Company description Kiss the Cow Farm is an organic, grass-based dairy selling raw milk and farmstead ice cream from our small herd of Jersey cows.  We also raise and sell eggs and pastured broilers, ducks, and turkeys.  In our spare time we make several hundred round bales every summer. Internship description You will experience first-hand what it takes to manage a diverse, organic farm.  Apprenticeships are not easy as the hours are long and the work is physical.  However, there is no better way to learn the craft of small-scale agriculture than to roll up your sleeves and do it.  The primary goal of our apprenticeship program is to teach you what you need to know and give you plenty of practice and the confidence to pursue your own farm dream.   

We share a 500 acre, historic farm with other ag enterprises (veggies, beef cows, hard cider).  Lots of farming activity and other younger and older, like-minded people to interact with.  Near Silver Lake State Park and lots of hiking trails.  And we co-host a weekly farmers’ market with local vendors, awesome bands, tacos, hard cider, kombucha & ice cream for a few hundred people.  It’s a very cool time.  This is a typical, rural Vermont experience.  Life’s great here.  Come experience it yourself! 

Our internships focus on three areas, dairy herd management, pastured poultry management and ice cream making.  Depending on your interest, you may focus on one area, but will still be involved in all aspects of managing a small, grass-based farm, including: milking, feeding, moving animals to new pastures, the installation and maintenance of fence and water systems, calf care, herd health and nutrition, safety, dairy protocols and processes.  You’ll be raising poultry from day-old chicks, feeding, watering, moving field pens, tracking batches, processing, packaging, and delivering to customers.  You will not only learn to make ice cream, but help us create the processes for this new adventure.  You will participate at farmers markets and enterprise brainstorming, assist with marketing, cleaning, repairs, maintenance, and construction projects. 

Days are physically demanding with hard work and long hours filled with chores, projects, customers and laughter!  We take plenty of breaks –chatting, reading, and catching some vitamin D sunrays.  Our standards are high and necessarily so as we are entrusting you to prepare dairy and poultry products for safe human consumption.  Please consider this commitment before applying.  However, we find the work is enjoyable and the animals provide lots of entertainment.  This is really your experience, not ours.  While working closely with us some of the time, you will also have independent responsibilities.  So let us know what you want to learn, what you want to be able to competently do when you move on.  We’ll try to incorporate your goals into the experience you have with us.

You need to have a positive-can-do attitude, be self-motivated, hard-working, inquisitive, and a good communicator.  If you have the courage to try things and you smile at bad jokes in spite of yourself, then you’ll probably fit in.  This is a learning experience:  you need to want to learn.  You will need to be reasonably fit and able to lift 50lbs regularly.  You should also be able to work outside in all weather conditions from rain to mid-summer heat.  Please no smoking, drug use, excessive alcohol consumption, or pets.  A valid driver’s license is required.     Must have some experience farming and working with animals.  You must take direction and feedback, be able to work on your own and with minimal direction once you’ve been taught how to do a task.  We don’t expect you to know everything or be perfect.  We do expect you to be willing to learn and to work honestly and conscientiously. Compensation this position is : stipend / non-monetary compensation
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