General Farm Worker (Livestock) and Ecological Ranger Apprentice
MINDRUM FARMING COMPANY LIMITED
MINDRUM (TD12 4QN)
Closes in 27 days (Monday 30 November 2026 at 11:59pm)
Posted on 2 November 2026
Contents
Summary
Join Mindrum Farm in a practical, hands-on livestock role, principally caring for sheep and cattle alongside pigs, poultry and game. You will learn how good animal husbandry connects with soil health and the wider agroecological system to create a resilient, productive organic farm.
- Wage
-
£15,392 a year
- Training course
- General farm worker (level 2)
- Hours
-
Minimum 37 hours per week, Monday to Sunday, to be arranged.
This includes 6 hours of coursework as part of the Apprentice Programme.
37 hours a week
- Start date
-
Friday 1 January 2027
- Duration
-
1 year 6 months
- Positions available
-
1
Work
Most of your apprenticeship is spent working. You’ll learn on the job by getting hands-on experience.
What you'll do at work
You will support Sam our stockman, and farm owner, Tom, in caring for the livestock and the land that sustains them.
Your responsibilities will include:
- Carry out daily checks of sheep, cattle, pigs and game birds, including feed, water, behaviour, condition and surroundings; promptly report illness, injury, distress or anything unusual
- Help with feeding, bedding, cleaning, housing and pasture management, maintaining high standards of animal welfare, hygiene and biosecurity
- Learn calm, safe livestock handling and movement. Assist with seasonal work, including lambing, calving and other husbandry tasks, at a level appropriate to your training
- Support grazing plans through stock moves, fencing and water checks, and observations of pasture condition, ground conditions and animal performance
- Help grade livestock and assess their condition, using these observations to inform management decisions
- Keep accurate livestock and husbandry records. Assist with weighing, identification, sampling and agreed health tasks under the Sam’s direction
- Helping design farm research needed to clarify and refine our management practice
Where you'll work
MINDRUM
TD12 4QN
Training
Apprenticeships include time away from working for specialist training. You’ll study to gain professional knowledge and skills.
Training provider
CITY OF SUNDERLAND COLLEGE
Training course
General farm worker (level 2)
Understanding apprenticeship levels (opens in new tab)
What you'll learn
Course contents
- Identify hazards and risks in the workplace, prepare risk assessments and demonstrate high level of health and safety awareness at all times.
- Maintain the correct hygiene and bio-security procedures for the site, in accordance with relevant legal requirements
- Check that animal welfare needs related to their environment and housing are maintained, including manure management, ensuring the suitability of indoor and outdoor environment and bedding up of animals
- Assist with safe restraint, moving and handling of livestock.
- Legally operate a farm vehicle and each attachment according to health and safety requirements. For example, tractors and ATVs along with other vehicles integral to the business.
- Demonstrate good environmental practice in the workplace, in accordance with environmental assessment plans and associated legal requirements
- Assist with post-harvest activities to meet crop and forage specifications, in a safe and environmentally acceptable way
- Carry out maintenance of farm infrastructure (including housing for livestock, boundaries and electric or non-electric fences), machinery and equipment, as instructed
- Complete manual and electronic records in accordance with legislation and the business processes.
- Monitor and maintain health & welfare of livestock and assist with treatments when appropriate.
- Monitor the quantity and quality of grass and forage crops and report findings to appropriate person.
- Provide feed and water to livestock as instructed and report any issues to appropriate person
- Assist with caring for livestock during the reproductive cycle, from service to weaning. For example, identify signs of heat.
- Produce products for sale from the business (for example, milking, shearing, lambing, harvesting)
- Assist with the preparation of the ground, including identification of soil condition through soil sampling and preparing crop for planting
- Load, unload and complete paperwork for transportation of resources manually and using loading equipment, according to instruction
- Monitor the growth and development of crops in line with customer specification, as instructed
- Identify hazards and risks in the workplace, prepare risk assessments and demonstrate high level of health and safety awareness at all times.
- Maintain the correct hygiene and bio-security procedures for the site, in accordance with relevant legal requirements
- Check that animal welfare needs related to their environment and housing are maintained, including manure management, ensuring the suitability of indoor and outdoor environment and bedding up of animals
- Assist with safe restraint, moving and handling of livestock.
- Legally operate a farm vehicle and each attachment according to health and safety requirements. For example, tractors and ATVs along with other vehicles integral to the business.
- Demonstrate good environmental practice in the workplace, in accordance with environmental assessment plans and associated legal requirements
- Assist with post-harvest activities to meet crop and forage specifications, in a safe and environmentally acceptable way
- Carry out maintenance of farm infrastructure (including housing for livestock, boundaries and electric or non-electric fences), machinery and equipment, as instructed
- Complete manual and electronic records in accordance with legislation and the business processes.
Training schedule
Training will be work-based, 6 hours a week for college work.
Requirements
Essential qualifications
GCSE in:
- English (grade 1-9)
- Maths (grade 1-9)
Share if you have other relevant qualifications and industry experience. The apprenticeship can be adjusted to reflect what you already know.
Skills
- Communication skills
- IT skills
- Attention to detail
- Organisation skills
- Problem solving skills
- Number skills
- Team working
- Initiative
- Patience
- Genuine interest in livestock
- Willing to work outdoors
- Interest in organic farming
- Hardworking
Other requirements
Driving license essential; own transport preferred due to work place location.
Farming can be enormously rewarding, but it is not always easy or glamorous. This is a practical, physically demanding job, often undertaken outdoors in all weathers, with early starts, occasional late finishes and weekend work, particularly during lambing, calving and other busy periods. Animals need looking after every day, regardless of the weather or what else you might have planned. Some jobs are repetitive, muddy, dirty or simply hard work, and things do not always go according to plan. You will need to be adaptable, reliable, observant and willing to turn your hand to whatever needs doing. Good stockmanship requires patience, attention to detail and a genuine concern for animal welfare, including dealing with illness, injury and occasionally death. In return, you will have the satisfaction of doing something worthwhile, working closely with animals and the natural world, developing a wide range of skills and seeing the results of your efforts on the ground. We don't expect you to know everything when you arrive, but we do expect enthusiasm, a willingness to learn and a readiness to get stuck in. This job isn’t for everyone, but if it is right for you – then you shouldn’t be doing anything else!
Accommodation in a farm cottage is proposed as part of the role, with the terms to be confirmed subject to applicants, whether shared or a standalone cottage. You will be responsible for your own costs including council tax, but a room in the cottage, including farm-supplied water and biomass heating would be provided without charge.
About this employer
Mindrum Farm is a 480-hectare mixed organic farm in the Cheviot foothills of North Northumberland. We run a substantial flock of breeding sheep and a suckler cattle herd alongside a diverse arable rotation, woodland, agroforestry, pigs, poultry and wild game. Our mission is simple: producing healthy food from healthy ground. Having transitioned from conventional farming to organic and regenerative practices, we are developing a farming system that works with nature, harnessing the productive power of healthy soils, diverse habitats, livestock and natural ecological processes. Mindrum is also a place of experimentation, observation and learning. We combine traditional stockmanship and practical farming skills with modern ecological understanding, undertaking research and trials in soil biology, grazing, animal health, agroforestry and biodiversity. We encourage curiosity, initiative and constructive debate, believing that good ideas can come from anyone and that the best evidence often comes from careful observation on the ground. We are looking for people who enjoy working outdoors, take pride in caring for animals and the land, and want to contribute to a productive, resilient and continually improving farming system.
After this apprenticeship
Your earnings can increase over time with an apprenticeship. Find out about potential future pay (opens in new tab).
There is the possibility of full-time employment upon successful completion of the apprenticeship.
Ask a question
The contact for this apprenticeship is:
CITY OF SUNDERLAND COLLEGE
The reference code for this apprenticeship is VAC2000061873.
Apply now
Closes in 27 days (Monday 30 November 2026 at 11:59pm)