Job description

The Farm;
We run a small, on-farm 20C Butcher Shop here at Mace Chasm Farm. We are mainly butchering animals that were raised right here on the 125 acre farm & we direct market our meats & eggs to our local, rural population here in the eastern Adirondacks through Farmer's Markets, our Winter Delivery Route, and stop-in sales here in the shop. We rotationally graze Katahdin sheep, Devon beef, heritage breed pigs, layer chickens, turkeys, and meat chickens. The core crew is comprised of two butchers, two livestock farmers, one Farm Food Truck cook, and Project Manager – this position - but we all help everywhere as needed. We also take on one or two college interns for the summer.

The farm also runs a Food Truck that features our meats along with neighboring veggies, cheeses, brews, and breads. The Food Truck does three regular events per week, and sometimes we book extra appearances or throw events at the farm. Two of our weekly events are right across the street at our friend’s farmstead brewery, AuSable Brewing Co., where we do ‘Taco Thursdays’ and then Friday night on the grill with house burgers & sausages, and excellent salads.

We live in a rural, vibrant, little young farming community, and are passionate about producing healthy food for our local population while taking good care of the land that we use. We love the Adirondacks. This is where Asa is from, and he knows the mountains well.

This Job; We’re looking for someone with carpentry & construction skills, chainsaw skills, a knack for problem solving, and an interest in researching & designing systems that work for the farmers, livestock, butchers, and chefs here at Mace Chasm Farm. As a team we will prioritize projects, identify need for improvement, research solutions, and work on the projects – but you will round up materials, get them set up every day, and lead the crew, or crush smaller projects solo. We will come to you when something isn’t working well, or when a repair is needed. There is a nice little welding/wood shop here. Mechanical skills are a plus. There are some good resources & connections nearby to help out where we lack skill or time. Some of the projects on the list this year are; drilling a well and installing a solar pump house, drainage of the main farm road, building lots of high tensile fence, building two stream crossings, cutting fence line for pig paddocks in the woods, clearing hedgerows for planning fruit trees, repairing barn roof, re-purposing the old milking parlor in the barn, building infrastructure for raising turkeys, and so on. Much of this will be done with excavators & contractors, and we’ll just have to be in the ditches helping, but some of this (fence building & clearing) is just work for the crew – and some projects would be your own. You would also do chores a day or two a week when we’re a market, be fully trained at chicken slaughter, help out in the Butcher Shop sometimes, and help with our busy food service nights at the brewery across the street. The ratio of these things can come together based on your interests.

So responsibilities will include;

• Taking care of the welding/wood shop & the tools therein.
• Taking care of lumber & building materials storage
• Being versed in livestock chores & grazing systems
• Being the fix-it all-star
• Helping design, cost out, and schedule infrastructuel projects
• Keeping records of project expenses
• Helping out with chicken slaughter or big pushes in the butcher shop
• Cutting fence lines, moving brush, helping build fence, bucking up good firewood, storing good posts, etc.
• Maintenance of tools & equipment on the farm & in the shop
• Set-up and care of the shop. We’re doing a shop overhaul this winter, kicking out a buddy’s 3 phase equipment that we never use, and turning half the space into a wood shop. Court’s a metalworker, so there is welding and forging equipment. Asa’s a stoneworker, so there are masonry tools. There are tools we’ll need to buy this year.
• Loading/hauling livestock
• Tending to the greenhouse crops

Compensation;We need you for at least 7 months – 28 weeks – April or May-November. This is our busiest season, and this is the minimum commitment we would ask for. We offer on-farm housing. Compensation is room & board & $350/wk.

We work hard. We live in an incredible place, and in a really cool community. There are awesome mountains, cold rivers, and a beautiful lake around us. We’d like to make sure that everyone is getting some time off to enjoy this place.
www.macechasmfarm.com

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