Company description Tucker Family Farm is an ACS award-winning farmstead sheep dairy and creamery. We craft many (currently 10) different sheep cheeses from our East Frisian dairy flock. We also raise lamb and pork for local markets. We strive every year to become more sustainable in our agricultural practices; from rotational grazing to supporting soil fertility to the protection of stream bed and wetland areas, we are continually moving to a low impact, sustainable system. We manage the farm organically, meaning we don’t use herbicides, pesticides, non-organic fertilizer, steroids, unnecessary antibiotics, etc. We are driven to provide the highest quality, humanely raised animals and food products for our region. Job description In our last 4 years making cheese, we have grown so much. 2019 will be an exciting year for us! We'll be expanding our sales market outside of Montana and are looking to grow our team as well with positive, critical thinkers who are always looking to improve. Tucker Family Farm is a culture of ambitious problems solvers who are striving to create the best cheese from our pastured sheep milk. We are continuing to improve a strong process driven production facility that is also pushing boundaries of creativity and artistry. We are excited to add another Cheesemaker to our team to continue our mission.

WEEK OF A CHEESEMAKER 
Tuesday: Make cheese and complete cleaning or cheese packing tasks during cheese downtime
Wednesday: Cheese Day wrap-up, Independent Research (topics set with Head Cheesemaker, mini-reports shared with Creamery/Farm team), Cheese Day Prep
Thursday: Make cheese and complete cleaning or cheese packing tasks during cheese downtime
Friday: Cheese Day wrap-up, Assist with Farmer's Market Packing
Saturday: Training apprentices to run farmer's market booths, covering farmer's market when needed, Affinage, Evaluate Mature Batches, Cave Inventory, Batch Quality Report, Market Inventory

ADHOC TASKS
- Develop 3 seasonal cheeses each year for special projects and for sale to local markets
- Marketing events in the Missoula/Ravalli County community - assisting the Head Cheesemaker and completing independently
- Complete milk sampling certification, and complete sampling whenever making cheese or as needed
- Complete Antibiotic Testing Certification and Reporting
- Assist with implementing HACCP Procedures and complete assigned HACCP tasks
- Assist in the regular maintenance and upkeep of the Creamery
- Monitoring and answering Creamery phone and email

The daily schedule will vary throughout the year depending on what is taking place on the farm and creamery. Being a farmstead creamery means we collaborate and work together with the farm in order to create the best cheese. An average work week is around 45 hours spread over 5 days, but in the busier season (May-August) or when we’re working on special projects we commonly work longer to get everything done.

Compensation is salaried, the rate will be based on previous experience. We are open to accepting candidates with no experience in cheesemaking, but will ask them to complete our apprenticeship program first. You can read more about that HERE. In addition to monetary compensation, we also provide our employees meat (pork, lamb, occasionally beef), cheese and milk. We also work with our employees to provide added benefits to improve their experience in the Bitterroot Valley and at our farm. We sincerely value our employees and will go out of our way to help them as we can. Compensation this position is : salaried Application instructions DeadlineFebruary 17, 2019 Attachment click here to download the attached document.