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Farm Overview
McPherson Farms raises hay, cattle, hogs, and grain. Most of our labor involves tractors and other machines. We practice no-till cultivation where possible, manage our cattle with rotational grazing, and utilize cover crops to improve soil health. Through our work, we strive to maintain both a healthy ecosystem and a productive farm to the best of our ability.
McPherson Farms sits on 750 acres just outside of Midland, a small community 10 miles south of Klamath Falls, Oregon. Our farm is run by Josh and his mom, Jani, with help from his wife, Marlena, and one employee during the summer months. We raise hay, cattle, hogs, and grain on our farm. We have a small number of our cattle and all our hogs butchered at an inspected facility to sell meat direct-to-consumer through our farm store, the local farmers market, and online marketplace under our brand, “McPherson’s High Desert Highlands”. Our hay is sold locally with a limited number of deliveries, and most of our calves are sold at the local auction yard. Our farm is somewhere between conventional and regenerative. Most of our labor involves tractors and other machines.
Read out full Farm Description Here: https://www.roguefarmcorps.org/host-farms/mcpherson
Josh has been training and supervising employees on the job for the last 7 years and will be the primary mentor to the apprentice. His wife, Marlena, is a science teacher with 10 years of experience in the field of education. Although she works off the farm during the school year, Marlena works on the farm during the summer and will provide some additional training and support.
The Apprentice will learn irrigation management and maintenance for hand line, wheel lines, pivots, and flood irrigation. They will learn to construct and maintain both electric and wire fences for livestock. They will help provide daily care for cattle and pigs, as well as how to manage grazing cattle in a rotational system. They will help fulfill online sales and help operate a booth at the farmers market for direct to consumer sales every one to two weeks. They will help plant and establish forage and cover crops. They will help with basic maintenance and operation of farm equipment based on their own comfort and skill level. They will help with the planning and budgeting for one crop from planting to harvest.
We are part of an active community of family farmers and ranchers and will help the Apprentice meet local farmers and coordinate visits to other farms approximately once a month. We will include opportunities to participate in farm community events put on by farm groups like the Klamath-Lake Farm Bureau and introduce them to the people involved in our local food systems non-profit, Klamath Grown.
The position will start on/around April 14th and last until approximately September 14th. We have some flexibility on start and end dates of the Apprentice’s work season if necessary. There will be between 6 and 10 hours of training in a day, 5 days a week. The Apprentice will be expected to show up between 7am and 8am as needed. The schedule can be irregular depending on the harvest schedule, with blocks of training in the morning and evening. The Apprentice will have the opportunity to take a week off from training sometime in July or August. As for physical expectations, the Apprentice should be able to walk 3-4 miles a day and lift 50 lbs easily. The Apprentice can expect to be asked to move bales of hay, lift sacks of seed, carry irrigation pipes, drag irrigation hoses, and pound in fence posts.
Each morning there will be a check-in and explanation of the tasks for the day, with an opportunity to answer any questions. When the Apprentice is given a new task or project to begin, we will be present to explain and demonstrate the techniques and expectations involved and help get them started. The Apprentice will be given the opportunity to work independently, but a mentor will be a phone call away if troubleshooting is needed. At the end of the day, we will check in and talk about the progress that day and address any concerns or answer questions the Apprentice might have. There will be a whole farm meeting once a week to review everything that we’ve done and talk about what the next week will look like. Periodically, we will have the Apprentice tag along to get an understanding of jobs on the farm that are outside of their direct experience.
An Apprenticeship at McPhersons Participant in Rogue Farm Corps Agricultural Apprenticeship Program.
Learn more and apply: http://roguefarmcorps.org/apprenticeship
EDUCATIONAL EVENTS
Apprentices join other beginning farmers for an Educational Event Series facilitated by Rogue Farm Corps.
The full event series includes:
RFC strives to make all educational events inclusive and welcoming to people from all backgrounds and identities. Classes, tours, and discussions are led by Rogue Farm Corps staff, agricultural professionals, and expert farmworkers/farmers. Some classes in person, many will be held online.
For more information on these events, please visit our event series page and sample schedule.
FEES / SCHOLARSHIPS
Program fees are $485 for Apprentices at one of our Satellite Host Farms. RFC has scholarships available with priority given to participants who identify as BIPOC, LGBTQIA2s+, veterans, those who have been impacted by the carceral system, and low-income participants.
COMMITMENT TO EQUITY AND INCLUSION
Rogue Farm Corps is committed to an ongoing learning process around privilege, power, inequality, and systems of oppression. RFC has a goal of making our programs welcoming to, inclusive of, and accessible to communities who are under-represented as farm operators in Oregon, including women, Black, Indigenous, Latina/o/e/x, and other people of color (BIPOC), LGBTQIA2s+ individuals, low-income individuals and immigrants. Our desire to create a more equitable food system is reflected in RFC’s programs and collaborations.