Sustainable veggie farming internship or apprenticeship at Working Hands Farm with Rogue Farm Corps

Last Updated On: enero 26th, 2022 at 10:12AM MST

Contact information

Farm Address:
Rogue Farm Corps, Portland Area Chapter
Hillsboro, Oregon , 97123

Primary Contact: Rogue Farm Corps
Primary Phone:
    Type: Cell
    Number: 541-588-3550
    Email: training@roguefarmcorps.org

Website: www.roguefarmcorps.org

Internship information

General Farm Description: Working Hands Farm is located in Hillsboro, 15 miles from SW Portland. Our home property is 40 acres and we lease 80 acres on our neighboring property to the north for a total of 120 acres. Of that acreage about half is a riparian area that we are working to rewild and establish native Tualatin valley savanna. The farm is relatively flat, bordered by the Tualatin River and a perennial creek. Working Hands Farm was established in 2010 by Jess and Brian Powers. We are proud to serve 200+ households year round through our CSA programs. We cultivate 10-15 acres each season with the rest of our acreage in cover crops and pasture. We exclusively use organic practices although we are not organically certified. One of our goals is passing on the love and passion we have of growing food for our community and continuing to operate a farm that is not only financially sustainable but physically and ecologically sustainable as well. We limit our CSA every year with the goal of accomplishing two things: conserving, protecting & improving our soils & providing our clientele with the best possible experience. We exclusively sell our produce through a CSA program and harvest veggies year round to meet the needs of our community. We grow both fruits and veggies through the Spring and Summer and Winter months. Our Spring, Summer and Fall CSA Program runs May - November for 28 weeks and our Winter CSA Program runs December - April for a total of 18 weeks. With CSA distribution happening two days a week on the farm.

CRAFT Member Farm? No

Internship Starts: 3/15/22
Internship Ends: 11/18/22
Number of Internship Available: 1-2 positions, part or full time intern, and full time apprentice
Application Deadline: Priority consideration 1/27/22, applications open until positions are filled
Minimum Length of Stay: 6-8 months

Internship Details:

Working Hands Farm is a host farm in the Rogue Farm Corps Internship and Apprenticeship Programs.

RFC’s Internship Program provides connections to existing farm operations for aspiring farmers who want to gain significant farming or ranching production experience and don’t have a lot of previous exposure. The Internship Program is an entry/intermediate-level, immersive program that combines hands-on training with skills-based education. No experience is required to apply, however some host farms do prefer applicants have some previous outdoor or physical work experience.

RFC Internship programs are based in two distinct geographic chapter locations in Oregon: Rogue Valley and Portland Metro.

Weekly hours and start/end dates vary by host farm (please see host farm descriptions for details). In addition to the on-farm training experience, participants engage in a series of farm tours, classes, and discussions (~3-5 events / month) focused on a broad array of sustainable agriculture and food system topics organized by Rogue Farm Corps (see a sample Internship Program events schedule here). Internship Program participants are exposed to farm knowledge, skills, and networks, through their experience with their host farm and Rogue Farm Corps.

Full season positions generally run spring through fall. Short season Internships run for 8-15 weeks and are perfect for students or others who want to dip their toe in into farming and attend the concurrent Internship classes, farm tours, and discussion events.

RFC’s Apprenticeship Program is an on-farm learning experience for those who have at least one full season (5+ months and at least 600 hours) of farm or ranch experience (or equivalent). The Apprenticeship combines hands-on training and skills-based education for those ready to dive into the art and business of sustainable agriculture. This program helps people who want to continue in agriculture to learn the skills needed to manage and run a diversified farming operation, and deepen their understanding of ecological and sustainable agricultural practices.

Similar to the Internship Program, apprentices train at one of RFC’s partner Host Farms. Participants also engage in a series of educational weekend intensives in locations around the state which include farm tours, networking, and camping. They also participate in a handful of online classes and discussions to round out the on-farm experience. The Apprenticeship, like the Internship, examines the economic, ecological and social sustainability of farm practices, and continues to build on these themes.

RFC Apprenticeship host farm sites can be located up to 3 hours driving distance from an active chapter location (Portland Metro and Rogue Valley).

APPLICATIONS / SCHOLARSHIPS
Applications are accepted on our website on a rolling basis until positions are filled, but early applications are considered first. Apply by January 27th, 2022 for priority consideration. RFC has limited tuition scholarships available for BIPOC, LGBTQIA+, veteran, and low-income applicants.

RFC has developed COVID-19 safety protocols according to state and federal guidance and will adjust them as needed to protect the health and safety of our participants, staff, host farmers, and communities. In-person educational events are held outside with social distancing in place.

TYPES OF AGRICULTURE
Rogue Farm Corps partners with dedicated mentor host farms and ranches that focus on sustainable, regenerative, ecological, and/or organic approaches in their production methods. Host farm enterprises vary by farm and include animal (meat, dairy, eggs, etc) and plant-based production (vegetables, herbs, fruit, seeds, etc). Host farms are commercial, small-to-mid scale operations marketing to their local and regional community via a range of sales channels including farmers market, CSA, wholesale, and more. RFC participants are exposed to various farm production and marketing systems via RFC’s farm tour events.

COMMITMENT TO EQUITY AND INCLUSION
Rogue Farm Corps is committed to an ongoing learning process around privilege, power, inequality and systems of oppression. RFC has a goal of making our programs welcoming to, inclusive of, and accessible to communities who are under-represented as farm operators in Oregon, including women, Black, Indigenous and people of color (BIPOC), LGBTQIA+ individuals, low-income individuals and immigrants. Our desire to create a more equitable food system is reflected in RFC’s programs and collaborations.

Learn more and apply: http://roguefarmcorps.org/training

Educational Opportunities: Our farm is a nice blend of medium scale production based tractor work and small scale production in a variety of high tunnels and caterpillar tunnels. We have invested a lot in mechanization for long term success and to standardize all the things we do on the farm. We mechanically cultivate and transplant. There’s light hand work/hoeing to be done with weeding in some longer term crops. We mechanically dig potatoes and sweet potatoes. All other crops are harvested by hand. We have an electric gator + trailer to use for harvest, a cultivating tractor and a couple other tractors for a variety of tasks. We have a AZS Rinse washer/conveyor for washing produce and sanitizing bins as well as a AZS Barrel Washer. For 5 years alongside vegetable production, we rotated cows, pigs, turkeys and chickens and had established 20 acres of pasture. We also kept bees. We switched up the model to focus on 100% veggie production in 2018 and we’d be happy to discuss our experiences with that as well. he focus will be on things sustainable farming from harvest and handling, wash/pack (both by hand and through mechanical means), mechanical transplanting, hand transplanting, tractor cultivation, hand cultivation, trellising tomatoes and peppers, greenhouse management, seed starting, year-round veggie production methods, general maintenance, irrigation practices both drip and overhead, etc. We love talking business so there will be plenty of dreaming as well as hard work. More detailed position descriptions are available on the website at: https://www.roguefarmcorps.org/host-farms/workinghands

Skills Desired: Farm work requires heavy lifting (must be able to lift 50lbs, repeatedly), kneeling, squatting, repetitive grasping, standing and bending for long periods of time. Those with past injuries should strongly consider this before applying. Must be physically capable of performing all farm tasks in all all types of weather (hot, cold, rain, etc). Must be able to receive constructive criticism and feedback Have a valid drivers license and reliable transportation to and from the farm Must be able to work well with others as well as to work well independently. Must be able to interact with CSA members in a polite and professional manner. Must be curious and ask a lot of questions! The intern/apprentice would need to bring their own lunch, water bottle and work boots. Previous experience is not mandatory but applicants must be curious and ready to learn quickly! A pre-placement visit is Mandatory.

Meals: A Weekly Share or Bi-Weekly Share of produce per week of training (depending on their household’s needs)

Stipend: For Full Season Part-time and Full Time: Standard Minimum Wage: $12.75/hour For Advanced Apprenticeship: Starts at $14.00 DOE

Housing: Housing is not provided.

Preferred method of Contact: email / website