Company description Big Picture Farm is a goat dairy, creamery and farmstead confectionary located on a beautiful hillside in Townshend, Vermont.  Our approximately 40 saanens, alpines and nubian goats live happy and healthy lives rotating through the rich pastures and leafy woodlands that characterize our hillside Vermont farm. We are animal welfare approved and the happiness of our goats and the land they graze is of the highest priority. Most of our milk is transformed into our award winning goat milk caramels which are sold to over 800 stores around the country. The rest of our milk goes into small batches of raw milk cheese and small batch chocolates and confections. In addition to our goats we keep 24 laying hens, several hives of bees, 3 hogs and tend an active flower & vegetable garden, and have a fledgling fruit orchard. We use our own eggs, honey, flowers and fruit in our confections as well. Internship description Our apprenticeship starts April 1 and runs through the end of the summer season.  We are looking for someone eager to learn the ins and outs of all aspects of a farmstead goat dairy and creamery. The first couple weeks will be getting the farm ready for the next season and getting to know our wonderful herd of ladies before kidding season begins in mid April. During kidding season we make sure all the needs of our goats are met as they bring new life into the world. It is an exciting time as we expect around 80 (adorable) goat kids to be born on the farm over a one month period. After that the routines slowly fall into place of milking, rotating pastures and making cheese. As an apprentice you will learn the ins and outs of everything we do here on the farm from holistic health management of the goats & milking, to rotational grazing, to cheesemaking & affinage, as well as tending the homestead scale gardens, orchards & bees. In addition we keep hens, cats, dogs and three pigs that you will be tasked with feeding & keeping happy.  When the summer starts to wind down, cheese slows down and you will be spending more time on the confectionary side of things helping with caramel and our line of chocolate confections. In addition, we will be launching our new Farmhouse Inn and hosting groups for agritourism, retreats and weddings in 2018. So you will be asked to help with this as need be as well. 

You will be paid $250-300 a week depending on your experience and with that housing is included as well as internet, heat and all utilities. You will live in a charming old colt barn right in the middle of the farm that has a large kitchen, two bedrooms and a shared office/studio space as well as living room. You will be sharing this house (but have your private bedroom) with another farm employee. 

We are looking for applicants who are passionate about animals and food, have a positive attitude, an excellent work ethic, are easy to get along with and do not mind living rurally. We find our most successful candidates are those who take great pride in their work, enjoy working independently, and learning new things.  Our mountain is a beautiful one, but it is a bit isolated and as such we do require that you have your own vehicle.

Sorry, because we have two very large Maremma dogs who live outside year-round we have a strict no pets policy. Compensation this position is : stipend / non-monetary compensation
Application instructions Deadlineno deadline