Francolin Farm is a privately owned and operated, limited-commercial, regenerative family farm. The primary goals for this position is to produce high quality and organically-grown ingredients for the farm owners and their close-knit community. The current farm footprint is approximately 100 acres which includes almost 2 acres with a 1/4 acre of intensive, organic vegetable production, orchards, beekeeping, as well as greenhouses, and pastures for future use, like fowl and livestock.

Head Grower Position Description Overview

Francolin Farm is seeking an experienced Head Grower to oversee all planned areas of produce operations and develop, steward and expand the produce offering. As the required resident expert and leader, the Head Grower will provide proactive management of the gardens and orchards, leadership, and coordinate with others to best execute on a successful garden, farm and community-sustaining experience. The Head Grower will be part of implementing the vision to an elevated, organic agricultural experience. 

Best agricultural practices, personal work ethic, passionate leadership, initiative and effective communication will need to be the core of managerial skills.

Essential Duties and Responsibilities include, but are not limited to:

MANAGEMENT AND LEADERSHIP

• Value and share Francolin Farms core values, mission and vision
• Effectively and consistently communicate with Farm Owner about all aspects of the farm — progress, process, and production.
  • Have the highest levels of integrity when it comes to farm management and representation of Francolin Farm in general
  • A passionate desire and willingness to learn, improve and teach new processes and collaborate on concepts surrounding the agricultural vision
  • Be discrete and keep confidential the private, personal and proprietary aspects of Francolin Farm
  • Regularly engage with other community farmers and develop strong relationships within the Middle-Tennessee farming community, especially with likeminded individuals and entities, on behalf of Francolin Farm
  • At times, work with Farm Owner to coordinate and support product development, programming and events
  • Participate in continuing education to enrich your work and add to Francolin Farms overall pursuit of agricultural excellence.
  • Stay educated on national best practices and innovate farm models.
  • Adapt duties to the seasons, weather conditions, or a crop’s growing cycle
  • Participate on planning for long-term farm development

GARDENS AND ORCHARD MANAGEMENT

• Conduct day-to-day farm operations in relationship to designated farming production.
• Field responsibilities include, but are not limited to, planting, harvesting, cultivating, pest/insect/weed management, maintaining equipment and premises
• Manage and share in seed, selection, propagation, planting, fertilizing, soil building, seasonal field work, yield research, plant diversity, harvest, wash, pack, quality control, and inventory of all farm-grown produce and animal products
• Select and purchase supplies for farm operations 
• Develop crop and programmatic plans with input from Farm Owner focusing on organically-grown, regenerative, no-till principles and practices, including detailed weekly planting, growing, and harvesting schedules. 
• Infrastructure planning, creation, and maintain with excellence the garden and orchard areas, irrigation, kitchen, storage and production areas, greenhouses, compost, tool shed, fencing - essentially all Francolin Farm facilities
• Assist with the development of no-till, organically-grown, regenerative cropping systems
• Maintain clear and detailed records of each season’s planting and harvest logs.
• Log, maintain, inventory and manage repairs of farm machinery and tools, as needed
• Standardize and maintain Good Agricultural Practices and Food Safety guidelines along all production areas
• Assist in determining annual farm budget and cost projections and operate within the budgetary parameters

PERSONNEL MANAGEMENT

• • Hire, educate, train, manage personnel and delegate responsibilities in order to properly execute on production, seasonally, as needed
  • Provide work plans for direct reports and maintain regularly scheduled meetings with farm personnel
  • Coordinate materials for staff, volunteers and temporary workers including waivers, emergency contact forms, confidentialities, etc.
  • Document field operations and manage methods of data collection, analysis, and reporting and develop and refine systems, processes and documentation to ensure high quality programming
  • Operate equipment in a safe and efficient manner and teach equipment operation and maintenance to personnel, when necessary

Required Qualifications and Experience

Note: The requirements listed below are representative of the knowledge, skill, and/or ability required. 

• 3-5 years of relevant work experience in horticultural crop production and farm management, specifically organic, no-till, regenerative farming practices
• 2-3 years of experience teaching, leading, or mentoring
• A serious passion for sustainable, regenerative, no-till farming, as described throughout.
• Excellent time management and organizational skills
• Outstanding and proven skills in managing teams with maximized excellence, productivity and efficiency
• Ability to transition between both programmatic details and organization-wide strategy, goals and initiatives 
• Cooperative, service-oriented attitude and ability to work independently and take initiative, set priorities, and see projects through to completion
• Strong communication, interpersonal and relationship development skills
• Ability to be open and flexible to new ways of working
• Creative skills and ability to experiment to attain new, better strategies, approaches, and solutions to challenges and opportunities
• Flexibly and willingness to take on a variety of tasks along with an ability to work effectively in a highly collaborative, team environment
• Computer skills 
• Must be willing to work in all types of weather and a flexibility in hours due to unpredictability and demand of farming
• Able to lift in excess of 50 pounds
• A valid drivers license and a clean driving record
• Able to work in an environment that requires a great deal of walking, standing, climbing, stooping, bending, kneeling, reaching, lifting, cutting, and carrying.

Preferred Qualifications and Experience

• Some experience in a hospitality environment
• Certification and/or degree in sustainable agriculture education or related fields
• Experience with soil and water management
• Experience working with some livestock
• Experience working with fruit/nut orchards
• Familiarity with food safety guidelines
• Knowledge of species and climate specific to Tennessee or similar
• Experience as an agricultural educator
• Project management experience