Holistic Grazing Supervisor

Job description

The farm is using animals to replace synthetic pesticide, herbicide, insecticide, and fertilizer regimens on a once conventional orchard. Animals are grazed throughout the orchard, pasture, and woodland edges as we redesign the orchard blocks to be more diverse. We're using animals as tools to transition from monocrop and invasive annual grasses to diversified agroforestry & silvopasture systems and perennial native grasses. The potential employee supervises animal healthcare and husbandry, ensuring feed & nutrition is adequate, and helping establish winter cover crops, while moving and rotating animals according to Holistic Management principles and in accordance with our regenerative mission & ethics.

*All packing duties will be performed in the field and on the farm

Job Duties and Responsibilities

Animal husbandry and health (main priority):
Supervising consistency in animal care by the rest of the staff

Daily tasks include but are not limited to:
Feeding dogs and upholding basic training and care
Supplementing: alfalfa, kelp, minerals (various for goats & chickens), etc.
Maintaining clean water access
Moving chicken tractor
Building enclosures for goat & chickens
Cleaning barn stalls/ nesting boxes as necessary

Maintain health care of goats and keep documents up to date:
Hoof trimming
Driving to town (with farm truck) to purchase feed and mineral (requires valid driver's license)
Vet visits
Copper bolusing
Rotational grazing
Moving fence - sometimes daily, up to 2-3 hours a day
Creating holistic grazing management plan and Standard Operating Procedures (SOP)
Animal processing (chickens and goats, occasional)
Scheduling work parties (all hands-on deck) as needed
Possibly milking, depending on seasonal priorities
Confer with managers and owners on operational decisions such as business opportunities and income streams and developing & integrating new animal systems, potentially for selling meat
Confer with managers in design, construction, & implementation of new systems, e.g. different style chicken tractors, etc.
Support the Mama Tree team in developing and maintaining basic infrastructure around the farm (especially for animals)
Support in cover crop planning & sowing/implementation

See Addendum C.

Special Requirements

Driver Requirements:
1) Type of drivers license required: Class C California license (or equivalent from another state)
2) The employer will pay all associated cost in order for the driver to obtain their drivers license.

Minimum Job Qualifications:
Min. of two years experience in regenerative agriculture
Min. of two years experience in animal husbandry, and holistic & rotational grazing
Min. of one year pruning & tree care experience
Min. of two years irrigation systems installation & maintenance experience
Min. of two years experience working in various permaculture and agro-ecologically designed & managed systems
Min. of two years experience in environmental, permaculture, and regenerative agriculture education & group facilitation
Experience with compost making & application, soil health, compost tea brewing, etc.
Valid Drivers License (basic DL).

See Addendum C.