Grassroots Farm & Dairy

Last Updated On: May 7th, 2026 at 07:36PM MST

Contact information

Farm Address:
538 Graham Rd
Marshall, North Carolina, 28753

Primary Contact: Andrea Van Gunst
Secondary Contact: Tim Gallaugher

Primary Phone:
    Type: Cell
    Number: 828.545.9202
    Email: avangunst@gmail.com

Secondary Phone
    Type: '-----
    Number: 828.545.4619
    Email: tim.gallaugher@gmail.com

    Email: tim.gallaugher@gmail.com

Website: https://www.grassrootsdairy.com

Internship information

General Farm Description: We run a small-scale sheep dairy just outside Marshall where we produce and sell Grade A sheep milk yogurt, fresh cheeses, aged sheep milk cheese and a small amount of raw milk. We milk around 35 ewes from March 15th to October 1st and in the spring we have around 75 lambs. We graze our flock April through November and we supplement with whole grain non-GMO feed and local hay during the milking season.

CRAFT Member Farm? Yes

Internship Starts: 1-Apr
Internship Ends: 1-Oct
Number of Internship Available: 2
Application Deadline: none
Minimum Length of Stay: 6 months

Internship Details:

** NOTE: This positions is a work trade position not a full time internship **

The work trade position is for 4 milking shifts / week (11 hours / week once trained) and it runs April 1st – October 1st.. There will be 3 evening milking shifts (5:30 p.m. – 8 p.m.) and one morning milking shift (6:30 am – 9:30 a.m.) – evening shifts are shorter because there is less milk! Once you’re trained, you will be working by yourself – you need to be sure that you both enjoy working alone and that you can stay focused and productive while working alone. Milking requires a lot of attention to detail, patience, responsibility to a schedule and willingness to find value in repetitive work – please apply only if you’re up for this! We have two large guardian dogs that live in with our different flocks and we have a border collie that moves the milking flock. We will train you on the basics of working with our border collie and he will be your daily helper bringing the flock in and out of the fields for milking.

We will have a small number of additional hourly paid work opportunities on the farm if you are a good fit for extra work in the creamery or for field work. Work in the creamery involves mixing and packaging soft cheese, helping with yogurt and cheese makes, washing glass returns and labeling. This work requires diligence and great care as we are transforming milk into safe and delicious value added products. Field work involves morning chores, helping move fencing, flock health checks and weed eating. Please let us know if you’re interested in additional work and we can evaluate to see if you’re a good fit once you’re on the farm and trained to milk.

We are also well connected in the farming community and if you are interested in more paid hourly work on other farms there are many great opportunities that we can connect you with.

Educational Opportunities: We are a member of the CRAFT program and we support our worker traders in being able to participate in all aspects of this program. While this position is not an internship, we are very transparent about all aspects of the farm and we will always be willing to stop and answer questions and help you understand all of what we do. We are well connected in the local farming community and are happy to connect workers with any other farms in the area should they wish to learn more about other farm enterprises.

Skills Desired: The ideal candidate would have dairy experience (doesn't have to be with sheep) and / or manual labor experience. It's important that you enjoy working with animals...even when they are doing the opposite of what you'd like and that you have a great attitude about hard work.

Meals: We do not provide meals.

Stipend: This position is a work trade position so you receive housing with paid utilities and wifi as your compensation for 10-12 hours work each week. You are given farm food each week (1 dozen eggs, 1 gallon raw milk, 2 quarts of yogurt and 2 types of cheese). We also purchase 2 veggie CSA's for you all to share from one of the local organic veggie farms, this ends up being a good amount of vegetables. When we have lamb or mutton, you're welcome to that as well.

Housing: Housing is a 40’ skoolie or a 30’ RV that’s parked on flat land by the creek with its own separate drive. Both have AC units and the RV has a wood-burning stove to keep it cozy in the colder months. Both have large outside living spaces and there is a separate outdoor shower / bathhouse. There are shared garden beds if you’re interested in growing your own veggies. There is wifi in both of the dwellings and there is a shared washer/dryer up at the barn. Our road is a dead-end road and we’re all very friendly folk! The town of Marshall is about 15 minutes away and Hot Springs and Asheville are both 30 minutes away.

Preferred method of Contact: email or phone