Farm Internship in Virginia

Posted on June 14, 2017 by Taylor in Education, Farming, Internships // 0 Comments

Whiffletree Farm Internship in Virginia – 2017

Whiffletree Farm in Warrenton, VA. www.whiffletreefarmva.com

Jesse and Liz Straight (jessestraight@gmail.com; 540 229-5192)

Jonathan and Ellen Elliott (jselliott4y@gmail.com; 703 989-3137)

– What We Do:

We are a better-than-organic, sustainable live-stock farm. We raise pastured chickens, turkeys, eggs, pork, and beef–very much inspired and modeled after Joel Salatin’s PolyfaceFarm. 100% grassfed beef. Everything on fresh pasture. No drugs, chemicals, or GMO feeds, etc. We process all our own poultry. We raise around 12,000 chickens, 2,100 laying hens, 150 pigs, 800 turkeys, and graze around 60 beef cattle. Additionally, we have made Whiffletree a hub of excellently-raised, locally-raised, Weston Price-friendly products beyond what we raise by sourcing from our friends (lamb, organic veggies, raw honey, raw milk, etc.)! We sell to local restaurants, from our Farm Store, in collaboration with other farms, and in our northern Virginia to Charlottesville buying clubs.

Our four-month internship program is designed to teach interns all the farming, marketing, and business skills they need to start their own environmentally and economically sustainable farm.

– Farm Internship in Virginia – Description:

We work hard. 58 hours/week is normal. 6:00am-5:30pm Monday through Saturday with 45 minute breaks for breakfast and lunch, and one weekday off. Just minimal chores on Sunday (usually 2-3 hours). So an intern is working about 5.5 days/week. On rare occasions, we have to work late as need arises.

The work mostly entails moving, feeding, and watering the animals, cleaning eggs, processing chickens (every Wednesday from May to November) building and maintaining infrastructure, making deliveries, helping customers in the Farm Store, record keeping, and getting resources (feed, bedding, etc.)–though you would have to be willing to do anything. You will become well versed in the pertinent farm practices of raising all our animals. Additionally, 2 hours a week we will stop outside labor in order for me to teach lessons on running the farm business (marketing, record keeping, customer service, sourcing, etc.) and delegate those tasks for your experience. The business training aspect of our internship is distinctive–not many internship programs set aside that much time for business training. The goal would be for you to leave knowing the farm and business model. It would set you up well to start your own business.

You will need a driver’s license and car for trips into town (about a 3 mile drive).

– Compensation:

In addition to the education interns also receive room and a $400 monthly credit in our farm store that can be used on any of the things we sell (meat, eggs, sauerkraut, kombucha, bread, honey, teas, salmon, olive oil).

– To Apply for the Farm Internship in Virginia:

Please email Jonathan (jselliott4y@gmail.com) and request and a questionnaire! You can apply anytime. Thanks so much!