Glassen Farms Internship & Apprenticeship 2023

Full Immersion FarM Experience and Study - April until OctobeR

Is it your goal to build a Regenerative Agriculture business, managing the land with diversified livestock that you direct market within your community? If the answer is yes, but you are looking for an opportunity on someone else’s operation first, this could be the experience for you.

Applications welcome, open to flexible start times

You will be participating with nature to re-establish natural cycles with domestic livestock in order to rehabilitate neglected, abandoned and underused lease land. 

Three systems allow us to do this work: 

  • Holistic managed grazing with hair sheep and cattle who prune the fields

  • Pastured broiler chickens and turkeys who clean and fertilize behind the ruminants

  • Forest pork who are a biological reset button

What we do is sell the best meat available on Vancouver Island through farmers markets, restaurants and relationship marketing - this is how we monetize the land stewardship. 

Glassen Farms is owned and operated by Ben Glassen who is in his 5th year of farming. In Nanaimo, B.C. on Vancouver Island Glassen Farms operates on 2 main properties   – the original 5 acre lease field on Holland Rd and about 15 acres of the Cline Agri-Health Centre, a 50 acre farm shared with Growing Opportunities, Youth for Christ and other community groups. In 2023 we expect to raise 1500 broiler chickens, 300 turkeys, 60 pigs and 35 head of sheep.

Two offerings are available - Partial Emersion and Full Immersion

INTERNSHIP

This a flexible program where we can work with you to tailor an Internship into a school credit requirement, a personal interest eduction vacation, or long term volunteer position. We write a formal agreement together based on both our expectations. Once you have completed one or more Internships, perhaps you do the full Apprenticeship, or start off on your own as a partner farm.

An internship will be defined based on your expectations. The Apprenticeship is what our expectations are for that arrangement. Fill out an application form, we can chat and if you would like to proceed, you can create a MOU for your internship.

APPRENTICESHIP

MOU, Memorandum of Understanding - In the ideal scenario, this is a 7 month (flexible) Apprenticeship between March and October, you will be relied on to participate with all farm responsibilities – this is can be a full immersion of 35 hours +/- 6 hours of flex time - this can be flexible to reflect other commitments you have. Working hours are usually between 8:00am to 3:00pm, however processing days can mean an early morning start, and occasionally there will be late nights. Farm work has inherent emergency situations, as a result of water line failures or escaped livestock, which require a high degree of responsiveness from the Apprentice.  You will get a product allowance to make sure you don’t need to buy meat elsewhere. There is tuition to participate in the internship of $1,200 which is a form of insurance for lost, broken or damaged equipment, or any damage / loss of livestock. There is an exemption within the application form where tuition will be waived.

Tasks can vary based on your skills and interests. We try to have a few interns and apprentices each year - expecting different strengths from each. Responsibilities can include carpentry in building & repairing infrastructure, livestock chores operating the brooder, moving chicken tractors, moving sheep fences, driving buckets of feed for the hogs, pulling trailers hauling livestock, experience in poultry processing, selling at the farmers market, managing inventory, packing orders, delivering product, working in an e-commerce software, reading & learning from spreadsheets.

There are two aspects of being a farmer, you will do both, but the focus of our attention will be on the latter - Working ON the Business: 

  • Working IN the Business: doing daily chores, building farm projects, hauling stock, and making sales. 

  • Working ON the Business: research, planning, time-in-motion studies, testing new technology and marketing. 

The hard stuff is preparation, being organized, planning & laying the foundation of experience through repetition.

Expectations for participating in the Internship: 

  • Start and finish dates can be negociated, but need to be defined at the onset of the position.

  • Compensation for marketing activities is 5% commission on all sales

  • Option to work processing poultry for income. 

  • Find your own accommodations & transportation to the farms (car, bike, walk etc.)

  • Need to have a Class 5 valid driver's license and be comfortable driving

  • Need to be a Canadian Citizen (potentially will allow current Work Visas) 

  • Full commitment to this program, no major other commitments (I will be flexible on this one for the right candidate.)

  • The team will alternate days of chores so we all can have full days off.

  • Need to be willing to attend farmers markets and talk to customers

Educational Commitment to the Interns:

  • There will be two terms in which you can choose what enterprises to focus on.

  • Will gain experience managing and doing chores on broilers, turkeys, pigs, sheep and beef

  • Will have monthly written assignments we can develop together based on your focus. 

  • Will get to work with industry leading software like Localine, Pasture Map, Square, QBO etc. 

  • Individual time to discuss goals, learning outcomes and resources

  • Recommended podcast, reading and audiobook listenings to discuss 

  • Introductions within a vast network both locally and internationally

  • Access to all the financials of Glassen Farms and projection templates to build your farm plan


The requirement is that you are passionate, have done your research, and are considering managing or operating a diversified livestock business. You need to be physically fit to the point of working hard and long hours in all weather conditions. A desire to train the mind and be a business person who does good for the community and the planet.

Expected Pre-Readings before arriving: (Listen to them on Audible, turn it up to 1.5 speed and get through them all)

You Can Farm - Joel Salatin
The Lean Farm - Ben Hartman
Holistic Management 3rd Edition - Allan Savory & Jody Butterfield
Your Successful Farm Business - Joel Salatin

To apply, do three things:
-Please send your resume to Ben.Glassen@gmail.com “Attention: Internship” or “Attention: Apprenticeship”
-Fill out the application via Google Forms below.

Applications accepted year round

Call me if you have any questions about thIS
Ben - 604-831-6955

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