Grassroots Farm & Dairy
Last Updated On: April 30th, 2024 at 11:10AM MST
Contact information
Farm Address:538 Graham Rd
Marshall, Wisconsin, 28753
Primary Contact: Andrea Van Gunst
Secondary Contact: Tim Gallaugher
Primary Phone:
Type: Cell
Number: 828.545.9202
Email: avangunst@gmail.com
Secondary Phone
Type: -----
Number: 828.545.4619
Email: tim.gallaugher@gmail.com
Email: tim.gallaugher@gmail.com
Website: https://www.grassrootsdairy.com
Internship information
General Farm Description: We run a small-scale sheep dairy just outside Marshall and we currently sell raw sheep milk, Grade A sheep milk yogurt, fresh sheep milk cheese, lamb, sheepskins and wool bedding at four weekly tailgate markets in Asheville and Black Mountain. We also sell raw milk through a herdshare program for on-farm and in town pick ups. We milk 50 ewes from March 15th to October 1st and in the spring we have close to 100 lambs. We keep about 15 ewe lambs as replacement milkers and we raise out 30 boys as market lambs for meat and skins. We graze our flocks intensively and we use whole grain non-GMO feed to supplement their diet in the milking season. Work on a dairy is quite different from work on a vegetable operation. We don’t have “crew days” where everyone works together. Quite often you will be working by yourself or with one other person, carrying out tasks that can be seen as quite repetitive. We are a small team and we (the farm owners) also juggle 2 small children and 1 off-farm job. You need to be sure that you both enjoy working alone and that you can stay focused and productive while working alone. We are very transparent about all parts of the farm and we want you to feel comfortable asking us questions about how things run! We are also a relatively new farm (this will be our 6th full season in production) so there are still a lot of figuring things out on the fly. Your patience with this process and your ability to communicate openly about what works and what doesn’t is essential.CRAFT Member Farm? Yes
Internship Starts: May 6
Internship Ends: Dec 1
Number of Internship Available: 1
Application Deadline: none
Minimum Length of Stay: 6 months
Internship Details:
This position is from May 15th – December 1st. There are currently 2 full time workers on the farm and we are now hiring for a part time / work trade position. The minimum number of hours for the work trade position is 16 hours / week. This time will largely be made of milking shifts with some hours in the creamery and some hours out maintaining fence lines and doing basic farm upkeep. If you are interested to work more, we will include a stipend and there is a potential to work up to 25 hours / week.
The work will be made up of several milking shifts – we milk twice a day (6:30 a.m. and 5 p.m.) every day from April 1st through Sept 15th and we milk once a day from Sept 15th to October 10th. Milking requires a lot of attention to detail, patience, responsibility to a schedule and willingness to find value in repetitive work – please apply only if you’re up for this! We have large guardian dogs that live in with our different flocks and we have a border collie that moves the milking flock. We will train you on the basics of working with our border collie and he will be your daily helper bringing the flock in and out of the fields for milking.
Educational Opportunities: We are an active member of the CRAFT program and we support our workers in being able to participate in all aspects of this program. We are well connected in the local farming community and are happy to connect workers with any other farms in the area should they wish to learn more about other farm enterprises.
Skills Desired: Our ideal candidate would have dairy experience (doesn't have to be with sheep) and manual labor experience. This position is also very strenuous on certain days and we work in all types of weather so it is important that you love to be outside and that you have a great attitude about hard work.
Meals: We do not provide meals.
Stipend: The work trade at 16 hours / week does not include a stipend. If you wish to work more, we will talk with you about stipend amount based on total amount of hours. Along with housing, you are given farm food (1 dozen eggs, 1 gallon raw milk, 2 quarts yogurt and 2 types of cheese each week) and part of a veggie CSA from a nearby organic farm. When we have lamb it can be purchased at a 15% discount.
Housing: Housing is a 40' skoolie on flat land by the creek with a separate driveway from our house. There are established communal garden beds if you’re interested to grow your own veggies. We cover utilities up to $50 / month and there is fiber internet and a shared washer/dryer up at the barn. The farm is on a small dead-end road and we’re all very friendly social folk. The town of Marshall is about 15 minutes away and Hot Springs and Asheville are both 30 minutes away. You will best enjoy your time here if you have your own car.
Preferred method of Contact: email or phone