Sunshine River Farms
Last Updated On: January 6th, 2025 at 10:53AM MST
Contact information
Farm Address:7831 Farm to Market Rd
Whitefish, Montana, 59937
Primary Contact: Eric Winthrop
Secondary Contact: Dane Regfan
Primary Phone:
Type: Cell
Number: 406-897-0515
Email: eric@sunshineriverfarms.com
Secondary Phone
Type: -----
Number: (406) 552-3353
Email: regan.dane90@gmail.com
Email: regan.dane90@gmail.com
Website: https://www.sunshineriverfarms.com
Internship information
General Farm Description: Sunshine River Farms is a mixed vegetable and fruit farm located in Whitefish, Montana. Our farm is located in the northwest side of Whitefish, less than 20 minutes from downtown, with the entire east side of property bordering the Stillwater River. Property is 40 acres but growing area of orchard and vegetable production area is approx 3 acres (with room to expand in the future). Infrastructure includes a 60’x30’ heated greenhouse, an 80’x34’ high tunnel, and indoor wash and pack room (including walk-in fridge). Orchard and vegetable field is fenced to protect from animal pressure. There’s also a barn on the property which includes a tool and equipment storage room. We farm with a BCS tractor and a Toolcat utility vehicle but otherwise rely on hand tools for much of the work Our goal is to provide the community with local, responsibly grown food and develop a property that can benefit the local community. We have been cover cropping the farmland for a couple years and plan to practice regenerative and organic farming, with some experimenting around various regenerative and permaculture concepts. This coming season will be our first year of vegetable production so we are setting up farming operations. Significant work has been done to prepare for next season and we’re looking for someone who is excited about helping to start a farming business. Animals (horses, chickens, and goats) are planned to be added over time once barn is completed. For this coming season we plan to grow on a smaller section of the property and focus on restaurants, farmers market and local families. We grow a large and growing variety of veggies and offer wholesale produce that we deliver to local restaurants and families. We also sell at the Whitefish farmers market. Some of our main crops include cut salad greens, leafy greens (salad mixes, kale, arugula), tomatoes, cucumbers, peppers, garlic, squash, corn, and herbs, among many more!CRAFT Member Farm? No
Internship Starts: 3-1-2025
Internship Ends: 11-1-2025
Number of Internship Available: 1-2
Application Deadline: 2-1-2025
Minimum Length of Stay: 8 mos. 2025 growing season
Internship Details:
Applicant Qualifications
We are looking for someone who is prepared to learn as they go and be flexible regarding duties. We intend to run the farm as a cooperative where everyone pitches in where needed for the common goal of growing high-quality food and regenerating the soil and environment.
· Farm experience preferred. Full-time farm hands ideally have 1-2 years of experience on farms.
· A hard worker who can work in all weather conditions – we experience snow, wind, rain, heat and smoke during our season.
· A clear communicator who is willing to share their ideas and is also comfortable with following instruction. Our work is diverse, especially over the long season, but some tasks can get monotonous and repetitive.
· A strong worth ethic is a must and personal motivation that will help you push through a task untill it is done is the key to success on our team.
We work together and individually. The right fit person needs to be comfortable asking clarifying questions to understand a task and be ready to problem solve if a challenge presents itself. In our first season, you will find yourself at times learning along with us as we figure out the best systems for our farm or try out new farming practices.
Full-Time and Part-Time Farm Hand Responsibilities
Full-time farm hands will assist with all aspects of the farm operations including: field and crop planning and management; greenhouse management; irrigation; farmers market preparation and sales; customer service for clients and the general public; produce harvest, washing, packing, and delivery; infrastructure building and maintenance; and any other farm task as necessary.
Full-time positions will have the opportunity for some tractor work on both the Toolcat and our BCS walk-behind tractor.
Part-time positions will primarily focus on harvest, farmers market preparation, and field cultivation. Part-time positions will support all aspects of farm operations as described above.
Schedule & Compensation
One full-time position available starting March or April and ending mid November, depending on the season. $15-20/hour DOE.
One part-time position available starting April or May and ending mid October, depending on the season. $14-17/hour DOE.
Full-time positions will work 40-45 hours/week with weekend availability required, hours may change depending on the season. Schedule will likely be Monday-Friday. Our end times flex depending on what we need to accomplish.
Part time positions will work 8-25 hours/week with weekend availability required. Schedule will likely be largely on weekdays, harvest timing dependent.
We hope to find the best fit shifts and labor to match weekly work needs, which typically comes from trial and error. Our shifts start as early as 7am in the heat of the season and end as late as 9:15pm (on farmers market days especially). We schedule shifts that range between 5 and 10 hours. We would hope to adapt hours as much as possible with employee needs.
We expect our farm crew to work hard and also to take care of their personal needs. We take informal breaks and lunch as the demands of the day or our bodies require it. The crew is responsible for their own meals, although we will look to get into communal lunches as much as possible. Any shift over 5 hours, farm crew is expected to take at least 30 minutes for lunch (unpaid).
Farm crew are welcome to unlimited farm seconds and some firsts, as supply allows.
Educational Opportunities: My partner/co-manager on the farm will be working with us part time for 2025 and full time starting 2026. He has spent the last several years running a teaching farm at a university and is very experienced in farming. This will provide employee(s) with an excellent resource to learn farming. We plan to make teaching a core part of our business as we develop the overall farming operations.
Skills Desired: Looking for someone who’s entrepreneurial and wants to work hard to help build a farming business. Job opportunity will exist for many seasons if desired. However, I do have good flexibility around specific hours and of course would consider time off as needed.
Meals: Not formally but expect there will be opportunities to eat together and employee can take vegetables and fruit from what we’re producing.
Stipend: Yes. Happy to pay a fair wage if important to applicant.
Housing: Need to discuss. Have a heated barn with full bath/shower that could be converted to provide housing/sleeping area but otherwise don’t have formal/private housing.
Preferred method of Contact: email or phone
