YA APPRENTICESHIP 2024: Cold Lake, AB – 350 Farms

Are you an aspiring farmer looking for a unique opportunity to learn about agritourism, pastured poultry, and a farrow-to-finish kunekune pigs? 

If you want to grow your own food, interface with the public, and participate in culinary wizardry, then 350 Farms might be the apprenticeship for you.

About the Farm

350 Farms is a 160 acre farm, raising pastured meats and offering agri-tourism and farm-to-table culinary events. The farm has followed its owners, Kasey and Renaud, as they have moved around, but it has found its forever home near Bonnyville, Alberta. They are also spearheading Alberta’s first net zero Belgian Brewery.

About the Apprenticeship

The Apprentice will work alongside Kasey during the week, and Renaud when he is home on evenings and weekends. The Apprentice will be offered the chance to do it all – raising several kinds of pastured meats, poultry at all stages, offering culinary experiences and  agri-tourism. Kunekune pigs will be one of the main enterprises focused on, which will include daily feeding and watering, health checks, pasture checks, building shelters, and processing. Poultry tasks will include caring for chicks, transferring chicks to outdoor tractors, building tractors, chicken processing on occasion or transport to processor or hauling to processor, and fulfilling customer orders.

If the apprentice is interested in cooking, the culinary experiences can include time with the farm chef cooking all food and serving guests. 350 Farms specialize in brunch boards which are prepared daily in summer and All Inclusive guest stays on the farm.

350 Farms hosts Alberta’s largest on-farm glamping experience. Duties could include checking in guests or checking out, delivering wood or cleaning and turning over tents, cutting fallen trees and caring for the Nordic Sauna amenities.

Other duties on the farm including bucking wood with the splitter, falling trees and operating chainsaw, building fences (electric and page wire), and cutting new trails.

For the right person or team, year-round employment and/or partnership opportunities are sought for the right candidate.

As part of the apprenticeship, you will meet with other apprentices across the Prairies who are part of the Young Agrarians Apprenticeship program. Field days, learning opportunities and potlucks will be planned with this group at each host’s farm.

About the Farm Mentors

Kasey is a first generation farmer, though has participated in growing her own food since she was 8. She handles it all on the farm. Her husband Renaud is on the farm during evenings and weekends. He mans the pizza oven, is the customer relations guru and the chainsaw guy. He is a native french speaker. Renaud grew up in Belgium and Kasey in the United States. They lived together in Europe for 10 years before immigrating to Canada 7 years ago. They began their farming adventure in goats, dairy, and cheese before specializing in pastured meats and agritourism. Callen is the youngest farmer at 350 Farms, and enjoys giving tours.

Skills this farm has to teach

The following skills are being offered by this farm. While you’ll get exposure to many of these areas, it is likely that not all will be covered. Apprentices will work to identify the skills they want to develop through a learning plan with the host farm.

Skills Required of the Apprentice

Apprentices working at 350 Farms must love animals and are ideally looking to work with people.

The ability to do physical labour on a day-to-day basis is essential, so being physically fit and able to lift weight in the range of 30 to 80 pounds is essential.  

Being able to comfortably make decisions, execute tasks, and train others in a diverse and dynamic working environment.  After training and onboarding, the ability to work quickly, efficiently and calmly in physically challenging contexts for long hours in variable weather is essential to enjoying work on the farm.  

Housing, Stipend and Duration

There are a couple options are available, depending on preference. The first option is a luxury glamping tent in a private setting. This would include a queen bed with memory foam mattress, wood stove, propane stove, fire pit, picnic table, chairs, benches. There is a porta-potty onsite or full bathrooms are located by the barn. This isn’t camping – it’s luxury in nature! The second option is a basic bunkie (check out the farm website to see these options!).  A full kitchen is available at the barn and available for use anytime, as well as a full outdoor kitchen, BBQ’s, pizza oven and smoker. The apprentice is welcome anytime in the barn, and is welcome to have all meals with the family, do laundry in the barn, use the wifi, have access to the farm library, use the farm truck for business/errands, relax with the tv, use of fridge/freezer. Land is also available to grow their own veggies should they want a personal garden.

Meat is kept for family use and the apprentice will be welcome to grab a pack on occasion for personal consumption in addition to other products from cooperating farms or excess veggies from the CSA.

A wage will be paid to the apprentice, and the apprenticeship will begin in mid April and end late October

About the Community

350 Farms is located 10 minutes from Cold Lake.  Water sports and lounging by the lake are popular activities to do in the summer. The farm is very rural, being 3 hours from Edmonton, but it offers a great lifestyle. There are lots of learning opportunities and groups to join nearby.

Be sure to check out 350 Farms on social media and the world wide web!

More Details about this Apprenticeship and How to Apply 

Deadline to apply: January 31, 2024

Interested in an Apprenticeship but this isn’t quite the right one? Check out other Young Agrarians Apprenticeships being offered in 2024 here.