Sustainable Seed Co. Paid “Internship” Position

We use the word internship because you will learn a great deal.  We say job position because you will be an employee of the company.

Who we are looking for

Obviously, you are here to learn, but any background in farming, agriculture in general, seed saving, seed cleaning, market growing, customer service, office skills, shipping, marketing, sales, etc… are valuable to the company.  We are really looking for folks who want to learn to farm and create their own successful business because you will learn a great deal of both here.  Being punctual, respectful, hard working and detail oriented will take you far in the field or the seed barn (office).   We are in the midst of amazing growth as a company and there are many opportunities for those with leadership capabilities.

EMPLOYEE JOB DESCRIPTION:
Start Date: Part time now or Full time November 1st

We realize some applicants may have constraints, such as school, and cannot be available 40 hours a week.  We are willing to work with you on that, but we will give priority to those who can commit to a full schedule.

BASICS –
-You will be responsible for 40 hours of work per week at Farm/Seed Co.  You will be paid $8.00 an hour to start.  You will be an employee of Sustainable Seed Co. 
-Work is Monday- Friday.  On a rotating basis, you will have weekly responsibilities at the farm feeding animals. This generally takes about an hour.
-Each day you have 1 hour for lunch and relaxation.  The work hours are 8:00-5:00, but can change with the season.  
-Housing is offered (UPDATE: HOUSING IS NO LONGER AVAILABLE) (you are not required to stay on site) on the farm at an offset cost of $450 (can be deducted from monthly pay) including utilities.  $125 if two interns are in residence.  This is a separate and private cottage away from the main house.  It includes WiFi, laundry, kitchen, full bath, etc…  
-You are welcome to whatever vegetables the farm produces.  We also have milk, eggs and various meats may seasonally be available.

- WHAT YOU NEED:
Flexibility – so much happens on the farm that we cannot control – a crop must be harvested earlier than expected, the irrigation system malfunctions, chickens escape, a car breaks down, someone is sick and you must fill in somewhere, etc…
An excellent work ethic will go a long way.  Many times we do repetitive jobs like packing seed, packaging orders or weeding.  However these things must be done and are a part of the job you are applying for.  Things will be explained in greater detail when you tour the farm.
We ask that you have a great deal of flexibility while you are working at Sustainable Seed Co.  We try to plan and control as much as possible, but we are working with elements of nature that are naturally out of our control – please understand this.  This is a very important aspect of farming and something you must be comfortable with if you are to continue farming for your livelihood.  It also keeps the job interesting, which is a good thing.
What you will learn:
Here are just a few things we do here.  Beekeeping, herbal medicine, irrigation, animal husbandry, seed saving, plant breeding, canning, bread making, grain growing, cheese making, etc..
We look at the internship as a mutually beneficial relationship: We commit to teaching you what we know about farming and running a small business.  You commit to working for Sustainable Seed Co. and helping cultivate a successful season for the business and seed farm.  We consider learning-by-doing the most important part in learning agriculture and stress the need for you to ask questions.  Remember, you are a paid employee and will be expected to act as such.

Duties at Sustainable Seed Company:
The duties vary by season.  Below shows a taste of all you’ll do:
Spring – spring order processing, seed germination lab, packing seed packets, talking to customers on the phone, retail seed packet sales, planting, weeding, greenhouse seeding, and setting up drip-irrigation.
Summer – seed sales slow and we focus on grain harvesting, weeding, planting, hand pollination, seed plant selections, plant breeding, grain harvest, etc…
Fall – harvesting, seed processing, farm clean-up and maintenance, planting, weeding.

Lastly, when you commit to this job you are committing to becoming a member of the farm.  Your greatest responsibility is to help the farm have a successful season.  You will be an integral part of our small community.

If you have any questions at all, don’t hesitate to email (preferred) or call us.

Thank you for your interest and consideration,

John Fendley
FarmerJohn at SustainableSeedCo dot com
www.SustainableSeedCo.com