Employment Opportunity: Land & Livestock Assistant

The mission of TomKat Ranch Educational Foundation (TKREF) is to provide healthy food on working lands in a way that regenerates the planet and inspires others to action. Our goal is to transform five million acres to regenerative land management and inspire five million eaters to choose regeneratively grown food. 

POSITION PURPOSE

  • Help manage our herd of 300 Spanish range goats with herding and electric fencing, transporting materials, and hauling livestock.
  • Care and feeding of cattle (cow/calf, yearlings & finishers), including moving stock between pastures with temporary electric fencing, electric collars, herding, and hauling.
  • Develop and build your technical skills in regenerative ranching.

DISTINGUISHING CHARACTERISTICS

  • Appreciate hard work in tough outdoor environments
  • Ability to problem solve and willingness to ask for help
  • Ability to work independently and on a team
  • Good sense of humor, cool under pressure
  • Attention to detail; organized
  • Respectful communicator
  • Punctual

JOB RELATED AND ESSENTIAL QUALIFICATIONS

Overview:

TomKat’s Land & Livestock Team practices adaptive management using cattle and goats as an ecological tool in conjunction with prescribed fire, mechanical treatment of brush, and other land management techniques. We aim to restore native grasslands, enhance biodiversity, promote wildlife habitat, and increase wildfire resiliency while supporting rural economies, participating in scientific trials, collaborating with land managers, and raising nutrient-dense food to feed local communities. 

Duties described below are examples and not meant to be an exhaustive or all-inclusive list: 

  • Ability to perform physical work  (including standing, walking, crouching, climbing, lifting) and work outdoors in heat, cold, rain, dust, noise
  • General Land & Livestock Assistant skills to be learned and applied:
    • Provide daily livestock and livestock guardian dog care including water, feed, supplements
    • Fence building and repair on steep terrain and through dense brush (including poison oak) with all types of fencing: permanent, electric, temporary, net
    • Low-stress livestock handling, herding, and corral work for goats and cattle
    • Animal husbandry – includes doctoring, vaccinations, breeding, calving and kidding
    • Pasture management – includes executing grazing plan, monitoring, replanning
    • Ranch equipment operation and basic maintenance 
  • Attend weekly/monthly meetings for the Land & Livestock Team and staff more generally
  • Attend trainings to help achieve personal and professional learning goals, established in collaboration with manager, including: low-stress stockmanship, soil health, holistic management, ecological systems, plant identification, livestock health

Basic Skills:

  • Experience working with livestock
  • Experience fence building, including electric and barbed wire
  • Competent with hand and power tools
  • Experience with trailers
  • Commitment to proper stockmanship, including low-stress livestock handling
  • Willingness to utilize mapping software, task management apps, and Google Suite
  • Desire to learn regenerative agriculture principles and practices
  • Proficient in English

Preferred Skills:

  • Familiarity with electrical and stockwater systems
  • Experience with chainsaws
  • Experienced ATV/UTV rider
  • Conversational Spanish 

Essential Attributes:

  • Maintain high standards of efficient, ethical, and professional operation for the well-being of the Ranch’s staff, facilities, land, animals, and resources
  • Establish and maintain positive, cooperative, effective relationships with high energy team
  • Communicate effectively both orally and in writing to colleagues and visitors

DETAILS OF EMPLOYMENT

  • Pay range is $22 to $25 per hour, commensurate with experience and education.
  • Full-time, working up to 10 hours per day and around 50 hours per week, including weekends.
  • Non-exempt position to receive overtime pay in accordance with state laws.
  • Must be legally authorized to work in the U.S.

Benefits:

  • On-site housing or housing stipend 
  • Insurance: health, dental, vision, life 
  • Paid sick days
  • Paid holidays
  • Up to 4 weeks paid vacation per year
  • 401(k) plan with up to 4% match from employer 
  • Monthly cell phone stipend
  • $100/month wellness reimbursement
  • Education, classes, and training
  • Discounted meat for employees

If interested, please send a Cover Letter and Resume to jobs@tomkatranch.org.

Position open until filled.