By Rachel Airmet

These days, apprentices seem to be a staple on small-scale farms. Small farmers can always use an extra hand, and having a few apprentices or interns can be an inexpensive way to deal with the labor shortage. To many small farmers, farming is more than just a business, and they are excited to share their lifestyle, experience, and knowledge with like-minded young people. On the other side of things, an apprenticeship is the perfect place for a young person, like me, who wants to get into farming but has no family farming experience or formal training. An apprenticeship offers the opportunity, first of all, to find out if you really do want to be a farmer, and what kind; and second, to learn directly from an experienced grower the skills necessary to start up your own operation.
If everything goes well, the farm apprenticeship can be a wonderful opportunity for both the farmer and the intern. Without care, however, things can go seriously wrong. In my quest to be a farmer, I’ve survived the ups and downs of three different apprenticeships. Along the way, I’ve learned a few things that might help farmers have more successful apprenticeship programs.
There are three different types of people who typically look for farm apprenticeships. The first are those who know they want to farm and are looking for a serious training opportunity. The second are those who think they might want to farm and want to see what farming’s really like. The third are those who are drifting by in some impenetrable inner world, not sure what they are doing, but have some time to kill and, always, “like to work outside” or “want to get their hands dirty.”
I was in this third category when I landed my first apprenticeship, nearly accidentally, at Sandy Bar Ranch & Nursery in northern California. I didn’t know the first thing or have the slightest interest in fruit tree propagation and sales, and then suddenly I was immersed in it. In the end, however, everything turned out for the best. The nursery was only a small part of my experience. I also learned rural skills such as gardening, splitting wood, milking goats, tending chickens, and basic carpentry and forestry. I also learned to cook healthy vegetarian meals for a large group and got a chance to practice the art of community living. I didn’t fully realize it until I left that internship, but my life was changed permanently and for the better. Kudos to those farmers who can take these lost twenty-somethings into their lives for a few months and root them a little more firmly in the earth. Your patience is not for nothing.
By the time I looked for my second internship I had done some reading and some thinking and had progressed into the second category: I thought I actually might want to farm for a living. I took my search for this internship much more seriously. I visited half a dozen farmers, and talked to several more on the phone. Each situation is different, and my visits proved indispensable in making the final decision as to where to intern. Places that appear similar based on a paragraph on the ATTRA website (www.attra.org) turn out to be entirely different in reality. I tried to stay overnight and do some work with the farmer when possible. A few farmers only wanted me to visit for an hour or two. Touring several farms not only helped me choose an internship but gave me a better idea of what sort of farms are possible and what I’d like to have for myself some day.
This second internship, at Fields Farm in central Oregon, went well. I stayed the spring, and then took a high-paying summer job on a fire crew, with the plan that at the end of the season I would have enough money saved to put a down payment on my own piece of land. I thought I was done interning: I was hankering after domestic autonomy. But firefighting became unbearable—I couldn’t stand to be away from the farm—and I decided that experiential capital was more important to me at this stage in my life than financial capital. So I took a third internship, treating it like a serious training opportunity, knowing that as soon as I could get my feet under me, I would begin farming on my own.
My third internship has been wonderful, largely because I have a great affinity with the farmers here at Whistling Duck Farm. But I also have a much better attitude toward interning. The living situation is not perfect and sometimes downright uncomfortable, but I am able to put up with more because I know this is the best place for me until I can lease or buy my own land. Things are going so well here that I’ve been asked to stay on as Field Manager for the 2004 season.
Interns of this third type, who know they want to be farmers, will have more energy and most likely some experience and knowledge to contribute to the farm, but they may also expect greater compensation and will probably want more independence and responsibility for larger projects. Some farmers are only willing to take on interns who have experience. If the farmer does not have the time or energy to give true novices the attention they need, this is the right solution for them. Often those who know nothing at all about farming do better on a smaller farm, one that is less production-driven and more based on lifestyle.

Establish ground rules
The relationship between farmer and intern is a unique one. It is not as simple as the relationship between employer and employee or the relationship between teacher and student. The relationship between farmer and intern is not governed by an official contract, an hourly wage, a regular work schedule, or by a formal training program culminating in some sort of certificate. The relationship is governed by mutual trust and care, interest and willingness. This brings benefits to both parties, but it also comes with its own set of difficulties.
For instance, farmers do get some cheap labor out of their interns. If the farmer values enthusiasm and willingness over skill and speed this can work out well. But if he is unwilling to devote the extra time and energy into training interns, both parties suffer. Interns are not just hired help, and the farmer must do much more than merely direct his interns’ labor. The farmer must be committed to initiating his interns into every aspect of his operation, and his very lifestyle. Interns generally come to the farm with less experience and knowledge than hired help, and expect to leave the farm with much more experience and knowledge.
Because the farmer-intern relationship is so amorphous, setting up boundaries and “systems” is of the utmost importance, in both work arrangements and living arrangements.
Make it clear when the intern is supposed to be working, and when they are free to do their own thing. Interns don’t want to feel overworked, or alternately, guilty for not working enough. What time should the intern be ready to start work? Are they free to go at five or only when the farmer stops working? If it’s on a basis of “we all just need to do the work that needs to get done,” make that clear. Interns aren’t as accustomed to the rhythms of the season as the farmer is, so give fair warning if the workload is going to change in the days or weeks ahead. If an intern is staying the full season, consider giving them a week off sometime midsummer.
The internship may not be governed by an official contract, and you may feel friendlier toward your interns than you would toward hired help, but don’t let that stop you from dealing frankly with financial matters. Tell your interns what you’re going to pay them and when, and then follow through.

Salary, room and board
How much should you pay your interns anyway? As much as possible! The average stipend seems to be $300-$400 a month, on top of room and board. Some internships don’t pay at all. If you can’t pay your interns, don’t expect them to put in 65-hour weeks. My first internship was unpaid, but I only worked 30-hour weeks. If you want your interns there with you, working to the bitter end, make it worth it to them. The largest stipend I’ve seen is $700/month, which seems about where it should be. You might also consider paying more to interns who have previous farm experience, or starting the stipend out around $300 and raising it $50 each month.
Since the work relationship is so informal, it often lacks a formal structure for either farmer or intern to air difficulties. Having a weekly group “check-in” can be an invaluable way to fend off and deal with the inevitable misunderstandings. The check-in is both problem-solver and preventative maintenance. At Sandy Bar, everyone living on the farm would gather weekly for a community meeting. We would begin by each person offering an individual “check-in”: his opportunity to voice his general interior condition and to communicate any issues he had on his mind about anything. While each person took his turn, the rest of the group listened without responding. This may seem a little touchy-feely, but the information gained is invaluable when working alongside someone in the field you don’t yet know well. Maybe your boss or fellow intern doesn’t hate you: maybe they just have a cold or just heard bad news from home.
Even more important than the work arrangements, having workable living arrangements for your interns is the key to a successful internship program.
In my experience, interns are happier if they have a living space (trailer, cabin, or yurt) that is separate from the farmhouse. It’s even better if the intern housing is separated from the farmhouse by a little bit of distance. This allows for each to do their own thing without getting in each other’s way. The farmer should be absolutely clear about how welcome the intern is in the house. Are the interns only welcome in the house during certain hours of certain days? Are they only welcome in part of the house? Is the intern free to use the TV and VCR, the computer, the washing machine? At any time of day? Do they have certain responsibilities (such as cleaning) that go with being in the house, and does the intern have enough information to carry out these responsibilities successfully? Farmers need their space too and interns don’t want to step on toes. Make boundaries clear up front so that we don’t end up feeling unwelcome.
Also, if you have any policies about alcohol, smoking, or visitors that you want your interns to abide by, make these clear before the intern decides to come.
From what I’ve seen, most interns are content to live in fairly rustic conditions. We can get along without electricity, if we have an oil lamp or a good stock of candles. We can get along without plumbing, if we have a composting toilet, or access to the house. Although it’s a nuisance, we can get along without running water in our kitchens, if we have a five- or ten-gallon jug and a nearby spigot. I’ve seen interns get by with an outdoor solar shower. If the intern housing has electricity, provide a space heater. If your interns are going to be sleeping through cold nights with no heat, make sure they have plenty of blankets and somewhere to come warm up in the morning. Interns, especially short term ones, can tough it out, but the more basic creature comforts they can have, the less they’ll have to be angry about when the hoeing or bean-picking begins to get to them.
Farmers might need to suggest a list of items to bring to the farm. Interns are often unaware of the realities of day-to-day farm work, living conditions, and weather. Farmers might suggest interns show up with a flashlight, alarm clock, water bottle, work gloves, lighter or matches, sun hat, rain jacket and pants or bibs, sturdy work boots, and rubber irrigation boots. Farmers should also let interns know whether they need to bring their own bedding and/or cooking utensils and dishes.
Ideally, interns will have their own kitchen. Each intern might have his own kitchen in his trailer; or there might be an indoor or outdoor shared kitchen for the interns. If the intern does have his own kitchen, the farmer should outfit it with basic cooking equipment, or else make sure the intern knows to bring his own.
At each of my internships, the interns and farm family shared the main meal on weekdays. Each person took a turn cooking for everyone else. This is a great way to share the labor and build community. On the other hand, I’ve appreciated the ability to have breakfasts and dinners in my own space at my own time.
Often the farmer provides all or part of an intern’s food. Many systems can work here; the most important thing is that the intern understands the system. At my first internship, I was simply expected to eat what was provided in the communal kitchen. If I wanted something extra, I bought it myself and put my name on it. At my second internship, I provided the farmer with a shopping list each week. This became sort of a hassle. It is often easier if the intern can just do his own shopping (assuming there’s a market within reasonable distance of the farm). The system at my present internship seems to work quite well. For the shared main meal of the day, the interns have free access to whatever food is in the kitchen. If we want something special for this meal, we ask the farmers to buy it ahead of time. For breakfast and dinners, we do our own shopping, cook in our own trailers, and have our own refrigerator in the mudroom of the house. Produce is, of course, provided free in season. The farmers here figure it is easier to pay us a bit more and let us do our own shopping, than to try to shop for all our various idiosyncrasies.
Whatever food and housing arrangements the farmer provides, the most important thing is that the protocols are clear to the intern. If the farmer can communicate boundaries and expectations up-front, then the intern will be able to settle in and feel comfortable that much more quickly.

Education
In addition to working arrangements and living arrangements, the farmer should spend some time considering his education program. Here at Whistling Duck, education is mostly hands-on, learn-as-you-go. At our weekly meeting, the farmers always answer our questions in depth, and many lunches turn into spur-of-the-moment lessons on everything from marketing plans to implements for cultivating various vegetables. The farmers also let us borrow books from their collection, and often suggest things for us to read. They also direct us toward workshops and conferences they think might interest us, and facilitate visits to other farms in the area.
Most of your conversations with your interns will start from where you’re at, what you’re doing, but try to take some time to teach the intern starting from where she is: ask her what she’s thinking about her future as a farmer, ask her what questions are most pressing to her—most of our questions seem to be about how to get started on our own. We’re jumping into a system that’s already up and running, and it seems a mystery to us how you ever got there in the first place.
Other internship programs I’ve seen have a more formal education program. At Horton Road Organics outside Eugene, OR, the farmers assign readings for each week and then take a few hours each Wednesday afternoon to discuss them. If the interns are getting some outside education, whether through readings, videos, field trips, or workshops, they will have a better perspective on what you’re doing in the field and will be able to ask you more intelligent questions. Your interns will know that you really care about what they get out of their experience, and not just what cheap labor you can get out of them.

Finding interns
So when you get all your systems in place and are ready to commit yourself to a few interns, where do you find them? On the internet, of course. The best list of internships I have seen is maintained by ATTRA (Appropriate Technology Transfer for Rural Areas) at www.ncat.attra/attra-pub/intern.html. There are also internships posted at www.organicvolunteers.org and at the Willing Workers on Organic Farms’ website, WWOOF caters to travelers, many international, looking for a free, friendly place to stay in exchange for a week or two of work on a farm, rather than a whole season training experience. Seattle Tilth also maintains a list of internships in Washington State and the Maine Organic Farmers & Gardeners Association maintains a list at www.mofga.org.
The more specific a farmer can be in his intern ad, the more likely he will be contacted by interns he may actually like. An ad should include: a good description of the farm products and activities, how big the farm is, how the farm markets its goods (CSA, wholesale, grower’s market, etc.), how many hours the intern will be expected to work, how large a stipend the intern will receive, a rather specific description of living arrangements, how isolated the farm is, whether the intern needs a car, how many interns the farmer plans on having, whether the interns will usually be working directly with the farmer, independently, or with a field manager. A farmer should include any information that will make it easier for the right type of intern to identify him.
Write a one or two page description of your farm and your intern program, and send it out to people who answer your ad (or post it on your website). Write up an application for potential interns. Ask about the intern’s background, why they want to work on a farm, what they’re expecting. Ask about any specific housing or food needs. Encourage them to visit before making a commitment. Perhaps the most important factor in whether an internship will be a rewarding experience is the personal affinity between the farmer and intern, and this can only be assessed in a face-to-face meeting. Some farmers who are serious about their interns require a visit.
Especially if the intern can’t visit first, consider making the first month a trial month. At the end of the first month, have a check-in to evaluate how the intern is fairing. If there are issues, can they be resolved? If not, this is the proper time to ask the intern to leave, or for the intern to announce his decision to leave.
According to my mentor farmer here, it takes about two weeks for an intern to decide whether he wants to farm or not. However, if an intern program is set up well, it can be a great experience even for those who decide they don’t want to be farmers in the end. Each intern is different, and probably the best thing a farmer can do for his intern is take the time to listen to him.
Thank you to those of you who are willing to take us into your lives and pass on your precious knowledge and skills. What our parents and universities didn’t teach us, we are still determined to learn. Thank you for thinking about the next generation.

Rachel Airmet can be contacted at rairmet@yahoo.com