
Compensation & Benefits:
Position Status: Full-time, Year-Round, Exempt
Starting salary for this position is $45,000, commensurate with experience. Exempt from overtime.
Medical and dental insurance; Health Savings Account (HSA) with matching contribution; disability and group life insurance (once eligibility criteria are met)
Simple IRA with matching contribution (once eligibility criteria are met)
Annual paid time off (PTO), paid sick time
One-week paid closure in November for all staff (in addition to PTO)
Ongoing professional development
Annual gift card to the VYCC farmstand (organic produce and eggs)
How to Apply
Please complete our VYCC General Application (http://bit.ly/VYCCapp), to which you’ll upload a cover letter, resume, and contact information for three professional references. Questions regarding this position can be directed to Christine Hadekel at [email protected]. No calls, please. Position is open until filled.
Looking for affordable housing? Consider one of these homesharing opportunities:
Grand Isle: Artistic woman in her 60s who enjoys work on stained glass, the outdoors, British dramas is offering reduced rent of $400/month, all included, in exchange for lending a hand in the house and yard. A horse-enthusiast willing to ride her horse to exercise him on occasion would be welcome! Shared bath. Must be cat-friendly.
Hinesburg: Share home with lovely 80+ year old gentleman on 140 acres, close to Hinesburg village. Small studio apartment attached to main house appropriate for one person who is willing to provide a kind presence and help with light housekeeping, shared meals, occasional transportation and help with 2 friendly dogs. Car with all-wheel drive necessary. $500/month includes utilities.
802-863-5625 or HomeShareVermont.org to learn more and for application. Interview, references, background checks required. EHO
October 24, 2024
FARM MANAGER POSITION OPENING
Craigardan, a growing arts and agriculture nonprofit located in Elizabethtown, NY, seeks a dynamic new farm + property manager to develop, grow, and maintain the organization’s small-scale diversified mountain farm. Located on 320 acres of field and forest adjacent to the Adirondack Park’s Hurricane Mountain Wilderness area, the farm is non-traditional and extremely rural. We are looking for someone with a diverse skillset, a positive and creative mindset, and a desire to help imagine and grow the community farm.
We grow vegetables, fruits, and flowers and produce eggs, wool, and meat to feed participants in our residency program, to fill the kitchen pantry for our culinary artists-in-residence, to sell in the farm store, and to give away to local families in need through our community farm programs and Free Food Fridge. This is a year-round, full-time position that allows for creative problem-solving, innovation, and exploration in a supportive, inclusive environment. This position provides a rich and rewarding farming career while maintaining a positive work-life balance. The Adirondack region is known for its work hard / play hard ethos, and Craigardan is located at the center of this incredible playground for outdoor enthusiasts.
The farm and our farmers are the heart and soul of this place-based organization. Learn more about our people and programs at www.craigardan.org.
WHAT WE DO
Craigardan is a nonprofit arts organization and educational working farm that leverages collective creativity for social good. We bring people together for place-based and interdisciplinary learning, providing creative residencies, courses, and events that span diverse artistic and knowledge disciplines in order to foster curiosity, inquiry, and collaboration.
Craigardan supports ceramic, literary, visual, and performance artists, as well as farmers, chefs, activists, scholars, and researchers from the Adirondack region and around the world. We cultivate a dynamic that amplifies each individual’s work and activates collective creativity within the community. We believe that fostering the interaction between artists and the local public is as important as providing sheltered time to artists to further their creative practices.
As an organization deeply rooted in this region’s unique history, Craigardan exists at the nexus of processes (re)making this region’s present and future: environmental conservation, the resurgence of small farms, rural economic revitalization, and cultural/social activism.
By developing interdependent connections within our local Adirondack community, we nurture a deep sense of place through people, culture, food, stories, and the exchange of ideas and skills. With a built-in focus on equitable exchange across a wide range of disciplines, Craigardan offers an experience that ties the creative process to larger contexts. This experience leads to new questions and new initiatives; and it generates positive social change through collective creativity.
MISSION + VISION
Craigardan is a 501(c)3 nonprofit organization with a mission to encourage the human imagination to interpret the world with philosophical, ecological, and artistic perspective.
We envision an Adirondack region defined by its makers who are committed to the development of sustainable systems that integrate the needs of human communities with the integrity of the natural world.
THE POSITION
As an integral member of Craigardan’s team, the farm manager must work closely with staff to provide leadership and delivery in all areas of the farm and property. With the direction and collaboration of the Executive Director, the farm manager will:
WHAT YOU DO
You have acquired the necessary skills and knowledge and you have a strong desire to continue learning:
You are hardworking, capable, curious, and positive; and you are comfortable in your ability to:
ELIGIBILITY
Required Education and Experience:
Applicants must also have a strong affinity for Craigardan’s mission and work.
COMPENSATION
Salaried, full-time, 40-50 hours per week, year-round position starting as early as March 1, 2024. This position provides training and offers room for growth for the right candidate.
Starting salary $45,000-$55,000 commensurate with experience.
The employment package includes:
This position requires working occasional nights, weekends, and some holidays. This job description covers key responsibilities but does not outline all duties. We are searching for a long-term employee to grow with Craigardan and shape the farm. All applicants must be willing to commit to at least two years in the position, but hopefully many more.
Craigardan is an equal opportunity employer. We highly encourage applications from women, farmers of color, and LGBTQIA+ farmers.
APPLY
Send a cover letter, resume, and three references by email to Michele Drozd, executive director, at [email protected]. Deadline to apply is January 15, 2025
Farmers are used to solving problems, and Vermonters are good at stepping up to help in hard times. But as climate emergencies continue, farms need reliable and sustainable state-based support to remain resilient. This session, our legislators can take an important step toward agricultural resilience by creating a climate impact recovery fund for farms. Land-based work like farming will be deeply impacted by a changing climate, and those impacts will have a ripple effect on food security for all Vermonters.
Farmers are used to solving problems, and Vermonters are good at stepping up to help in hard times. But as climate emergencies continue, farms need reliable and sustainable state-based support to remain resilient. This session, our legislators can take an important step toward agricultural resilience by creating a climate impact recovery fund for farms. Land-based work like farming will be deeply impacted by a changing climate, and those impacts will have a ripple effect on food security for all Vermonters.
Carversville Farm Foundation
Position: Seasonal Livestock Farmer
Reports to: Livestock Manager
Compensation: $19 per hour
Benefits: Housing available, PTO
Schedule: March 17 - November 26, 5 days per week, 40 - 50 hours per week
Carversville Farm Foundation (CFF) is a non-profit that runs a philanthropic, diversified, regenerative, certified organic farm. We grow produce, eggs and meat to the highest standards and donate 100% of our harvests to Philadelphia-area soup kitchens, year-round. Want to join a talented, committed crew in beautiful Bucks County, PA and improve your farming skills while raising chef-quality harvests to give away to communities in need ? Join us!
About the position:
Our livestock team cares for grass fed beef cattle and pastured poultry (laying hens, turkeys, broiler chickens). Duties include collecting eggs, moving fences for rotational grazing, feeding and watering animals + weekly poultry harvest in high season.
Requirements
Responsibilities
Working with our team to execute daily tasks including:
Skills
We are looking for people committed to our mission and procedures with these abilities:
This job description covers key responsibilities but does not capture all job duties. We work as a team and there are times we need all hands on deck to accomplish a task. Flexibility is key to joining our dynamic team.
Carversville Farm Foundation is an Equal Opportunity Employer.
Date: Saturday, October 26, 2024
Time: 4:00–5:00 p.m.
Cost: Free
Join us for an insightful tour and presentation focused on advancing sustainable agriculture through no-till methods for organic strawberry production. This event will feature highlights from the first year of our 3-year Specialty Crop Block Grant, focused on developing innovative research strategies and designs to test target variables that enhance our no-till systems.
