OGS Apprentice Link connects folks who are serious about learning the sustainable farming trade with farmers who are willing to teach them. In exchange for their labor, apprentices receive intensive training and gain a hands-on understanding of what it takes to farm. Depending on the farm, apprentices may also receive room and board, a stipend,  an hourly wage, fresh local produce, or some combination of all four.

Apprentice Link is a searchable site, for both farmers and future apprentices. Matches are made by a variety of factors including: wage and living requirements, type of farm operation, work availability and lifestyle needs.

** You are more than welcome to contact us at OGS if you have any problems using our system. We want to make this a successful experience for you.

Service Region:
Our service region includes western North Carolina, eastern Tennessee, northern Georgia and southwest Virginia. Please take note of the farm code – the first 2 letters are the state abbreviation and the next 3 letters are the county code. More location details can be found in each farm profile.

DISCLAIMER: The Organic Growers School provides this database as a service to the southern Appalachian agriculture community. OGS provides no recommendation or claim related to any profiles within Apprentice Link. We encourage all intern participants to thoroughly research and inquire about each position, especially with respect to wages, safety and worker treatment. We encourage all farmers to seek assistance in learning and carrying out best practices for farm internship management, including ongoing contact with area service providers and federal authorities for the most up to date information about labor laws related to apprenticeship positions.

Creating a Profile

• Create a profile using the button links at the bottom of this page. You are not required to answer all the questions, but consider that the information you give determines how the system returns data to you.
• Once you have created your profile, you’ll be able to do a more in-depth search for a farm to work on or for possible apprentices to work on your farm.
• The more restrictions you put on your search, the fewer results you’ll get. But do take seriously the criteria that are a “no-go” for you: it’s better to have 2 options that are a great fit than 10 that are not going to be successful!

NOTE: If you don’t create a profile, you can still search the site for available farms or apprentices, but you will not have access to all information on the site.

Searching the Site

If you’re looking for farm work:

• When you have a list of farms that have showed up as matches, you can directly submit your profile to that farm. If the farm has their contact information displayed, you are welcome to follow up your application with a phone call or e-mail.
• Keep checking the Apprentice Link system! New farms join all the time and you may be a good match for them!

If you’re a farmer looking for workers:

• When you have a list of possible apprentices, take time to read through their profiles in more detail to decide which are the best matches for you. Contact information for these potential apprentices is on their profile and you can contact them directly.
• Potential apprentice profiles can also choose to have their profiles e-mailed to you when your farm turns up as a match. You can chose for these e-mails to come upon submission, once daily or as a weekly digest.

Click here to create a new Farmer profile

Click here to create a new Apprentice profile