Prairie Whole Farm is a ministry of The Earthen Institute (a 501(c)3 non-profit corporation) and operates under the oversight of its Board of Directors. Prairie Whole Farm is a place of individual and corporate Christian formation. We are committed to embodying a way of life together, and in our broader community, in which we find daily common worship central. Our common work, worship, rest and play are all simple practices we commit ourselves to in order to reorient the spatial and temporal patterns of life for the sake of a world that has abandoned its human-scale character.
We extend an invitation for others to join us in the life of our community to share in these shaping practices of Christian formation. Like the world in which we live, the Christian life is often seen as fragmented and disjointed, separating body and soul; calling and the earth; creation and community; church and mission; work and worship; beauty and truth; Scripture and ordinary life. We invite interested individuals into the life of this place in an attempt to live together a biblical way of life that is integrally connected and whole that we might be made whole, and offer a path to wholeness to the world.
We aim to serve our local church and community through the work of our farm. Through the food we grow and harvest, the communal life of our farm, our practices of life together, and acts of service we hope to build and nurture a culture that breathes New Creation vitality into our rural community.
The Farmer at Prairie Whole Farm will manage, direct, and develop a vital aspect of the work at Prairie Whole Farm. Our intentional Christian community is immersed in the daily work of this farm to grow food, serve others and learn skills – and in so doing be deeply formed to be distinctively Christian. The purpose of this farm encompasses the practices of care, work, service, and profit. But, perhaps the core purpose of Prairie Whole Farm is to enter into these practices of care, work, service, and profit as powerfully formative practices for us, the church, and the world.
We are seeking a full-time, year-round farmer to manage, direct, and develop our farm enterprises. Our farm is located in western Iowa, about 10 miles from the town of Ida Grove (pop. 1,800).
CSA. 2016 will mark our 5th year of CSA vegetable production. We have nearly doubled in the number of memberships each year with last year marking a CSA membership of 69 total members. We try to serve and focus on our local and immediate community but we also have members in several other communities in western Iowa. In 2015 we operated one CSA season from early June to late September covering a total of 16 weeks. We have grown a wide variety of vegetables and herbs. We have also offered a bouquet of cut flowers with each week’s share. We are not certified organic but we do practice organic growing methods.
Hogs. We raise Red Wattle Hogs, a rare heritage breed. Currently we have 27 sows and 4 boars. The sows are divided up into 3 different breeding groups and we farrow year round in bedded pens. Most of our hogs are sold as young feeder pigs (20-40 lbs) to several different customers in Minnesota and Virginia. There is also a good market for breeding stock and direct marketing butcher hogs. Our hogs are raised humanely with continual outside access and bedding.
There is great potential for expansion both in our existing enterprises and in adding additional enterprises. Any additional markets and/or enterprises will take a lot of work but the sky’s the limit for the right individual.
The CSA could continue to greatly expand. There is demand in local and nearby communities across western Iowa (think "Western Iowa Produce Company"). We had to turn away customers last year. Our 30’x72’ high tunnel will be operational by next Spring so the growing season can be expanded both earlier and later. We have never attempted a farmer’s market but that potential is there for the right individual. There is additional land we could use and/or rent for additional garden space. Our other facilities and equipment are not limiting factors to expansion at this point. The largest limiting factor to expansion for our farm has been labor.
Our hogs could be directly marketed to restaurants, stores, and individuals. There is a large and growing market for direct sales such as this. We could also expand our hog herd to 36 sows with our existing facilities and set-up. Expansion beyond that number is possible but would require some remodeling and/or construction.
Other possible enterprises: chickens, eggs, fruit, year-round CSA, beef, lamb, pumpkins, honey, etc.
a. Production. The Farmer at Prairie Whole Farm will be responsible for all aspects of farm production.
CSA: planning succession planting, ordering seeds, greenhouse management, transplanting schedule, labor needs, wash house management, cooler management, ordering supplies, pest management, irrigation, harvesting, determining share, packing CSA boxes, delivery, monitoring the weather, etc. The Farmer will ultimately be responsible for all aspects of CSA farm production.
Hogs: daily chores (morning and night), grinding feed, ordering feed, vaccinations, castration, herd health, fencing, power-washing, pen moves, weaning, maintenance, etc. The Farmer will ultimately be responsible for all aspects of Hog production.
b. Marketing. The Farmer at Prairie Whole Farm will be responsible for all aspects of farm marketing.
CSA: News of our CSA has spread most often and effectively by word of mouth. However, the Farmer will be responsible for advertising where appropriate, maintaining a social media presence, speaking at group events, approaching area businesses and other sales leads. The Farmer will also take the lead in determining what markets to approach and areas to target for sales. Develop and plan delivery routes, distribution days, etc.
Hogs: Many of our hogs are sold to several different individuals who buys them as young feeder pigs. There is the potential for pursuing other markets as well. The marketing of our hogs has lots of possibilities but does not have regular duties associated with it yet.
c. Leadership. The above items require a lot of labor – certainly more than one person can do. A large portion of the Farmer’s job will be managing community members, volunteers, and others in such a way as to get done what needs to be done. This will require planning, flexibility, and clear communication to all involved. We want to involve as many people in as many things around the farm as possible. This will be challenging and will take much foresight and planning on the Farmer’s part. He/she must take weather, safety, other schedules, etc. into account – all while being gentle and shepherding in the leadership of others at work.
d. Entrepreneurship. We would like to further develop different enterprises on the farm that uses the resources we have, can safely involve others, and can be profitable. Much conversation would need to happen between all of us on the farm as to what we should pursue but it is expected that the Farmer would be actively thinking about and pursuing the possibility of additional enterprises and all that would entail.
a. We would invite and encourage all interested individuals to apply.
b. The candidate will be a thoughtful and articulate Christian who heartily embraces the convictions, ethos, and mission of Prairie Whole Farm and The Earthen Institute.
c. The candidate will be self-motivated and an entrepreneur-type thinker. Ideally this position is one of significant autonomy, management, and leadership. Our work is motivated for the sake of our community together but we would like to set the ideal candidate free to pursue projects without a great deal of daily oversight. This takes a significant amount of self-motivation.
d. The ideal candidate will have 3-5 years of market vegetable/CSA growing experience. Ideally this candidate will also have had some farm management experience.
e. The ideal candidate will have had some experience managing livestock – hogs in particular. The livestock duties associated with this position could be somewhat negotiable for the otherwise ideal candidate. This is something that we could talk about together.
f. The ideal candidate will have some degree of mechanical aptitude and skill. At this point that mechanical skill will entail driving a tractor with various garden implements (tiller, mower, plastic mulch layer, etc.) Our present tractor is a John Deere 3020 gas tractor.
a. The practices of life together: The Farmer will be a part of our community at Prairie Whole Farm and, as such, must willingly enter and submit to the practices of life together that we all follow.
b. Consciously Christian: We would expect the Farmer to be walking along the path that leads to Jesus and consciously a follower of His.
c. Community: We would expect the Farmer to be a willing participant in the life of our community at Prairie Whole Farm - loving and showing deference in an effort to live at peace with one another.
d. Communication: It will be necessary for the Farmer to maintain very clear and regular communication with other members of the community. The farm is demanding work that is quite stressful at times. We all want the farm to do well and we are committed to it. We will need the help of the Farmer to know what needs to be done, how to do it, what is most urgent, what could be done better, what needs to be changed, etc.
e. Flexibility: Very little goes as planned on any given day in the life of a farm. Weather, crops, pests, schedules, etc. all happen to throw things off so it will be very important for the Farmer to be able to take things in stride, to adjust his/her plan, and to be able to overcome the differences between plan and reality that every day brings.
f. Team Player: We have many people come through the Farm and many people will help work on the Farm. We want to encourage and enable this however it can be frustrating and actually a net labor loss to have volunteers who do not know what they are doing. The Farmer must understand this but be willing to offer a warm welcome and willing spirit to those who would help but may disrupt the efficiency of the operation.
g. Accountability: This is a family farm with many stakeholders involved. It will be the Farmer’s privilege and responsibility to operate this farm – and likely with more and more autonomy over time. However, many aspects of this farm operation must be vetted, discussed, and approved by the appropriate people. We want to give the appropriate amount of executive authority to the Farmer regarding farm decisions however many decisions will also need to be agreed upon by the other stakeholders (eg. property owners, Earthen Institute Board of Directors, Prairie Whole Farm Director, extended family members, etc.) involved.
a. All paid staff at Prairie Whole Farm raise personal financial support to meet their financial needs. Essentially all paid staff are self-supported missionaries of The Earthen Institute. Farm profits go to the support, development, and continuation of this community (buildings, projects, and business/farm development). As part of our vision we hope to "plant" other similar intentional communities of Christian practice in rural communities across Iowa. We hope to use farm profits to help start these mission communities.
b. A percentage of farm profits after expenses will be paid to the Farmer. This may come in the form of a bonus at the end of each year. We want to empower the Farmer to build, expand, and seek profitability; we hope that offering a personal financial return based on farm profitability with serve as a healthy incentive to pursue these things. (Specific percentage return, timing, mechanism, etc. will all need to be discussed and agreed upon together.)
c. Free, private housing (you pay utilities).
d. Three weeks paid vacation (during non-CSA season).
e. Vegetables from the farm.
f. Pork from the farm.
g. Membership in a unique, vibrant, and formative intentional Christian community.
a. It is our hope and goal that this would be a permanent and ongoing position and that the right person would stay here as part of our community for a long time.
b. Ideally this position will begin soon into 2016. The level of funds needed for personal support will vary depending on the individual so start date will be somewhat dependent on funds raised and availability. We normally begin starting seeds in the greenhouse in late February.
c. This is a large and complex position that will take several years to understand and work all the way through. No matter the previous experience, learning how a farm operates takes time. The ideal candidate will be patient yet eager to learn and willing to take responsibility as appropriate. We want the farm to do well and the Farmer to prosper in his/her work.
Job posting, four pages · archived February 2016 · original