Farm Labor Workshop Series

Workshop 1: Farm Labor 101

Oct 29, 2025

About: Hiring and managing employees is one of the most challenging parts of running a growing farm business. In this workshop, Beth Holtzman of UVM Extension introduces the Farm Labor Dashboard, a free online suite of tools designed to help farmers improve their labor planning and management practices. Beth walks participants through key strategies for recruiting, training, and evaluating employees, helping farm owners set themselves and their teams up for long-term success. Then, hear from Andrew Lawson of Appleton Farm, who shares real-world insights on seasonal labor planning, staff hiring and training, and daily employee management.

Recording: Youtube Link

Slides: Planning, Hiring, and Managing Employees at Appleton Farms. Andrew Lawson, Appleton Farms
Farm Labor Dashboard: Labor Management Tools and Resources. Beth Holtzmans, UVM

Additional Resources from workshop: 

• Farm Labor Dashboard: https://www.uvm.edu/aglabor/dashboard/
• Personnel Policy Generator:  https://www.uvm.edu/aglabor/dashboard/personnel-policy-generator  
• Lewis Creek Farm Employee Handbook: http://lewiscreekfarm.com/employeehandbook.pdf
• Mighty Food Farm Employee Handbook: Link

For Farm Employment Seekers:

Farm Employment Listserves 

If you are searching for employment, there are several listserves that allow farms and nonprofits to post for available positions. We have listed some of these below. Click on the link to subscribe to the listserve.

• EMass CRAFT: Eastern MA farms post jobs and discuss other farm topics including equipment, regulations, service providers, events, and more. 
• Comfood Jobs: National listserve for community food related jobs of all kinds.
• Boston Food Systems: Boston area food system jobs, events, and community discussions.
• New England Food: New England area food system jobs, events, and community discussions.

Farm Employment Websites 

• Beginning Farmers Network of Massachusetts (BFN/Mass) - Job and Internship Listings
• Northeast Organic Farming Association (NOFA/Mass)  - Apprenticeship Directory and Classifieds 
• Community Involved in Sustaining Agriculture (CISA) - Classifieds
• ATTRA-National Sustainable Agriculture Information Service - Internships and Apprenticeships
• Food and Farm Jobs -  Home Page
• FarmingWork! - Job listings

Let us know how your job search went! We would like to hear about your job searching experience and receive your feedback on how we can improve our employment resources or if there are other farm employment resources we should add to this list.  Good luck in your job search!