Against the Grain-Farm Manager
Last Updated On: September 24th, 2024 at 04:48PM MST
Contact information
Farm Address:619 Camp Joy Rd
Zionville, North Carolina, 28698
Primary Contact: Holly Whitesids
Secondary Contact: Andrew Bryant
Primary Phone:
Type: Cell
Number: 8284064439
Email: atgfarm@gmail.com
Secondary Phone
Type: -----
Number: 8287739383
Email: afb500@gmail.com
Email: afb500@gmail.com
Website: https://www.atgfarm@gmail.com
Internship information
General Farm Description: Against the Grain is a small-scale diversified, certified Organic farm located 15 minutes from downtown Boone in Zionville, NC. The farm is situated on 35-acres and raises a broad spectrum of Biodynamic and Organic vegetables on a little under 2 acres, as well as Animal Welfare Approved, GMO-free, grass-fed beef. We focus on four main market channels, including a weekly farmer's market, a 20 week/115-member vegetable CSA, approx. 15 area restaurants, and two local food hubs. The 2024 season is our thirteenth year in crop production and eleventh year in animal production at our current farm place. We are continuing to refine our crop rotation, cover crop management, harvesting and composting techniques. Our focus at Against the Grain is to nurture the soil in order to grow high quality, nutritious food for our local community. Our vegetables are certified Organic by One Cert, using the NOP standards and also by the Real Organic Project. Approximately three quarters of our beds are transplanted every season, and the remaining beds are direct seeded. We plant a diversity of crops and successions in order to have product for our year-round markets. We have 4 field blocks, 2 heated 30x72ft high tunnels and 5 unheated 16x125ft caterpillar tunnels. Most of our field beds are planted 2 to 3 times in a season and our tunnel beds are planted 3 to 4 times. Our production system involves reduced tillage methods, so we use a flail mower, rotary harrow and silage tarps to prepare our beds. We control weeds predominantly with hand tools, in addition to the use of a Farmall Super-A cultivating tractor. We choose to build the soil by planting cover crops, spreading compost and mulching with straw. We also add organically approved single source inputs (alfalfa meal, rock phosphate and lime). True to Biodynamic methods, we view our farm as an organism; therefore, our focus is on building and feeding the microbial life of the soil, generating fertility on the farm and preserving sensitive ecological aspects of this land. We apply all of the Biodynamic preparations each season, and typically make a few of the preparations on farm. In order to remain profitable as a small farm it is a must to work quickly and efficiently. We believe that sustainability involves more than just methods of production. Financial sustainability is essential to the success of small farms. We are committed to keeping thorough production records and expect our crew members to participate. We are not a homestead or hobby farm, and therefore must keep the bottom line in mind. However, we also believe in sustainability of agricultural communities, and fully support the artistic, cultural, and social aspects of producing nourishing food.CRAFT Member Farm? Yes
Internship Starts: August/September
Internship Ends: until
Number of Internship Available: 1
Application Deadline: until filled
Minimum Length of Stay: 1 season
Internship Details:
Overview of the farm manager’s role:
- keep a birds eye view, anticipate and address issues and bottlenecks in all areas of the farm
- ensure necessary tasks are done
- keep the work flow going
- be available to answer questions through out the day
- set everyone up for success
- keep up a fun, respectful and energized work ethic for the whole team
- provide constant feedback, encourage people and guide them in the right direction when needed
Human resources support:
- -keep crew calendar updated, including chore rotation, time off and community events
- -edit/adjust time cards as needed when crew forgets to clock in and out
- -keep a pulse on crew morale and alert Andy and Holly when social issues arise and need to be addressed -manage work-flow to mitigate friction between crew members or to accommodate people’s individual needs
Training and Management:
- -fill out weekend chore checklist and train the weekend chore person
- -coordinate spraying schedule and train crew who spray hot season crops weekly May-Aug.
- -train people when necessary in all areas of the farm (harvesting, production, livestock, equipment, irrigation, heating systems)
- -decide which crew member gets paired with which tasks ensuring that projects have the appropriate number of people to complete the task efficiently and before end of day
- -quickly move people to the next project to avoid wasted time
Pack Shed/Harvest assistant:
- keep an eye on weather/crew size/large harvest days in order to meet all harvest deadlines
- step in as Packshed manager when packshed lead is out or on vacation
- on Tuesdays dismiss people for lunch so that the CSA packline begins on time and ends on time
- coordinate with Andy for market harvest and help fill out pack sheet
- fill out harvest estimate sheet on Thursdays for market channels the following week
- communicate with Holly and Andy for CSA, Food Hub, Tractor listings and alert of any unforeseen changes (ie: larger or smaller harvests than expected, or mistakes on estimate)
- train crew members for efficient and high quality harvesting
- pair crew members to harvest tasks that they are competent with
Record Keeping:
- -update field maps weekly
- -clear planting boards and keep ds log and transplant log up to date
- -email variety trials email with observations regarding crops
- -facilitate wrap up meeting at end of each day and ensure all necessary data has been recorded
- -keep a keen eye out for easy to miss data points such as onions, garlic, potatoes, etc.
Production Manager:
- -keep production white board up to date with priorities and tasks
- -make edits to production list for whole team communication
- -manage workflow keeping in mind priority of tasks, weather, best order of operations
- -pair appropriate crew members with production tasks
- -decide what beds to flip and what to plant where and when
- – ensure that all amendments and compost are applied properly and that beds are in good condition for planting
- – execute all the direct seeding (in collaboration with Andy)
- – ensure all beds have drip line, misters and sprinklers, row cover as needed
- – ensure all new beds are watered to germinate and establish plants
- – advocate for weeding and put competent teams on weeding projects, especially hitting the first weeding within three weeks of planting/seeding
- -advocate and spearhead thinning when necessary
- -assist with trellising and pruning
- -keep a close eye on planting calendar to plan ahead and stay ahead on bed flipping and planting
Educational Opportunities: We always try to give instructions as we go and try to explain “how” and “why” along the way. We plan to have regular evening discussion/films on topics including soil fertility, Biodynamics, community dynamics and just plain fun. We also have a small farm library, to which apprentices and interns will have full access. We are not specifically a teaching farm, but we will do our best to convey as much of our knowledge as we can reasonably, while we work, and we offer crew members the chance to review our annual financials and crop analysis. There is a CRAFT network, hosted by Blue Ridge Women in Ag, which hosted field days on farms in our area, and we strongly encourage interns to attend.
Skills Desired: At least 5 years of experience working in agriculture in addition to other management experience.
Meals: No, farm crew members are responsible for preparing their own meals but unlimited produce and a meat stipend are provided by the farm.
Stipend: Hourly wage will be based on experience and is negotiable for the farm manager position but starts at $15/hr. We generally work Monday through Friday, 7:30am to 4:30pm (with an hour off for lunch) during the height of the season. We offer a 40 hour paid week off during the months of June or July as well as another week off during the winter for a returning manager. Benefits also include 4 hours of paid sick/personal leave for every 173 hours worked (or approximately 1-month of full-time work). Sick leave can also be used for personal errands and appointments. We have a rotating Sunday chore schedule for all crew who live on the farm. These chores will include opening and closing tunnels, livestock chores and watering seedlings/fresh transplants. This schedule will result in crew members being responsible for weekend chores every third or fourth weekend, depending on how many crew members live on the farm. The time commitment for weekend chores will vary as the chore list varies, but expect a 3-4 hour time commitment. We ask that the crew member responsible for weekend chores to stay on the farm for the day in case any unforeseen weather or other events occur.
Housing: Yes, the housing includes on-the-grid, insulated sleep sheds and a common kitchen for cooking. There are composting toilets and a four-seasons insulated shower with hot water. Crew members also have access to an abundance of vegetables (seasonal and dependent on specific crop yields) and meat. The farm values room and board at $350/month. We also have a camper and tiny house that offer more private living quarters. Both are valued at $450/month.
Preferred method of Contact: email