Who’s who and what’s what #
Biodynamic Farmland Conservation Trust, Inc. (BFCT): This is the organization that owns the farm property and equipment, manages the apprentice program, and is your employer. The BFCT is a non-profit, 501©3 corporation, and it managed by a Board of Directors. Peter Littell is the President of the Board of the BFCT. Board meetings happen roughly 5 times per year and are open to the public.
Brookfield Farm: Brookfield Farm is a project of the BFCT. It is not a “legal entity” but rather a DBA (“doing business as”) for the BFCT (legally Brookfield Farm owns nothing, hires no one, and is fully managed by the BFCT).
Dan Kaplan: Our Farm Manager who is responsible for all aspects of managing Brookfield Farm including the apprenticeship program. The Farm Manager is responsible for the program content, administration of the program, hiring and firing, apprenticeship contracts, evaluations, as well as career development. The Farm Manager is accountable to the board of directors of the BFCT. Dan Kaplan is also the General Manager of the BFCT and a board member (ex-officio – i.e. non-voting).
Karen Romanowski: Karen is married to Dan and they have managed farms together since 1990. She is a registered nurse who works off the farm a few days a week, cooks a farm lunch for the crew every work day, and sometimes replaces Dan in the greenhouse and the field for a change of pace for both of them.
Adan Martinez: Adan was an apprentice at Brookfield in 2007 before joining the “management team” in 2008 as our assistant manager. He helps Dan come up with our daily plan and fills in wherever necessary to assist with the overall management of the farm.
Apprenticeship Program: Our program is a hands-on working/learning experience designed to move dedicated candidates towards farm management. We accept people from all backgrounds; from inexperienced city folks looking to explore agriculture as a career option to experienced farmers looking for a new approach to agriculture. As such, each apprenticeship will have different challenges and take on a different character.
Apprenticeship Contract: We will tailor each program to the expressed needs of each participant. It is essential that participants make their needs clear and well known before we write an apprenticeship contract during the hiring process. The contract will contain our (farmer and apprentice) expectations for learning as well as benefits and expectations for labor. This contract will be updated during the program orientation and periodic evaluations.
Program Orientation: During the first two weeks of the apprenticeship we will conduct an orientation for all of the apprentices. At this orientation we will go over safety policies, farm policies, and location and names of buildings and equipment. We will individually review each apprenticeship contract and update them as necessary. We will also begin to set vacation times, assign tractor responsibilities, shopkeeper responsibilities, the Boston driving schedule, and start figuring out how to have a good time together.
Written Materials: All apprentices are given written learning materials throughout their apprenticeship. These materials include crop plans, seed orders, planting schedules, maps, budgets, overall farm plans, and various other supporting materials. In addition there is a farm library from which apprentices are welcome to borrow books.
CRAFT Program: Brookfield Farm is an active participant and one of the founders of the Northeast CRAFT Program (see the website http://www.craftfarmapprentice.com/ for more information). All apprentices are encouraged to take part in all CRAFT program events during the season.
Career Development: Throughout the apprenticeship, participants are encouraged to develop future plans for their own farm projects. It is considered part of your apprenticeship, if you choose, for the Farm Manager to review & critique these plans. In addition, all possible steps will be taken by the Farm Manager to help apprentices find job placement or further opportunities if so desired. Future mentoring & consultation for all apprentices is considered part of the package.
Responsibilities #
Regular Work Schedule: Monday – Friday: 6-7am, 8am-12pm, 1pm-5pm, Saturday 6-7, 8-12
General Work: The apprenticeship is, at its core, a working-learning experience. Our primary method for learning how to manage a farm is by performing tasks within our farm system. Apprentices are given an overall task list each week on Monday morning and specific tasks are then assigned by the Farm Manager throughout the week. All assignments are made with the needs of the farm and the specific stated needs of apprentices in mind.
Chores: Apprentices are on a rotating chore schedule for the greenhouse, livestock, and lunch clean up. One week out of every three each apprentice is the chore person.
Greenhouse: **The chore person is responsible for watering the greenhouse during the week (during work time) and on the weekend as well. If you are at a CRAFT meeting the farm manager will take care of midday watering.
Lunch Clean-up: The chore person is responsible for helping Karen, Dan, and Adan to set up & clean-up lunch at the farmhouse. The kitchen needs to be fully cleaned up by 12:50 pm.
Livestock: The chore person is responsible making sure the cows have water, feeding & watering the pigs and chickens, and looking in on the livestock at least once per day. The grazing will be managed as part of the general workday. If you are going to the CRAFT meeting, you will need to do livestock chores before leaving for the farm visit.
Shopkeeper: The farm shop is open at hours that conflict with the regular work schedule. During our orientation, each apprentice will be assigned responsibility for one consistent shop time. The people who work on Tuesday and Thursday will need to work until 7:30 pm. The person who works on Saturday will need to work until 2 pm. Each person will be allowed comp time to make up for this responsibility. This comp time will be taken on the following afternoon or morning (i.e. Tuesday person leaves on Wednesday at 2:30pm, Thursday person leaves on Friday at 2:30pm, and Saturday person leaves on Monday at 3 pm).
CRAFT Program Events: All apprentices are encouraged to take part in all CRAFT program events during the season. They happen during regular work times (Saturday mornings and Monday afternoons) and if you attend, there is no need to make up the work time. If you do attend the events you are expected to come to work at 6am on Saturday to help with chores, set up the farm shop, and pick corn, etc. If you do not attend the event, you are expected to come to work for the usual schedule. Apprentices can use a farm vehicle to attend the program events or can use their own vehicles and be compensated for the travel at .30/mi. It is not a requirement to attend the CRAFT program events.
Boston Driver: One apprentice each week will drive the shares to Boston. Each apprentice can be the Boston Driver, if they desire, but not for less than two months at a time.
Tractor Operation: Every apprentice will be trained in the safe use and maintenance of at least one farm tractor. The tractor assignments will be made during the program orientation. All attempts will be made to let each apprentice do all of the jobs on “their” tractor during the season so they can learn the jobs thoroughly. In this way apprentices are given the opportunity to learn general tractor skills by focusing on one tractor while at the same time minimizing training needs and repair costs.
Compensation #
Stipend: A stipend of $___ is paid to each first-year apprentice. The stipend is $___ for second-year apprentices. Stipends are paid on the 15th of each month. A tax withholding is taken out of this stipend.
Workers Compensation: All apprentices are covered by workers compensation and covered (with certain legal limitations) for all work-related injuries.
Health Insurance: All apprentices are given the option of receiving HMO health insurance (Tufts Health) as part of their benefits package. Apprentices have the option of receiving $100/mo instead of taking the health insurance. This money would be added to your stipend and taxed accordingly.
Lunch at the Farmhouse: Monday through Friday there is a prepared lunch provided at Dan and Karen’s house. There is ample food and people are encouraged to eat as much as they want. We use as much farm food as possible and the meals are primarily vegetarian. We can make some allowances for special dietary needs (if they are addressed beforehand). One apprentice (the chore person) helps Karen, Dan, or Adan set up & clean up the kitchen each day.
Farm Food #
Produce*:* ****All apprentices are allowed to take as much farm produce as they can use (including putting up for winter). You can also take up to 50 lbs. of produce per year as gifts for family and friends.
Meat: All apprentices can take up to $50 worth of farm meat (beef,pork) each year. Additional farm-raised meat can be purchased at 25% off retail price.
Shop Sale Products: Apprentices can help themselves to milk, bread, eggs, and apples (for their own consumption) for sale at the farm shop at no charge. Apprentices also receive a $50 store credit. All other Shop Sale products (cookbooks, popsicles, etc.) can be bought from the farm at cost.
Housing: The farm owns a private, 3-bedroom house next to the farm. Each apprentice is assigned a private room. Room assignments are first come, first served. There is a shared kitchen, living room, bathroom, garage, yard, and laundry room. Utilities are included in the housing, with the exception of telephone. It will be the responsibility of the apprentices to get phone service and pay for the bills in their name. The apprentice house must be kept clean at all times. You can decide, as a group, how you want to achieve this goal, but all apprentices will be responsible for the care and clean appearance of the house. Mowing the lawn will be the responsibility of the apprentices. The mower will be provided by the Trust, but the lawn must be mowed on a regular basis (at least every 2 weeks in July, August, and September, every week in May and June)
Time Off #
Vacations: Each apprentice will be allowed one week paid vacation to be taken between July 1 and Aug 15 of any calendar year. Vacations must be taken in a continuous one-week period (Sat Afternoon until the following Sunday evening). Each apprentice will also be allowed one Saturday off during April, May, October, and November. Vacation days may not be “saved” and used after that time. All vacation time will be established in April, trying to take all needs into account. Apprentices do not have to take vacations.
Personal Time: It is expected that there will be some need during the season for every apprentice to take some personal time, whether for car repairs, doctor’s appointments, or other personal needs. Each apprentice is allowed up to 2 personal days each season. There is no need to make up work for personal days and they do not need to be taken as “full days.” It is expected that the Farm Manager will be given ample notice about the need for personal time and that opportunities will be taken when possible to make personal time happen at convenient times for the farm schedule. If more days are needed, they will need to be cleared ahead of time with the farm manager. Personal time may not be saved and used during a second season.
Sick Time: Everyone’s going to get sick. When you’re sick, please don’t work. If you miss more than 5 days of work during the season due to illness, there will need to be some discussion with the Farm Manager as to whether the apprenticeship is the right situation for you. You do not need to make up work for sick days.
After-Hours Work – There will be comp time given for any regular work that is performed after regular work hours. The Farm Manager will always give you a choice as to whether you want to work after hours or not in these situations. In the event of a farm emergency (animals out of the fence, reemay in a tree, etc) it is expected that apprentices who are on or near the farm will help until the situation is corrected. There will not be comp time given for these cases.
Personnel Procedures #
Evaluations: Apprentices will go through an evaluation with the farm manager two times during the course of the season. The first evaluation will happen sometime between July 1 and August 15. The final evaluation will happen sometime during the last two weeks of November. The evaluation will consist of individual consultations with the farm manager to see how well we are all meeting the expectations of the apprenticeship contract. The evaluation will be multi-directional with apprentice and farm manager evaluating one other.
Accountability: All apprentices are accountable to the Farm Manager. The Farm Manager is accountable to the Board of Directors of the BFCT. The Board is accountable to the bylaws under which it operates.
Grievance Process: If any grievances arise, it is expected that the first course of action for all apprentices will be to speak directly to the Farm Manager. If there is still a problem that cannot be resolved, all apprentices are welcome to speak directly with the President of the BFCT who will be responsible for resolving the matter with the Farm Manager.
Continuation of Apprenticeships: Many apprentices feel that one year on the farm is not enough time to get the training they need. We encourage people to consider the possibility of staying for more than one season. While encouraged, it is not automatic for apprentices to be accepted for a second year – the basis for the decision will be your performance review over the first year and solely at the discretion of the Farm Manager.
The process for continuing an apprenticeship is:
- By Oct 15, each apprentice declares his/her interest to the Farm Manager in returning for another season.
- The Farm Manager reviews applications and has three options – acceptance, provisional acceptance, or rejection.
- Current apprentices will be notified of the Farm Manager’s offer by Nov 15.
- At that point a contact will be will be drafted to outline the specifics of the apprenticeship continuation. The contract process will be completed by Thanksgiving.
General Policies #
Visitors #
Working visitors are welcome at the farm and apprentice house for up to one week. Longer visits are subject to the wishes of other apprentices and the Farm Manager. Working visitors need to work our normal schedule and are given lunch at the farmhouse. They are also welcome to the same deal on farm food as apprentices.
Non-working visitors are welcome at the farm and apprentice house for up to two days. Longer visits are subject to the wishes of other apprentices and the Farm Manager. They are welcome to eat farm produce, but need to buy items for sale at the farm shop at regular prices.
Pets: It is strongly encouraged that apprentices leave their pets at home. In the event that isn’t possible, pets are welcome in the apprentice house and on the farm with the following guidelines (really, we love dogs, but it’s a public place!)
In the house, all pets must be confined to your personal room (unless your housemates say otherwise), you must be responsible for cleaning up after them inside and in the yard, and you must be responsible for their relationship to your housemates (i.e. they need to be friendly!).
On the farm, all dogs must be on leashes during all farm shop hours. During other hours, they must be within your sight at all times and you must clean up after them. You are responsible to make sure they do not destroy crops or buildings. And you must be responsible for their appropriate interaction with the public (i.e. they can’t bark at or bite people who come out to the farm!).
Shareholder Interactions: As Brookfield Farm is a public place and we depend on our shareholders (and prospective shareholders) for our livelihood, all apprentices (and all employees) must be professional, polite, and helpful to all people who come to the farm.
General Demeanor: It is expected that all apprentices will be prompt, dressed appropriately, and professional in their attitude at work.
Tools/Clothes: The farm provides harvest knives and daily hand tools. Apprentices must provide any other desired tools or clothes (pocket knives, rain boots, rain gear, hats, gloves). All apprentices must carry a watch at all times. It is suggested to carry a small notepad, a pen, and a knife as well.
Farm Office: The farm office must be locked at the end of work each day. Each apprentice will be given a key to use the farm office after hours. Apprentices may use the Internet connection in the office after work hours. Apprentices may use the office during lunch for personal business, but the main office computer must be free by 12:45. The office must be kept completely free of personal belongings.
Safety Policies: We will go over safety policies during the program orientation. All apprentices are required to follow safety policies at all times. Failure to do so will result in immediate dismissal.
Farm Vehicles: Apprentices are trained in the safe use of farm vehicles and are fully covered by insurance for their operation. Farm vehicles are to be used only for farm business without any exceptions. Farm vehicles may not be driven by anyone who is not an employee or apprentice at Brookfield Farm without any exceptions. A valid driver’s license is a requirement for all apprentices.
Drugs and Alcohol #
There are no illegal drugs permitted on the farm property at any time (this includes the apprentice house). There is no alcohol permitted on the BFCT property at any time, except during BFCT-sanctioned events. Alcohol is permitted in moderation at the apprentice house. There is no smoking inside the apprentice house. It is unacceptable to work while under the influence of alcohol or drugs. One infraction is cause for immediate dismissal.