Dilmun Hill is Cornell's student-run farm that seeks to foster community and empower students through active engagement in ecological agriculture. The farm is open to anyone and is a place for experiential learning, group collaboration, research, and outreach. 

Farm Background

Dilmun Hill is an experiential learning farm that provides an exciting and inclusive environment in which to work, learn, and build community. The farm values and invites diverse student perspectives, talents, and contributions from across the Cornell community. Dilmun Hill is a small and highly, diversified farm that sits within the Cornell Agricultural Experiment Station (AES) and is located on the Ithaca campus. 

Student managers serve in a leadership position for the farm and the greater Dilmun Hill community at Cornell. Student managers are supervised by and working closely with the AES Organic Farm Coordinator and are supported under past managers, and Cornell CALS faculty and staff with a range of expertise. Managers also serve on the Dilmun Hill Steering Committee, a student group that works to build the farm social community, lead activities of the Dilmun Hill Student Farm club, and support longer-term goals for the farm. The Steering Committee is made up of former farm managers and other students with a wide range of interests and backgrounds that have a passion for sustainable agriculture.

Becoming a farm manager at Dilmun is a long-term commitment. The manager role is a paid position that is part-time in the spring semester, full-time through the summer, and part-time in the fall semester. After the calendar year, managers are encouraged to stay engaged in the farm as an active club member within the Steering Committee, including hiring and training new farm managers. 

Job Description and Responsibilities

Student managers (team of 3-4 students) take leadership in vegetable crop production, sales and marketing, and outreach at Dilmun Hill for the calendar year. Throughout the year, managers gain a wide variety of hands-on farming skills, with the expectation of working collaboratively and communicating effectively among each other, Cornell faculty and staff, and the greater Cornell community. 

In the spring semester, managers undergo farm orientation and training, and work to prepare the farm for the upcoming season, including crop planning, seed orders, field preparation, and greenhouse work. They spend the summer working full-time on the farm with responsibilities including field and high tunnel production (e.g., planting, weeding, irrigation, harvesting), coordinating markets and distribution (CSA, U-pick, farm stands, donation), managing communications and social media, and organizing educational/outreach activities for members the Cornell community. Managers work part-time during the fall semester to continue their summer duties and finish the growing season, including fall clean up and maintenance tasks that prepare the farm for the next year’s managers. The fall has a greater emphasis on student outreach, where managers organize volunteer work groups, provide class tours, and help coordinate social events through the Dilmun Hill Student Farm club. 

Throughout the year, individual managers are encouraged to take on specific projects or tasks based on their own unique strengths and interests. Once the season has ended, managers produce a formal farm report on the season and are highly encouraged to stay engaged in the farm to provide continuity and support the manager transition.

Work Schedule

Students work part-time during the academic year, spring and fall semesters, at 5-10 hrs/wk with some flexibility in days and times based on class schedules. Summer work (end May – Mid Aug) is full-time at 39 hrs/wk, Monday through Friday. Managers are expected to be working on the farm in the summer with the exception of up to 2 weeks vacation.

Additional Information

Visit the Dilmun Hill Student Farm website to learn more and contact dilmunhill@cornell.edu with any questions about the farm and the student manager position.