Farmer/ Production Assistant Manager
Please read this job description before applying below.
Cross E Ranch is a working farm and cattle ranch that also hosts large public events to feed, engage, entertain and connect our community with Agriculture. Our large events will have over 40,000 guests and some events have upwards of 70,000 guests over a six week event. Throughout the year we host several smaller events but our two largest events are our Baby Animal Festival in the spring and our Fall Festival in September and October. Our farmers on our Production Team are responsible for growing and producing several crops on the farm that we either sell or use to entertain our guests. These include our Corn Maze, Sunflower Fields, Pumpkin Patch, Alfalfa & Grass fields for the cattle, and taking care of the cattle on the ranch. Our other smaller animal care is taken care of by a different team and while you may occasionally assist this team, the production team does not interact with the smaller animals or horses. This job requires someone who likes physical work, the outdoors, farming, being around the public and can work long hours if needed during busy times. Like any business that is seasonal there will be times with long hours and times with shorter, more flexible hours. There is a lot of variety in this position.
In addition to the year round production responsibilities we also are responsible for much of the festival's daily stocking and shopping needs. This includes things like shopping for and coordinating the food that needs to be brought in and stocked for our six food venues, harvesting and moving in pumpkins for sale, and assisting with merchandising inventory. We are responsible in part for the maintenance of all of the farm systems. Depending on the season the production team ranges from 2-6+ people. During our busy seasons as the assistant manager you will be responsible for a team and certain projects or areas.
Additional responsibilities are outlined below. This list is not comprehensive. Because at the Ranch we all work together to get the job done, 5-10% of your job will be helping other areas around the Ranch. We think this is part of the fun and variety that is the ranching lifestyle!
Year Round Responsibilities: Work with and manage production team members to:
Additional Festival Responsibilities:Work with and manage production team members to:
Desired Management or Technical SkillsQualified Applicants should have:
Working at Cross E Ranch:Schedule
We Get it Done:
Compensation:
In addition to the year round production responsibilities we also are responsible for much of the festival's daily stocking and shopping needs. This includes things like shopping for and coordinating the food that needs to be brought in and stocked for our six food venues, harvesting and moving in pumpkins for sale, and assisting with merchandising inventory. We are responsible in part for the maintenance of all of the farm systems. Depending on the season the production team ranges from 2-6+ people. During our busy seasons as the assistant manager you will be responsible for a team and certain projects or areas.
Additional responsibilities are outlined below. This list is not comprehensive. Because at the Ranch we all work together to get the job done, 5-10% of your job will be helping other areas around the Ranch. We think this is part of the fun and variety that is the ranching lifestyle!
Year Round Responsibilities: Work with and manage production team members to:
- Perform general labor outdoors and be able to move heavy loads.
- Operate heavy equipment that may have to be serviced in the field on short notice.
- Tend animals in a safe and humane manner - Feeding, calving, doctoring, applying yearly vaccinations, etc.
- Understand, maintain and operate irrigation and fertilizer systems.
- Irrigate crops & pasture grounds
- Plant, fertilize and tend crops.
- Maintain ranch/ farm equipment and buildings as needed in coordination with Operations Manager.
- Produce Beef - (taking animals to butcher, pick up beef, sales etc.). Adhering to USDA and FDA food handling regulations to ensure food-safe products - including other event supplies.
- Interacting with suppliers and vendors to manage farm & event inventory.
- Tracking supplies and recording receipts from purchases.
Additional Festival Responsibilities:Work with and manage production team members to:
- Shopping/ stocking/ inventory of festival supplies for each festival - especially food used in our food venues.
- Setup/ take down assigned areas for each festival.
- Assist other departments as needed in their areas.
- Work with, educate, and help connect the public to your areas of the ranch.
Desired Management or Technical SkillsQualified Applicants should have:
- Solid time management skills and a strong work ethic.
- Good personnel management skills.
- Detail-oriented planning ability.
- In-depth knowledge about plants and animals and their care.
- Effective leadership skills, including working and training seasonal staff. This may include counseling about hiring and layoffs.
- Mechanical and technical aptitude for operating, servicing, and the basic repairing of farm equipment, trucks and trailers.
- Business management skills.
- The physical ability to perform demanding farm chores with reasonable accommodations.
Working at Cross E Ranch:Schedule
- We generally work an average of 40 hours per week. We say average because in our slow season we work less and in our busy season we work more.
- We generally work from 8:00am-5:00pm with a 1 hour lunch. But this schedule is fairly flexible if the team agrees. For example in the summer when it is hot we may work from 6:00am -2:30pm with a short break for lunch so we aren’t working in the heat of the day. Or during the festivals we may start earlier to get to warehouses before they are crowded for ease of the work. There are also some days where we may work a split shift to move water in the morning and in the evening with a longer break in between but we are trying to keep this to a minimum.
- On a farm, things can change quickly with the weather - prepare to be flexible.
We Get it Done:
- We are in it together: We all work as a team, if an area or team needs help on the ranch we jump in if we can. We don’t believe any job is beneath us or in department silos. No one should ever say or feel “it’s not in my job description” or “That’s not my department.” We each have responsibilities but our first loyalty is to the ranch and to our customers' experience here.
- Be observant: We all have a shared responsibility for our customer’s experience. Noticing and alerting each other to safety risks, animal needs, crop concerns and other general maintenance issues. If you see something we expect you to resolve it or refer it to the right person.
- Support team members and management: Everyone at the Ranch has a voice in our decision making process and we want your ideas. Once the team has decided on a course of action we “commit and deliver” on that decision 100%, even if the team's decision is different from your initial stance. We don’t gossip or undermine our fellow team members - if you have a problem be honest.
- Be On Time: Because each day you will begin with a Daily Team Check-In that lasts no more than 5-10 minutes we ask that you arrive on time so you can be updated with everyone else. Outside of meeting together we are pretty flexible. This also shows you value and respect your team's time.
- Mutual Respect & Trust: We are hiring you because we trust that you will assist us in getting the job done. We trust that you will work diligently and if you need more help you will ask for it.
- Training & Coaching Others: Part of the Ranch is helping to teach our younger team members how to work and how to foster a respectful work environment. Managers play a key role in showing team members how to behave, work, and what is appropriate at work.
- Choose a positive attitude: we know sometimes the work or weather can be rough on a farm but it is better to get through it and laugh because we can’t change the weather. We sometimes say "There is no challenge so bad you can't make it worse by complaining."
- Be Kind: Even in frustrating situations or with grumpy customers we are kind and try to find solutions rather than get angry. We want our customers to feel like it is their family's farm.
- You Represent the Company: When you are working and especially when you are wearing Cross E Ranch apparel you represent the company and we expect you to be kind, courteous, and helpful to others.
- Do your best work: We want to look back and be proud of what we have built, not just slapping something together.
- Seek to Learn: If you are unsure about how something works or how to do something we ask for help or seek to learn from another source before making assumptions that could cause issues. We are always happy to teach.
Compensation:
- Base Salary: $50-60k based on experience.
- Bonuses: Seasonal Bonus based on festival attendance - in 2022 bonuses ranged from $4-6k.
- We succeed, you succeed.
- Room to grow in leadership and compensation.
- PTO: We have a generally open ended time off structure. We expect each team to get their work done and we ask that during our peak seasons you try to keep time off to a minimum but in our off seasons we are happy to have our team recharge. In general we ask staff in these positions to keep their total annual time off to under 3 weeks excluding company holidays. Note: during festivals and busy crop seasons time off is harder while winter is easy.
- Holidays we all take off: 4th of July, Thanksgiving, Christmas Eve, Christmas, and New Years Day. Our schedule around Christmas and New Years is generally light and flexible with mostly feeding and small chores.
- Sick Leave: We understand people get sick. If you are sick, you don’t need to come to work. When you are better, come back. We ask that you make arrangements with other team members to cover your responsibilities and we trust that you will return as quickly as possible.