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Apprenticeship - noun - is a system of training a new generation of practitioners of a structured competency based set of skills

Our 115 acre grass farm is located in the Ozarks, only 35 minutes from Springfield, MO. We are a diverse operation, sustainably raising grass-fed beef, lamb, pork, pasture raised chickens, and Thanksgiving turkeys. Add to that list our small herd of dairy cows for raw milk along with a few laying hens. As if that weren’t enough, we make 12 different flavors of homemade jams along with over 40 fragrances of handmade soaps! Oh, and did I mention that we make and sell fresh-ground whole-wheat bread?

In our “spare” time, we are building an off-grid home. This is an on-going project, as well as various other construction ventures on the farm.

We have a large family garden that you will be asked to help with. Gardening almost always involves work on very hot days.

We have built a small building where one side of the building serves as our cute little farm store and the other side will serve as accommodations for 1-2 individuals. Amenities include electricity, plumbing, hot showers, and wi-fi (available from after dinner until breakfast). You will be responsible for your own meals (mostly supplied from farm surplus) morning and noon. We would love for you to join our family for the evening meal 4-5 evenings per week. We are a farm that raises meats, so please keep that in mind if you are a person with dietary preferences such as vegetarian. With the exception of morning chores and emergencies, Sundays are a day of rest for everyone.

We are looking for 1-2 healthy, motivated individuals who are eager to learn, accept instructions well, and want to glean from our broad range of farming experiences. You will learn about chain-of-command as you interact with the farmer, his wife, and his adult children.

During your 3 month stay, you will be helping with management intensive grazing of the beef and dairy cattle, care and processing of pasture raised poultry (chickens and turkeys), along with customer interaction from our farm store and our busy farmers’ market booth. You will learn the how’s and why’s of what we do.

We are not prepared to accept families or children at this time. We speak English.

Our farm is located 3 miles from Conway, having a grocery store, bank, a Dollar General, and a gas station/convenience store. You are welcome to join us as we drive to Springfield every week for church.

Please see our website www.bechardfarm.com to familiarize yourself with our farm and practices.  Interested parties may fill out this application.  We look forward to having you out to the farm for an interview once we have reviewed your application.