Cricket Creek Farm

Last Updated On: abril 25th, 2022 at 04:02PM MST

Contact information

Farm Address:
1255 Oblong Rd.
Williamstown, Massachusetts, 01267

Primary Contact: Topher Sabot
Secondary Contact: Anna Halpin-Healy

Primary Phone:
    Type: Office
    Number: 413 458-5888
    Email: info@cricketcreekfarm.com

Website: https://www.cricketcreekfarm.com

Internship information

General Farm Description: Cricket Creek Farm is a small grass-based dairy in Western Massachusetts. We make seven award-winning cheeses from the milk of our herd of Brown Swiss, Jersey, and Milking Devon-cross cows. We bottle raw milk which we sell from our small self-serve farm store, along with our own grass-fed beef and whey-fed pork, our cheeses and a variety of other local and regional products.

CRAFT Member Farm? Yes

Internship Starts: Rolling
Internship Ends: Rolling
Number of Internship Available: 2
Application Deadline: Rolling
Minimum Length of Stay: 12 months

Internship Details:

Cricket Creek Farm offers both a cheesemaking and a farming internship!

Creamery Apprenticeship

Those interested in the creamery apprenticeship must be comfortable learning the technical aspects of cheese making, including some chemistry. Applicants should be very meticulous and detail oriented. Cleanliness is key. Work includes making cheese, affinage, and creamery maintenance. Work in the creamery is fun and rewarding and also requires long hours on your feet washing dishes and caring for the aging cheese.

Farm Apprenticeship

Apprentices will participate in all aspects of a small dairy farm, including milking cows, calf-rearing, hay making, and pig husbandry. Educational opportunities include rotational grazing, pasture management, bovine health and breeding, as well as the challenges of running a small dairy farm. Morning milking is at 6am and evening milking is at 5PM – apprentices should expect to milk some mornings and some evenings every week.

All apprentices must have good people skills and enjoy interacting with the public. We’re looking for apprentices who are excited about taking on significant responsibility. All apprentices will be attending weekly farmers markets and occasionally making deliveries and helping with general farm maintenance. All apprentices work 5-6 days per week. We are looking for self-motivated people who are interested in learning through hard work.

CRAFT (Collaborative Regional Alliance for Farmer Training): Cricket Creek Farm participates in the CRAFT program. This means that our apprentices will have the opportunity to visit many other small farms during their time here and connect with the apprentice community in this region. We are thrilled to be part of this group and offer this exciting opportunity to apprentices. To find out more about the CRAFT program, check out the CRAFT website.

Educational Opportunities: We are members of our regional CRAFT program. The goal of our apprenticeship program is to provide the skills necessary to pursue a career in either dairy farming or cheesemaking. For more information read the Internship Description above.

Skills Desired: Skills specific to farming or cheesemaking is welcome, but we do accept highly motivated apprentices with no relevant experience.

Meals: No.

Stipend: Yes.

Housing: Yes.

Preferred method of Contact: email