Aspiring Farmer

Position Overview

This role is for individuals who are serious about farming and see farming as part of their long-term plan. The role is designed to be a progressively more senior role emphasizing hands on production, the ability to work independently (particularly in the off-season), while also developing towards some small team leadership and supervision as knowledge and skills develop. The ideal candidate will show strong judgement and an ability to identify potential risks and safety considerations. They will either bring existing practical skills or show an ability to learn which would allow them to take on special projects outside the busy production season to make the role a year-round position. A successful candidate who shows strong initiative, productivity, and maintains our high-quality standards may have opportunities to explore a project of their own interest.

Our farm

We are a 298-acre sustainably managed family-farm. Our main products are honey, maple syrup, and garlic. We have a strong focus on quality. Our honey, garlic, and maple products have won awards at the Royal Agricultural Winter Fair. We have recently completed an intergenerational farm transfer and are making strategic investments to improve efficiency, increase the scale of our production, diversify our products, maintain historic and aging buildings, and continue important stewardship initiatives such as tree planting and invasive species control. This makes it an exciting time to be part of the farm team as we learn and grow together.

We are seeking a self-motivated and thoughtful individual to join our team and help build the farm. Our farm is located between Bethany and Janetville, 30 minutes West of Peterborough, Ontario. For more information about the farm please visit

Duties and Responsibilities

· Beekeeping including hive inspections, queen breeding, production of wooden beekeeping equipment, equipment cleaning, honey harvesting, extraction, and product packaging

· Garlic cultivation, harvest, processing, and packaging

· Maple syrup work including maintaining existing and installing new sap collection pipeline, maple product production, packaging of maple products, cutting and splitting firewood

· Sales and marketing of farm products

· Environmental stewardship work including control of invasive species, sustainable forest management, as well as tree planting and care

· General farm labour including maintenance of equipment and buildings, repair of equipment and buildings, grounds maintenance

· Operational research activities including field trials, taking measurements, recording observations, carrying out treatments/interventions, and gathering data

· Hours may vary depending on the season. Maple syrup season, in particular, can have weekend work some weeks and other much slower weeks if the sap is not running.

· Other duties as required

Physical Requirements

· The successful candidate will be stung by bees and must be comfortable working in an environment where bee stings will occur from time to time.

· The work is often physically demanding and may involve long periods of sitting, standing, walking, bending, crouching, kneeling, etc, and various combinations of these activities.

· Hand harvesting vegetables, hoeing and hand weeding crops.

· Work environment will be a mix of indoor and outdoor including conditions that could be wet/damp, noisy, hot, cold, and/or dusty.

· The successful candidate will be well suited to working efficiently in a fast-paced environment, working under pressure, carrying out repetitive tasks, handling heavy loads.

· The work is often physically demanding, requires attention to detail, hand-eye co-ordination, ability to distinguish between colours

Qualifications and Experience

· Completion of relevant post-secondary education is an asset

· Wood working or mechanical skills are an asset

· Experience living or working on a farm is an asset

· Ability to drive a tractor and/or farm truck is an asset

· Chainsaw operator's safety training is an asset

· Minimum of G2 driver's license required.

Job Types: Full-time, Part-time, Permanent, Seasonal

Contract length: 12 months

Pay: $23.00-$30.00 per hour

Expected hours: 24 – 48 per week

Benefits:

• Paid time off

Work Location: In person