The Cloud Mountain Farm Center Internship is designed for those interested in pursuing a career in agriculture, and includes both employment and education. Interns gain working experience in both fruit and vegetable production and learn first-hand what it takes to keep farmlands healthy and agricultural businesses thriving. The 2020 program dates are Mid-March through Mid-October.
 

Lectures, Workshops, and Field Trips (approx. 8 hours/week)

Through instruction and exposure via lectures, workshops, and farm tours, interns complete a curriculum that introduces them to the following topics:

• Business and Marketing: business planning, enterprise accounting, value-added production, overall farm finances
• Soils and Land Management: soil science, tillage, cultivation, fertility, and cover crops
• Crop Production: irrigation, crop culture, weed management, crop planning, integrated pest and disease management, and orchard and vineyard management
• Propagation and Nursery: vegetative propagation, seedling care, and greenhouse management
• Environmental and Social Systems: natural resource conservation, food access and food justice

Tuition for the 2020 season is $5,500 with a $500 rebate upon completion of the program. Tuition is due at the beginning of the program and covers all guest speakers, workshops, field trips, and educational materials over the course of the program. 

Employment (approx. 30-32 hours/week)

The majority of interns’ time is spent working on the farm as an integral part of the field crew, and they are paid hourly at $13.50/hour. Work schedules will vary throughout the season and interns can expect to work some weekends. Hands-on education happens through meaningful work in our vegetable, fruit and nursery enterprises. Farm work is fast paced and physically demanding involving repetitive tasks and will include working in sometimes extreme weather conditions. You can expect to work outside in the cold, rain, and heat. Interns work in the following areas of production:

• Annual Vegetables: seeding, transplanting, cultivation, irrigation, harvest, and high tunnel production
• Perennial Orchards and Vineyards: pruning and training, pest and disease monitoring, orchard maintenance, and harvest
• Retail Nursery: plant propagation and container growing
• Post-Harvest: washing and packing produce for wholesale and local accounts and selling product at the Bellingham Farmers Market

Pay and Tuition

CMFC values and depends on the work performed by interns throughout the season and as such, we've structured the program so interns are paid for their work during the 30-32 hours/week of employment as outlined above. Additionally, interns will pay tuition for the educational portion of the program.