Organic farmer needed in Kansas City

Hey, you never know...

This is a very cool organization.

Seeking Farm Manager July, 2008

The Kansas City Center for Urban Agriculture is hiring a full-time Farm Manager for the KC Community Farm. KCCUA is a non-profit organization that promotes small-scale, urban food production in the Kansas City metropolitan area. We offer technical assistance, farm development support, community education, and a variety of other educational and community programs; we also run the Kansas City Community Farm.

Farm Description: KCCF is a 2 –plus acre certified organic vegetable operation, with a 6,000 square foot greenhouse. We were established in 2005; the land has been growing certified organic vegetables for 11 years. We grow a wide variety of vegetables and herbs; our goal at the market is to provide the customer with a full range of traditional and gourmet vegetables. We have an established customer base and a stable CSA.

Depending on experience, responsibilities will include:

• Production planning with KCCUA staff;
• Ordering seeds, supplies;
• Greenhouse transplant production and winter greenhouse and high tunnel vegetable production;
• Planting, weeding, pest and disease control, harvesting, washing and soil building;
• Hiring, supervising and training paid field crew and volunteers;
• Sales and marketing through Saturday farmers’ markets and a 30 member CSA, and occasional wholesale to restaurants and other farmers;
• Basic farm maintenance and infrastructure improvement;
• Coordination and development of on-farm research projects in collaboration with K-State Research and Extension and other farmers;
• Occasional farm tours and public talks, media interviews;
• Farm recordkeeping (except for financial), including paperwork and management of organic certification; and
• All other aspects of farm management.

Requirements:

At least 4 full seasons working on an organic vegetable farm; strong computer skills (especially excel spreadsheets); experience running a farm is an absolute plus!

Organizational skills: ability to get along with a wide range of people, including farmers, volunteers, customers, supporters. This is a farm with a lot of public contact; the farmer must be able to balance the person-to-person interactions with the need to get farm work done! The farm goals and plans will be set by Executive Director, Associate Director and Farm Manager, the Farm Manager must be comfortable with a collaborative process.

Must be a planner and comfortable with production schedules and field plans, and weekly meetings to set out priorities and work plans,

Must be ambitious- we want someone who is interested in staying with us over a number of years and helping us build the farm and our organization.

Must be committed to high standards in vegetable production and sales and to farm presentation.

Must be hard-working, physically-fit, capable of hard physical work in heat, rain, and cold (this is the middle of the Midwest, which means we get it all!)

Must be committed to KCCUA’s mission of promoting urban agriculture and have a demonstrated commitment to local food production.

Hours: Farmers’ hours

Compensation: $20-27,000, depending on experience. Fully paid health insurance after 3 months of employment. 2 weeks paid vacation after the end of the first season.

Start date: Fall, 2008

Application process: Send resume, three references, writing samples, and any supporting information about farms you’ve previously worked at (flyers, news articles, brochures, etc.) to:

Katherine Kelly
Executive Director
KC Center for Urban Agriculture
PO Box 6043
Kansas City, KS 66106
[email protected]
Send as much as possible by email, supporting materials only by US mail.

DEADLINE: AUGUST 30, 2008.

Best of luck, of course, to the job poster, but I had to laugh when, at the end of a long list of responsibilities for this position, the poster added, "All other aspects of farm management." That should just about cover it.

And it can all be yours for $20-27,000 a year!

Aaron Deacon wrote:And it can all be yours for $20-27,000 a year!

And don't forget -- you also "[m]ust be hard-working, physically-fit, capable of hard physical work in heat, rain, and cold (this is the middle of the Midwest, which means we get it all!)"

But, if you become ill from all the "hard physical work" in the heat, rain and cold, you don't have health insurance for the first three months.

I'm surprised "jumping through hoops" and "walking on hot coals" isn't also required. . .

Just hearing "Farmers' hours" makes me need to go take a nap.

Just goes to show you how much money these organic farms actually make. If your farm manager is only making $20-27k (or $10-13/hr), what do you think their profit is?

It'll be interesting to see if the organic/sustainable movement lasts. I'm hoping that it not only does last but is really the way people grow and buy their produce from now on. For years, the big box grocery stores have been selling really cheap and really crappy produce. Will people pay more money for less but much better produce? Do people even know what certain fruits and vegetables are supposed to taste like? Do they understand that it costs a lot of money to grow organically?

Support your local farmers. They work hard and need the "demand" aspect of their supply/demand equation.

Aaron Deacon wrote:Hours: Farmers’ hours

Compensation: $20-27,000, depending on experience. Fully paid health insurance after 3 months of employment. 2 weeks paid vacation after the end of the first season.

So much for a living wage. If the person is working "farmer's hours" which I always translate into 12+ hours a day 5-7 days a week, you are almost at minimum wage.

A few years ago, you might have a taker or two. In today's farm economy, you can easily make twice as much as a farm employee. My 75 yo FIL who is "retired" has generated more than that in the 1st seven months of the year. And most experienced farmers are farmers because they do NOT want a lot of supervision or direction.

As for organic farming, there is a lot of profit to be made in it. Nearly every major California grower has an organic division and doesn't mind selling their product at the higher margins.

I should note this is a non-profit organization rather than a for-profit farm, so the pay scale should probably be judged as such:

The Kansas City Center for Urban Agriculture is hiring a full-time Farm Manager for the KC Community Farm. KCCUA is a non-profit organization that promotes small-scale, urban food production in the Kansas City metropolitan area. We offer technical assistance, farm development support, community education, and a variety of other educational and community programs; we also run the Kansas City Community Farm.

It's a pretty cool organization actually.

They also run what may be my favorite farmer's market stand in the city, at the Brookside Market...but wow, their produce is really expensive.

Aaron Deacon wrote:I should note this is a non-profit organization rather than a for-profit farm, so the pay scale should probably be judged as such:

That true, but the farmer still has to pay rent, eat, and the like whether the organization is profit or non-profit.

Reminds me of a pastor who I was counseling on his finances. He was offered $12k/ yr (in 2002) plus housing by a church in Texas. When he asked about medical benefits, the church leaders told him that is why the salary was $12k.