Learn to farm
with us!

Deck Family Farm Education Program's mission is to train the next generation of farmers in building successful agricultural careers. Our year-round program teaches you how to operate a diversified, profitable farm enterprise—balancing consumer demand for quality products with sound business practices and environmental stewardship.

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This is hands-on business education. You'll master livestock management, equipment operation, market strategy, and the financial systems that make a farm profitable.

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The Operation: 300-500 acres in Western Willamette Valley running multiple revenue streams: Heritage Red Wattle Pork, Heritage Galloway Beef, Pastured Poultry, Sheep, Jersey Dairy, Organic Layer Hens, plus Market Garden production. We're a for-profit business with 20-30 year-round employees. This isn't a homestead—it's a medium scale for-profit farm.

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We have a very strong work ethic

 

The work is not glamorous or easy. While most work is animal husbandry (feeding, grazing and milking) there will be a lot of cleaning up, mucking out and hauling off. You must be able to lift 50lbs. We are looking for folks interested in all aspects of what it takes to keep a family farm running and this will sometimes mean pitching in well after the work day is done.
 
The work day generally consists of morning chores, lunch in the afternoon and then back out on the farm for evening chores. We work 8 to 10 hours per day, 5 days per week, tracking hours and granting time off if hour limits are exceeded. We appreciate flexibility depending on seasonal work load​.​

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Internships

The goal of the Deck Family Farm intern and apprentice program is to train the next generation of farmers. The farm hosts 7-10 interns and apprentices year round. The program is immersive, highly diverse, and grounded in community. Interns participate in all aspects of animal husbandry, nutrition, care, sales and marketing, market garden, dairy operation, value-added product creation, and community building. Farm management, employees, and intern/apprentices work alongside each other, a kind of "Farmily." Lead enterprise managers support the learning experience of the students. A typical week might consist of working a farmers market, milking cows/goats, making butter, yogurt, or cheese, cracking nuts, slopping out pig stalls, helping to bring in newborn lambs, piglets, and calves into the world, running spreadsheets, feeding chickens, collecting eggs, chopping wood, harvesting fruits and vegetables, and preparing a meal for the community. Opportunities at Deck are only limited by the imagination.

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2025-2026 Positions

We currently have 2 positions open!
One-year internships with room, board and stipend. Interns will rotate in at least two enterprises during the first year, usually in one of the following: Pastured Pork, Raw Jersey Dairy, Vegetables Market Garden, Beef Herd Grazing, Management Intensive grazing, Lamb, Pastured Poultry, and Marketing. Interns will rotate through as many areas of the farm as possible but personal interest, aptitude and availability play a key role in placement. Stipend is paid in advance of the month and is meant to cover incidental expenses while in an educational program. Stipend is a total of $10,000 for the year.

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Experience or Requirements

No experience required, however applicants must have: a strong work ethic, ability to work long hours, ability to follow directions, willingness to work on interpersonal and communication skills, interest in working with a range of cultures and ages, and the ability to live in community and share community meals. Flexibility, forgiveness and humor!

 

Accommodations and meals

Intern dorm, cottages, cabins, adobe structures. Kitchen, bathroom and laundry access in the main house.  All food provided, community style meals. Meal prep participation.

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We often have a full house of visiting family and friends. Being open to the challenges and joys of a busy home is a must. We share most meals and interns participate with family members in meal prep and clean up. Interns have full access to the bathroom, shower and laundry. We ask that folks bathe regularly, change into clean clothes while in the house, and in general to practice good hygiene in respect of all household members.
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We love vegetables and try to have them at every meal, however we believe that animals are an intrinsic part of a balanced healthy food system and for this reason we prefer NOT to accommodate strict vegetarian or vegan diets.
 

What you'll master

• Livestock Systems: Birth-to-finish pork production, dairy herd management (16-18 cows), 100% grass-fed beef herd management, flock management (120-150 sheep), pastured layer and meat poultry operations

• Farming Practices: Managed intensive grazing systems, 7-year pasture rotation, nutrient management, composting operations

• Business Operations: Financial analysis, wholesale accounts, farmers market sales, inventory management, pricing strategy

• Technical Skills: Milking operations, meat processing coordination, added-value meat and dairy production, machinery maintenance, spreadsheet management, market logistics

 

The Work: 5-day work weeks, 8-10 hours/day. Days start at 7 AM with an all-farm operations meeting. Physical work includes equipment operation, livestock handling, infrastructure maintenance, harvest, and market prep. You'll work alongside experienced managers running a multi-enterprise commercial farm.

Career Path: 50% of graduates continue in agriculture careers. Second and third-year students advance to management positions with increased responsibility and leadership roles. This program builds the skillset to launch your own operation or manage large-scale agricultural businesses.

Certifications & Standards: Certified Organic (Oregon Tilth), AGA Certified, GAP Humane Handling, Salmon Safe. We run government-partnered conservation programs (CREP, EQUIP) and maintain professional agricultural standards.

Compensation & Housing: Cost of living allowance provided. Modest accommodations (shared housing, cabin, or adobe house). Externship opportunities and research project support available.

 

Farm Enterprises are as follows:

Raw milk dairy: Milking an average of 16-18 cows year round. The herd is held as a cooperative and owned by shareholders who support feed, care and milking of the herd. Butter, cheese, and yogurt along with fresh milk are produced for shareholders.

Heritage pasture-raised hazelnut-finished pork: Sows farrow in the barn in the winter. Piglets are fed raw milk from the dairy during weaning and finished on hazelnuts. We produce our pigs birth to finish.

Certified Organic Heritage Galloway beef:  100% Grass fed and finished using management intensive grazing. We have created greater fertility in farm pastures by rotating crops of grains, legumes and grasses and have extended our grazing season to 8-9 months of the year.

Poultry: Certified Organic heritage layers for eggs, and roasters for meat. All chickens are out on pasture during the day and housed in chicken trailers or tractors at night to prevent predation. Chickens are grazed behind and beside cattle. In addition to their great tasting eggs, the poultry is an integral part of breaking parasite life cycles and bringing fertility to the pastures.

Sheep: Our mixed breed flock of Cheviot, Dorset and Suffolk ewes ranges between 120-150. Lambs come in early Spring. Much of our grazing for the sheep flock is on leased organic, off-site ground.

Vegetables: Graziers Garden provides veggies for the Full Farm CSA (FFCSA) and some wholesale accounts.

Community Supported Agriculture: Full Farm CSA is our retail member store, selling meat, milk, eggs, veg, fruit, nuts, grains, ferments, and more. We sell Deck products as well as listing from other local producers and farmers.

Marketing: Students participate in all aspects of farm sales including CSA (Community Supported Agriculture) program, farmers markets, wholesale accounts, warehousing and financial analysis. 

 

Deck is a for-profit business that strives to maintain a reasonable economy of scale. Our program is substantially rooted in what it takes to run a successful farm business rather than a subsistence homestead.