Regenerative Agriculture Mentor Kiss the Ground
- Date Posted September 12, 2020
- Location Los Angeles, CA
- Category Agriculture / Nonprofit
- Job type Part-Time
Kiss the Ground is a Los Angeles-based 501(c)(3) nonprofit on a mission to awaken people to the possibilities of regeneration and inspires participation through media, communications, courses, workshops, immersive programming, and advocacy. We currently have nine full-time employees, and work with several part-time contractors. Please visit our website - www.kisstheground.com - for more information about our programs.
Job descriptionSeeking to effectively change the way our agricultural producers understand and engage with living systems by reconnecting them to the source of their inspiration and energy required to do their ongoing work.
This position is on the Kiss The Ground Farmland Program team and is supervised by the Farmland Program Director. The purpose of the Regenerative Agriculture Resourcing Mentor is to incentivize and facilitate producers in implementing science-based, effective, economically viable soil health management systems on diverse agricultural lands.
Applicant serves as a Regional Soil Health Advocate to help identify priorities and strategies with scholarship recipients to assist in their transition process. Advocate will use the Kiss The Ground online resource hub and social platform to facilitate farmer-to-farmer interaction.
Primary duties include engaging producers around the purpose of their work, addressing what barriers and opportunities are present, how to identify and manage valuable resources, and how to approach the process of transition. The intention of this process is to identify and clarify the interconnectedness of a holistic food system, through the lens of the individual producer, and reveal the unique potential that they each have to contribute to the evolution of our system of agriculture.
Through the process of reflecting on the content and experience of the training courses, reviewing the soil monitoring results, and discussing it in the context of each unique producer and landscape, we will deepen our collective understanding of the needs, capacities and capabilities inherent to different producers, systems, crops and regions. This will ultimately lead to more thought leadership on the front wave of soil health and regenerative agriculture leading the way towards a new future of food production.
REQUIREMENTS
- Degree and/or certificate in soil conservation or related agricultural or natural resource discipline such as agronomy, soil science, forestry, agricultural education, or agricultural engineering.
- Familiar with regional soil health programs and initiatives.
- Applicants must have land/farm management experience that may have been obtained in the private or public (local, county, state, Federal) sectors which demonstrates:
- Experience incorporating agronomic, rangeland, and/or soil management technologies for enhancing soil health into training material.
- Experience in conservation management and systems for a given land use.
- Experience with writing and oral communications, in order to effectively communicate with a wide range of technical and non-technical audiences who may have competing interests or differing points of view.
- Experience contributing to technical standards, and correctly conveying highly technical material to non-technical audiences.
DUTIES
- Facilitate soil health assessment by interpreting lab results of soil test and assist with on-the-ground implementation of soil health management systems.
- Managing between 10-20 Producers per year, Contract is on an annual basis.
- Quarterly one-on-one producer calls (phone or Zoom - 1hr)
- Discuss shifts in perspective through lens of regenerative principles
- Discuss potential practices that meet the context of specific operation.
- Make decisions on the best course of action for the next growing season, planting regimen or animal integration.
- Producer Calls and related themes (total of 12 hours per Farmer)
- Year 1 (Mindset)
- Year 2 (Practices & Management)
- Call #4 - Implementation Strategy
- What are the priorities and practices following a year of learning and observation on the land.
- Call #5 - Adjust & Invest
- After the implementation of appropriate practices what adjustments are needed to be made in order to keep things on track (or bring things on track) to achieve objectives.
- Call #6 - Harvest & Sales
- How do you plan to add value to the work you’ve done this year? What are the best markets for your products? How do you tell/own your story?
- Call #7 - Reflect & Replan
- Looking back at the year, what are the learnings that need to be integrated into next year’s operations? What needs to go, and what needs to grow?
- Call #4 - Implementation Strategy
- Year 3 (Maintenance and Growth)
- Call #8 - Integrate Data
- What information from the previous year provides valuable insight into this year's operations?
- Call #9 - Adjust & Invest
- With knowledge of the previous year's strategy and adjustments, how can you improve your powers of observation to make better decisions this year?
- Call #10 - Harvest & Sales
- Which markets served you best last year? Where do you need to find new markets? How do you determine what’s a loss leader, and what’s just a loss?
- Call #11- Reflect & Replan
- How can you reflect on the past year’s successes and learnings to best prepare for the coming season?
- Call #8 - Integrate Data
- Biannual Group Webinars (Zoom, 1.5 hrsm total 9 hours)
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- Year 1
- Webinar #1 - Above Ground
- Webinar #2 - Below Ground
- Year 2
- Webinar #3 - Ecological
- Webinar #4 - Financial
- Year 3
- Webinar #5 - On-Farm
- Webinar #6 - Off-Farm
- Year 1
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- Quarterly Mentor Webinars (Zoom, 1hr, 12 hours for each 3 year cohort) Led by Lead Mentor
- All Mentors gather to discuss key insights and learnings from producer calls and prepare questions for the next round of calls.
Kiss The Ground is an Equal Opportunity Employer.
Compensation this position is : hourly, $20/hr + Location job can be done remotely Application instructions