Company description

Farm to Table, Table to Farm:

Full Circle Farming in KC’s Urban Core

URBAVORE is a biologically diverse farmstead set on 13.5 acres in Kansas City's urban core. Farmers Brooke & Dan are committed to environmental integrity in all aspects of business & personal life. Energy efficient systems for food production, waste, water and shelter redefine sustainability to build community and ecology.

URBAVORE has delighted and satiated the palates of Kansas City’s food community for nearly two decades. Using a unique “no-till” growing method combined with farm-made compost, we produce nutrient-dense vegetables, fruits, cut-flowers, eggs, and pork. Through zero tillage, heavy compost applications, cover cropping, deep mulch, and animal rotations, the farm builds biologically active soil. Food crops thrive in this living soil, and as a result are never sprayed with pesticides or fungicides (including those approved for certified organic farms).

In addition to food production and land stewardship, URBAVORE owns and operates Compost Collective KC - Kansas City’s premiere residential compost service. Compost Collective services over 3000 households in the metro area, collecting food waste and bringing it to the farm where it is turned into finished compost that is applied to the fields. The farm takes in 25,000 pounds of food waste per week resulting in an unlimited supply of biologically rich soil that provides 100% of Urbavore’s fertility needs. Thus an urban farm is fed with urban food waste creating a full-circle system that addresses both climate resilience and local food security one banana peel at a time! We see our system as a blueprint for holistic waste management and healthy food systems in cities nationwide.

History:

Farmers Brooke & Dan are known for their tenacity as well as their trailblazing “out of the box” thinking. Their work ethic combined with an unyielding commitment to sustainability has created Kansas City’s largest, most impactful urban farm. As pioneers and radical homesteaders, the couple grappled with the city to obtain 13.5 acres of raw land just five miles east of the Country Club Plaza in 2010. With no water, no housing, no fencing, and no electricity, this land posed a formidable challenge to its new stewards and set the stage for their life’s work: to build a family and farmstead that creates more than it consumes.

In 2021, Brooke & Dan went out on a limb and purchased Compost Collective KC to help realize the other half of the equation: "table to farm" (community food waste becoming the fertility for community food)

Today, after many years of blood & sweat (and quite a few tears), URBAVORE & Compost Collective serve as a sustainability powerhouse unique to Kansas City’s 3rd District.

Job description

Urbavore is hiring their (first ever!!) Asst. Farm Manager for the 2026 growing season and beyond!

This position requires a solid foundation in organic vegetable growing (knowledge of no-till systems are a plus), tenacious work ethic/focus, ability to multi-task, strong communication/leadership skills, positive/uplifting attitude, and the ability to provide both compassion & clear direction to crew members who possess varying personalities & skill-levels.

*We are very much interested in someone who can unite us as a TEAM and bring both warmth AND efficiency/proficiency to our systems. This person must be able to not only manage crew members, but accomplish daily farm tasks, while keeping the bigger picture in mind at all times.

**This position has the ability to evolve into so much more than an employee/employer situation. We are ideally looking for someone to fully manage our farm one day and become a partner with capital investment. We are open to a myriad of collaborative partnerships and cooperative models for the right individual or family.

Full-Time Schedule - 45 to 60 Hours per week, typically Monday thru Friday

Season Length - Year-round with more flexibility during the winter months

Starting Pay - $17 - $22 per hour depending on experience (we hope to keep this individual on as part of our farm family, wage increases and creative partnerships to be had over time)

Extra Incentives - Lots of FREE PRODUCE (both leftovers and seconds), lots of free (minimally cracked) eggs, good deals on pork, and free bits like organ meats & lard, FREE UNLIMITED COMPOST, free leftover garden transplants, and ability to borrow tools and other equipment for your own garden projects (we have land available for employee gardens & entrepreneurial projects!!)

Minimum Expectations - KINDNESS + 3 YEARS prior farming experience (prior management experience preferred). Must have strong communication and leadership skills. Must be highly organized. Must be able to comfortably lift 50 pounds. Must be physically agile and able to withstand long/laborious hours in extreme cold & heat. Must have basic experience with small equipment like weed whackers and mowers. Must be ENGAGED, thoughtful, and good-natured - able to connect dots and understand nuanced instruction while remaining friendly and open to problem-solving, communication, and feedback. Must be detail-oriented and able to excel at both heavy grunt work & sensitive tedious activities. Must be respectful to a diverse group of farmers & co-workers. Must be PUNCTUAL and RELIABLE.

Bonus Skills - Experience with chainsaws and heavier equipment like tractors and skid steers. Basic carpentry skills and reasonable ability to “fix things”, prior management experience on farms or in other sectors.

Type of Work -

• Managing crew and performing field tasks & post harvest tasks on a diversified farm
• Training & working closely with the farmers to gain skills & confidence in the management of intense no-till veggie production and specialty perennials
• Veggie Production: greenhouse seeding, field bed prep, broad forking, mulching, compost spreading, transplanting, direct seeding, weeding, harvesting, washing, packing, market prep
• Pastured poultry management (feeding/watering/egg collecting & cleaning/moving to new pasture)
• Pastured hog management (filling feeders/waterers, moving to new pasture, giving belly rubs)
• Orchard maintenance & general farm maintenance like mowing/edging/fence clearing
• Opportunities to work our weekly farm distribution, go to market, or make restaurant deliveries

*As the Asst. Manager you will still be performing all the typical farm jobs so that you can master them, but you will have increased responsibility compared to our field crew. You will lead them, and work with Brooke & Dan over the course of the season to understand the nuances of this diversified place/production as well as the bigger picture goals.

Compensation

this position is: hourly, varies DOE, $17.00 - $22.00

Application instructions

Deadline

no deadline