Hiring farmhand. Position now available.
Who We Are: Fry Road Farm is a small farm near Albany, Oregon. We are a sustainable/conventional farm growing seed crops, hay and humanely-raised lamb. We have about 215 acres of seed crops, and about 90 ewes producing 15 - 140 lambs each year.
When it comes to livestock, we are a "high-touch" farm committed to giving an extra degree of care and attention to our animals: dogs, cats, sheep and ducks. We have developed numerous innovative techniques for keeping our animals comfortable and productive on a very small land base.
We are looking to diversify the crops and livestock that we grow and hope to eventually phase-out most of our grass-seed production. We are looking for someone who can help keep our current enterprises going in the short-run and help us establish some new and complimentary enterprises which could involve things like producing compost or growing things like vegetables for local markets, or humanely-raised eggs and meat raised on pasture, or mushrooms. We are in the beginning stages of coming up with a value added product that we can make out of our wool. We are also considering some small-scale construction ideas like making portable chicken coops or poultry brooders.
For the last 8 years we have also done some custom fertilizing, custom haymaking, custom seeding, custom manure spreading and some pasture renovation. And, here and there, we buy and fix-up and sell some farm machinery on the side.
Summary: We are looking for a part-time person to work part days Mondays through Fridays or on the weekends if that works better for you. Working 2-3 full days each week would also be ok. We would prefer a regular, weekday schedule but we can be pretty flexible.
Generally, we will work the same hours each day depending on what schedule works the best for everyone. During busy times like fertilizing, lambing, harvest, spraying and planting we will need someone who can work longer hours or extra days.
We do pay overtime whenever employees work more than 40 hours per week but this rarely happens.
We are open to hiring two part-time people with different skill sets that together, would be able to complete most of the tasks listed below:
Tasks will include helping to maintain, clean and repair farm machinery and vehicles, small welding projects, painting buildings and equipment, maintaining and improving existing farm buildings, constructing new structures (especially caterpillar tunnels), working with livestock (especially at lambing time), building fence, pouring concrete, planting shrubs and trees, weed-eating, irrigating, spot-spraying and sometimes operating farm equipment during haymaking, seed harvest, tillage and planting. Sewing dog beds or dog toys made out of wool is another task you might get involved with. Also we want to track and improve our efficiency for tasks that we repeat each year.
Other Possible Tasks: We would love to have someone that is interested in helping us sell our products to local markets. This could mean dropping off samples at stores and restaurants, attending farmer's markets, calling or emailing fresh sheets and gathering weekly orders, and delivering orders. Another niche that could come up is writing or editing grant proposals from time to time.
The person(s) who fills this position will work closely with the farm owners at times and will also work by themselves sometimes. You need to be self-motivated, since there may not always be someone to direct everything you do.
This position is perfect for someone who likes physical, outdoor work and possibly some sales and/or grant-writing work. Mechanical, welding, carpentry, and machinery skills are important but we're willing to work with you to develop some of these skill-sets.
The ability to switch tasks abruptly when something new comes up that needs to be dealt with right away is also really important.
Livestock experience is not necessary, but an interest in working with animals using humane practices is required.
Starting wage: $18-$27/ hour. Hourly wage based on experience with potential increase based on your capabilities and other qualities. Unfortunately, we don't have on-farm housing available right now. Hopefully we will in the future.
Requirements and Extras: We want to hire someone who has the following skills and interests or, someone that would like to develop these skills:
1) Valid driver’s license is required. A CDL would be a bonus but isn’t required.
2) An interest in working with livestock using humane practices is required.
3) An interest in growing and harvesting a variety of crops is required.
4) An interest in selling local farm products is required.
5) Experience maintaining, cleaning, repairing and operating equipment and vehicles
6) Solid carpentry skills, including framing, plumbing, and electrical
7) Basic welding and fabrication skills
8) Fence-building skills
9) Basic concrete skills
10) Basic sewing skills
11) Writing skills along with an interest in grant-writing
12) An interest in lean manufacturing or farming concepts
Ideally the right person will:
Enjoy doing a large variety of tasks.
Enjoy working outside in all kinds of weather.
Be accustomed to farming and be willing to work through busy days and shorter days.
Enjoy working alone at times and be okay with some work that tends to be repetitive.
Be able to communicate honestly and respectfully about needs and concerns.
Have interpersonal skills allowing you to work well with a variety of other people.
Have a flexible schedule outside of work to accommodate variable hours as they change by season.
Pay close attention to detail.
Be capable of remembering or writing down detailed instructions.
Seek direction and ask for clarification on non-routine tasks.
Be self-motivated, staying productive and willing to work until the days' tasks are completed during busy seasons.
Excel at taking initiative and getting routine things done without needing to be reminded of responsibilities.
Be naturally observant and pick up on the finer points of a variety of tasks.
Be organized, orderly, and help improve organizational systems, such as keeping tools and buildings neat and ready for use at any time.
Be interested in why we do things the way we do and help us refine our production practices while keeping in mind that we have tried a number of approaches and have in place a basic framework that we intend to stick with.
Be adaptable, willing to learn the particular way we want things done.
Be situationally aware.
Be able to document tasks and use of time.
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Please send:
A description of your work experiences and why you want to work on a farm like ours. Also explain why you think you would be a good fit for the job. If we are interested in considering you for this position, we will email a short questionnaire/application.
Please do not call or stop by the farm to get more information about this position. If, based on your response to this ad, we think you will be a good fit for this position, we will email you a questionnaire/application.
