Located in Townshend, Vermont, Big Picture Farm L3C is a small goat dairy and farmstead confectionery. To learn more about our farm, goats and products, please visit our website at http://www.bigpicturefarm.com/.
This spring we’re looking to fill one full-time position that would combine farming and confectionery duties. The position would begin as early as April and run through at least January 2013 and potentially longer. The position would require 32-40 hours per week. Salary commensurate with experience. No housing provided.
POSITION DESCRIPTION
“Farm” duties (morning and afternoon, 16-20 hours per week) will include: milking 12 does twice a day (at 6am and 4pm), as well as feeding out hay, minerals and grain, refilling and ensuring there’s clean water for all the animals, distributing lots of love, mucking out the barn, rotating (taking down and resurrecting) the goats’ pastures every day (often through the woods). The does’ dozen or so kids browse independently from their moms and will also require their own set of chores: daily fence-work, feeding, watering, mucking, loving, etc. In summary, the goatherd position will require punctuality, a near-obsessive attention to detail (especially when it comes to milking), a good deal of heavy lifting and sheer grunt work, a big heart, thick skin, a great deal of patience, and a spirit that can somehow be renewed and restored in the face of mundane repetition.
“Farmery” duties (middle of the day, 16-20 hours per week) will include: learning to cook, cut, wrap, package, and ship caramel for our wholesale and online orders. You will develop a fine palette for caramel and its subtleties and maintain a scrupulous attention to detail each step of the value-adding way. Simultaneously you will glean the ins and outs of running a value-added business; including marketing, sales and promotion. We have a fun, vibrant, interesting, and dedicated crew – we are looking for someone who has a great sense of humor, is hard working, fast-paced, able to withstand repetition (like hand-wrapping caramels for a couple of hours on end), can transform farm hygiene into neat and tidy cleanliness, and can ultimately work without supervision.
THE DEAL
We will pay you a fair wage (commensurate with experience)—and, in turn, expect you to fill a critical role in the everyday life and operation of our farm. Though you will no doubt gain a great deal of experience and knowledge in the following areas—goat husbandry, milking, rotational grazing, value-added production of both confections and small batch cheeses, gardening, the ins and out of running a small business (sales, advertising, marketing, etc)—this position is not, first and foremost, an educational opportunity (aka, an "internship"). We’ll expect this person to take care of the farm when we’re away, work weekends, find his/her own lodging, show up on time, and perform all their duties fluently – that is, this person will contribute ENORMOUSLY to the life of the farm and the everyday operation of our business. We will therefore value you highly and compensate you accordingly.
Here are some qualities we're looking for: someone who has wonderful references, is aware of what farming is and what it requires of the body, has a terrific work ethic, a general flexibility and openness to “farm logic” and “small business logic” (read: “ever-evolving often-chaotic frequently-improvisational but ultimately very exciting times”), a capacious sense of humor, a genuine love of animals and rural living, is handy with or at least comfortable around heavy machinery (i.e. chainsaws and tractors), has a reliable means of transportation, doesn’t mind commuting to/from the farm/farmery, is patient and thoughtful and respectful and honest and tough.as.nails.If you are this person, we—the farm, goats, dogs, birds, caramels—would really really really love to meet you!Please send a cover letter, resume, list of references, availability, and any questions you might have to Lucas and Louisa at [email protected].