Grassward Dairy
Last Updated On: May 21st, 2026 at 09:36AM MST
Contact information
Farm Address:39030 Griggs Drive
Lebanon, Oregon, 97355
Primary Contact: Aimee Marciniak
Primary Phone:
Type: Cell
Number: 541.921.5561
Email: grassward.dairy@gmail.com
Website: https://instagram.com/grassward.dairy
Internship information
General Farm Description: Farmstead microdairy currently milking 10 cows and grazing about 50 animals on 80 acres. We are passionate about delicious, high-quality dairy; humane treatment of animals; low-stress handling techniques; ethical land use; regenerative agriculture; and community-supported agriculture. We have been dairying for 15 years; after many years of living and working on other farms, we purchased an 80 acre farm 4 1/2 years ago and are beyond excited to commit and regenerate this land! We do weekly deliveries of raw milk, cream and yogurt through a herdshare, a consumer-direct sales model. We also harvest grass-finished beef once each year. We welcome you to join us on our grazing-based microdairy, a type of farm that is almost extinct in modern agriculture - milking 250 cows is now considered a small dairy, milking 5,000 with robots is standard; grazing dairy cows on grass has sadly become rare. We currently milk 10 cows once a day and supply about 150 families in our herdshare every week.CRAFT Member Farm? No
Internship Starts: Opening immediately, as of May 2026; also flexible and always planning for the future!
Internship Ends: Flexible and negotiable
Number of Internship Available: 1-2; ideal for a couple
Application Deadline: ASAP
Minimum Length of Stay: 8 months
Internship Details:
Dairying is incredibly rewarding – interacting with the land and animals and eating the amazing products of our labor. We are dedicated to regenerative agriculture and attention to detail in order to provide ourselves and our herdshare community with delicious, high quality, artisanal food. Attention to detail is one of the important skills you will use and practice here!
Interns will gain hands-on experience in the areas of pasture management and renovation, management intensive grazing, natural resource management, animal health and husbandry, raising youngstock, milking cows, cheesemaking, business planning, marketing and more.
Chores/work sessions are 6:30am to noon and 3:30 to 6:30pm. 40 hours per week, 5 days on, 2 days off, work-trade for room, board and education.
A dairy intern ideally has at least one season of farmwork experience. This is negotiable based on other life and work experience. A strong work ethic; the ability to work long, physical days in all weather; willingness to follow direction; attention to detail; flexibility; a sense of humor; and an openness to living a real working life on a small farm with all the joys and realities it presents are skills that you will hone during your time here. You should already have a base to begin with, and be excited to be challenged and grow.
Interns duties include:
animal chores – checking, feeding and caring for 8 groups of animals twice daily;
calf management – rearing (bottle feeding, caring for, and weaning) about 2 to 6 calves during your stay;
milking cows – learning a detailed protocol for raw milk production and milking 10 cows once a day, 2 or more days each week;
milk room duties – practicing a detailed protocol for clean-up and raw milk bottling, several days each week;
milk deliveries – dropping off coolers and stocking refrigerators at our hosted pick-ups sites, one day each week.
participating in the majority of duties and processes of caring for 50 bovines and running a grazing-based microdairy in partnership with Aimee and Brian.
Additional topics include: electric fencing, rotational grazing, forage management, manure management, animal health during all stages of life, business operations, cheesemaking, community-based agriculture and more.
We are lifelong learners as well as mentors and educators and will demonstrate and encourage critical thinking. We are a science-based farm operation, continually learning from books, local farmers, university extension agents and more. We are members of several peer-to-peer learning and support groups; you may attend some of these meetings (and be present when we host). We have an extensive library to share with you, and will consistently encourage you to do research and homework to engage on topics that come up during our daily farming experiences, as well as particular areas of personal interest.
Diet is mostly local farm food, including meat, fish, eggs, dairy and veg from the land; we trade with other local producers. We eat the highest quality, humanely- and ethically-raised, local and seasonal food from small producers.
We share dinners about once each week, depending on the current crew’s preference – more is possible, more or less structured as desired.
Housing provided is in the “Peach Palace”, a separate house for our interns and WWOOFers. 2 main bedrooms and a smaller bedroom for guests or during overlap. Large, spacious, lots of natural light, warm, dry, open kitchen/dining/living room and large full bathroom.
We encourage you to have a personal vehicle while living rurally with 2 days off each week for many months. The possibilities for engaging with the amazing landscapes in our bioregion, as well as other farmers and/or other interests you may have is virtually endless!
Educational Opportunities: Interns will gain hands-on experience in the areas of pasture management and renovation, management intensive grazing, natural resource management, animal health and husbandry, raising youngstock, milking cows, cheesemaking, business planning, marketing and more.
Skills Desired: You will need sturdy shoes and good communication skills - we will happily orient you to farming duties.
Meals: Yes. Diet is mostly farm food, including meat, fish, eggs, dairy and veg from the land; we trade with other local producers. We eat the highest quality, humanely- and ethically-raised, local and seasonal food from small producers.
Stipend: Yes; negotiable depending on experience.
Housing: Yes; private room in separate intern & WWOOFer house.
Preferred method of Contact: email or phone