Seeking an experienced farmer to oversee a small organic farm in the Rogue Valley, approximately 32 acres. The farm has been in continuous Organic production for many years, and we are transitioning to a rebuild and improvement phase. Goals include maintaining the property and systematically improving the soils, over a several-year program. We have done soil testing in the past, and obtained detailed recommendations including year-by-year amendements and cover cropping. We will want to review those recommendations, perform current testing, and apply a value-based approach. We anticipate that the first few years will mostly be improvement, and then we might transition to (some) revenue-generating crops as a means to offset costs. As is often the case with farming, the farm isn't a money maker, and we are wage earners ourselves (not the deep pockets people we sometimes see buying vineyards and the like). But we are willing to invest to maintain and improve the property.
We are flexible in how we approach hours and compensation, depending on the candidate's experience, interests and needs. We don't envision this as a full-time, year-round job; although we might come close to full time with a candidate who has a broad skillset and willingness to use those skills. A fixed annual management fee plus appropriate hourly rate for hands-on work would be a possibility. Or an entirely hourly approach. Our approach would be to make a deal for the first year and everybody can reevaluate in the fall. It needs to work for everybody.
Ideally the candidate would have hands-on operational experience, including farm equipment and water systems, so the job becomes one of planning and execution. If you have your own equipment, then we could work out fair and reasonable compensation for use of that equipment. If you don't have your own equipment, then we would work with you to define the equipment needed, and seek out reasonable used equipment to be owned by that farm. Acquisitions could be over a several year period, to manage our cash outlays. It's a balancing act to get what we need for the farm, and to be able to pay for it.
To start we would lay out a rough 5-year plan, with details for year 1. Each year would involve planning and reevaluation, then working the land and cover cropping. We would also consider a structured composting program, which if done correctly can provide excellent results.
Maintenance and repairs are part of farm life, and we would like to know about any skills and interests you have in that area.
Work ethic, the ability to work with minimal supervision, and integrity are of paramount importance. The successful candidate would be a person who can work from a long list, take tasks to completion without milling around, and then move to the next item; all with minimal supervision. Ideally the person would be "wired" to feel reward from being productive, and not consider the job one of looking busy but actually one of finishing work and moving on to the next thing. If you are held up, to jump to the next item on the list.
If we get to the point where we all think there's a good fit, then we will want references from you and we would expect you to check ours. We will also want to run a background check. We understand that things go wrong in our lives, but we want to have an understanding of who you are now and how you got there. You can ask the same of us.
We have our farm goals but we also value good experiences with the people with whom we work. A positive and can-do attitude are a plus.
Regarding housing, there are RV hookups, although stricktly speaking permanent residency is not allowed. In the past, people's RV's have been used as landing spots during the day, and for short stays. We understand that everybody needs housing, so whatever we do needs to get that worked out.
Please submit your qualifications and interest in any way which works for you. A resume, an email detailing who you are, a letter, or other information. Please tell us what you know how to do and what you like to do. Farming details, equipment operation and maintenance, water system operation and maintenance, etc. If you have tools and/or equipment please let us know about that. If you have earnings expectations please feel free to share them, and we promise to not hold anything against you one way or the other it's information to help us figure out if there's a fit. We will reply to each (non-spam) candidate, at which time we will provide more information about us and the farm including our contact information.
Thank you very much for your time.