The Lund Fellows Program for Regenerative Agriculture provides Cornell undergraduate students across disciplines with the opportunity to broaden their perspectives and understanding of natural ecosystems and to learn about ecological and social approaches to agricultural systems. 

The Lund Fellows Program provides students opportunities to gain applied experience working on an agroecological farm and contribute to the farm in meaningful and helpful ways, while learning about the process and considerations involved in managing such an enterprise.

We work to spread awareness about the value and mission of agroecological biodynamic, organic, regenerative, and sustainable approaches to farming, strengthen relationships between the university and local farms and provide assistance to small farms that could not otherwise fund summer internships. 

Host farms participating in the Lund Fellows Program were prioritized based on the following values: 

• Explicitly uses agroecological, biodynamic and/or organic farming methods
• Diversified farm (not just certified organic with industrial farming approach)
• Small-scale farm (less than 200 hectares)
• Black, Indigenous, and People of Color (BIPOC) farmers when possible

Internship description

At the Heritage Haus Farm we are very open to working with interns to develop responsibilities that align with their own interests and future pursuits. There are MANY things that can be focused on at their farm including:

• Livestock management – daily care, health management, breeding planning, record keeping
• General Farm management – pasture care, resource management, infrastructure management
• Sales & Marketing – website, social media, story-telling, PR, etc.
• Business Planning – research and development for new market channels, new products, etc.

 If selected, the intern would develop a plan of work and goals together with Heritage Haus Farm.

Basic Qualifications and Preferred Experience

• Basic physical capabilities and appreciation for working outdoors are definitely useful. We regularly lift more than 50lbs, work long hours outdoors in all kinds of weather, get dirty, etc. Good boots and clothes that you don’t mind getting dirty are good ideas.
• Handy with basic tools or more advanced! A willingness to improvise. We fix things using bailing twine and duct tape sometimes…
• Basic familiarity/comfort level with farm animals. It’s ok if you don’t know a lot about them, but not being afraid of them would be very helpful! In addition to sheep and pigs, we also have horses, a cow, goats, 2 dogs, chickens.
• Basic computer skills – email, office 365, etc. Anything more a plus!
• Ability to work independently, comfortable asking questions, and taking initiative are all wonderful. We are very flexible, and very appreciative of all kinds of help, but do not love to micro-manage.

Internship schedule 

Very Flexible. We do chores in the morning and evening, but time ranges for each are quite wide. When it is hot, we spend the middle part of the day doing inside / computer work.

About the farm

The Heritage Haus Farm is a 15-acre farm located in Berkshire, NY – Tioga County. We have 2 main aspects of their business:

• raising heritage breed animals (Kunekune Pigs, Katahdin Sheep, Icelandic Sheep) for breeding stock and meat production

We raise their livestock using regenerative practices, rotational grazing, and work to keep them living outside and living as naturally as possible for most of the year.