Company description

About Us:

Spear Spring Farm is an historic 170-acre “organic practice” diversified farm, located in the beautiful MidCoast of Maine. The farm was fallow for many years and over the last five seasons we have worked very hard to bring it back into production, improve soil health and build farm infrastructure. We plant a wide diversity of vegetables, flowers, perennials, and herbs, which we sell primarily through our on site farm store, our CSA, and through wholesale accounts.

Our vision is to be a diversified farm that operates sustainably both economically and environmentally. Our current partner, who has ably and wonderfully gotten us to where we are today, would like to focus on new activities that are synergistic with our growing and educational mission, like farm-to-table dining, event programming and agritourism.

Location: Warren is only 15 minutes from the ocean and the neighboring towns of Rockland and Damariscotta (great food, theaters, museums, and a vibrant local community), and only 25 minutes to Camden/Rockport. The farm boasts sweeping views of our fields and the Camden Hills in the distance, 3 ponds, frontage on the St. George River and ample woods. We have a nesting pair of Barred Owls in the back fields, Bald Eagles by the river and a nearby lake with a wooded area for swimming that’s accessible by a short walk. There is a vibrant local food community, along with many area activities and festivals that make the MidCoast of Maine a great place to live and work!

Job description

SSF is looking for an established couple to manage Farm/Field Operations for a medium to long term commitment.

About You:

This is a unique opportunity to run a well-equipped farm, with financial security, while bringing your own creativity and passion to the table.

Important attributes for our new operating partners include: sharing our vision; relevant farm experience and training; high energy; honesty; transparency; resiliency; commitment; enthusiasm. You will need to be good partners to us, as we will be to you.

Compensation is TBD, but likely will include housing on the farm, a modest stipend ($600/wk?) and a percentage of operating cash flow (revenue minus direct costs of growing and selling, like labor, seed and other supplies, etc.). Housing for the first year will be in a 3-year old, solar powered, off-grid cabin. After a year of commitment, you may then be able to take over the original 1763 brick farmhouse, which has been updated with new kitchen, bathrooms, furnace, etc.

The ideal candidates will have:

• 3-5 years minimum experience working on a successful diversified, organic method farm, with significant responsibility for crop planning and field/farm operations, including team management
• An agricultural degree, or other formal ag training
• Ability and willingness to work with farm equipment – tractor, irrigation systems, vehicles, chain saw skills, etc.
• Ability to work collaboratively with others – the current management team consists of the owners/investors and the current farm managers who will be shifting their focus to expanding other areas of the farm business. The ability to work as part of this team to achieve the overall goals of the farm: to operate in harmony and efficiency with each other; to communicate effectively and manage expectations of both customers & staff; to lead by example and foster a healthy and creative working environment; to share ideas and execute the decisions of the management team; are all critical aspects of this role.
• Ability to problem solve – Mother Nature delights in challenging even our best laid plans. The ability to see a problem and find a solution is an important skill.
• Familiarity with Quickbooks, general bookkeeping skills, Microsoft Excel/Word, social media
• Knowledge of market vegetables, growing zones, soil health concepts, planting techniques, cultivation techniques, natural pest management techniques
• Healthy respect for wildlife, including pests, as part of our ecosystem
• Ability to hire and manage a crew – we have had a crew of 5-7 field staff in the summer/height of season (some part-time and some full time), with another 2-3 people dedicated part-time to the farm stand and a few volunteers – training and maintaining harmony and motivation among the crew is critical to the management role
• Honesty, Integrity, Responsibility – We are looking for mature adults that understand and embrace the responsibility of running a farm.
• Ability to commit to a 3-5 year time frame.

Resources Available:

• Off Grid Solar Bunkhouse (sleeps two) – There is a very private, 3 year old off-grid solar powered bunkhouse 12’ x 24’ with a private bathroom available for the farm/field operations managers to live in to start. After the first year (exact timing TBD), you could then move into the main farmhouse after the current farm managers have moved into their new home.
• 1 – 80’ Propagation House with thermostatically controlled side walls, overhead watering system, various height tables, seeding systems for soil blocking, paper pots, microgreens, automated curtain system, overhead fans and end wall fan
• 2 – 96’ High Tunnels with internal frost-free hydrants for irrigation, overhead fans, end wall fan, thermostatically controlled side walls, permanent beds, roller-hook trellising system
• 2 nearly new Kabota 4700 tractors (one manual and one HST) with a variety of implements: rototiller for breaking into fallow fields, disc harrow, soil conditioner, 2 brush hogs, post-hole digger, spader, flail mower, York rake, bed shaper, bed lifter and backhoe
• Ford F150 Farm truck – good condition
• Transit Delivery Van – good condition
• 24’x24’ Farm Stand – New in 2019
• State of the Art Wash/Pack Facility – New in 2020 – with 2 large walk-in coolers, on demand hot water, heating, large salad spinner, bubbler, three bay sink, weigh/pack area
• 8’ x 20’ Insulated Shipping Container Coolbot/Dry Storage
• Solar Deer and Wildlife Fencing for about ~1.5 acres (moveable, used to fence individual section, not a single area)
• Tractor Shed w/Heated Workshop, Tool Storage, chest freezers for Farm Stand, 2 Open Bays
• 4-Wheeler ATV
• Terratek Bed Harvester
• Large selection of small tools and wheelbarrows, including Jang 3 row seed and Earthway single row seeder, cover crop seed spreader, Terratek finger weeder, Hoss high-arch wheel hoe, etc.
• Irrigation – layflat, drip irrigation, overhead wobblers, irrigation pump for use in irrigating from our pond
• Large volume of 15 year weed cloth (for long season crops like tomatoes and squash), various weight row covers, insect netting
• Large volume of silage tarps in various sizes for soil and weed management, bed flipping
• On Grid Staff House – with kitchenette, bathroom and dining area

Compensation

this position is: salaried, $35,568* - $50,000

Application instructions

Deadline

no deadline