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Seeking Farm Manager

The Kansas City Center for Urban Agriculture is hiring a full-time Farm Manager for the KC Community Farm. KCCUA is a non-profit organization that promotes small-scale, urban food production in the Kansas City metropolitan area. We offer technical assistance, farm development support, community education, and a variety of other educational and community programs; we also run the Kansas City Community Farm.

Farm Description: KCCF is a 2 –plus acre certified organic vegetable operation, with a 6,000 square foot greenhouse. We were established in 2005; the land has been growing certified organic vegetables for 11 years. We grow a wide variety of vegetables and herbs; our goal at the market is to provide the customer with a full range of traditional and gourmet vegetables. We have an established customer base and a stable CSA.

Depending on experience, responsibilities will include:

Production planning with KCCUA staff;
Ordering seeds, supplies;

Greenhouse transplant production and winter greenhouse and high tunnel vegetable production;
Planting, weeding, pest and disease control, harvesting, washing and soil building;

Hiring, supervising and training paid field crew and volunteers;
Sales and marketing through Saturday farmers’ markets and a 30 member CSA, and occasional wholesale to restaurants and other farmers;
Basic farm maintenance and infrastructure improvement;
Coordination and development of on-farm research projects in collaboration with K-State Research and Extension and other farmers;
Occasional farm tours and public talks, media interviews;
Farm recordkeeping (except for financial), including paperwork and management of organic certification; and
All other aspects of farm management.

Requirements:

At least 4 full seasons working on an organic vegetable farm; strong computer skills (especially excel spreadsheets); experience running a farm is an absolute plus!

Organizational skills: ability to get along with a wide range of people, including farmers, volunteers, customers, supporters. This is a farm with a lot of public contact; the farmer must be able to balance the person-to-person interactions with the need to get farm work done! The farm goals and plans will be set by Executive Director, Associate Director and Farm Manager, the Farm Manager must be comfortable with a collaborative process.

Must be a planner and comfortable with production schedules and field plans, and weekly meetings to set out priorities and work plans,

Must be ambitious- we want someone who is interested in staying with us over a number of years and helping us build the farm and our organization.

Must be committed to high standards in vegetable production and sales and to farm presentation.

Must be hard-working, physically-fit, capable of hard physical work in heat, rain, and cold (this is the middle of the Midwest , which means we get it all!)

Must be committed to KCCUA’s mission of promoting urban agriculture and have a demonstrated commitment to local food production.

Hours: Farmers’ hours

Compensation: $20-27,000, depending on experience. Fully paid health insurance after 3 months of employment. 2 weeks paid vacation after the end of the first season.

Start date: Fall, 2008

Application process: Send resume, three references, writing samples, and any supporting information about farms you’ve previously worked at (flyers, news articles, brochures, etc.) to:

Katherine Kelly

Executive Director

KC Center for Urban Agriculture

PO Box 6043

Kansas City , KS 66106

katherine@kccua.org

Send as much as possible by email, supporting materials only by US mail.

DEADLINE: AUGUST 30, 2008