Farm Helper Jobs in New York (NOW HIRING)

Farm Technician — Indoor Mushroom & Hydroponic Farm

Position: Farm Technician
Employment Type: Full-Time / Part-Time / or Internship
Location: Paterson, NJ
 

About the Farm

We are an indoor specialty farm growing gourmet mushrooms and fresh hydroponic greens in a controlled indoor environment.

Our mushroom operation produces oyster mushrooms across multiple varieties and enoki mushrooms, while our indoor greens operation produces baby lettuce, kale, and other salad greens as well as herbs using controlled-environment growing systems.

We are looking for a dependable, hands-on Farm Technician to help operate both sides of the farm. This is an active production role involving mushroom substrate preparation, sterilization, inoculation, fruiting, harvesting, hydroponic crop care, equipment monitoring, and—very importantly—a lot of cleaning and sanitation.

What You'll Do

Mushroom Production

You will participate in the complete mushroom production cycle, including:

• Operate a substrate mixer to prepare mushroom master mix/substrate.
• Measure and combine substrate ingredients according to established recipes.
• Load and pack substrate into mushroom grow bags.
• Operate steam sterilization chambers used to sterilize filled substrate blocks.
• Safely monitor sterilization cycles, temperatures, and equipment.
• Transfer sterilized blocks into the inoculation area while maintaining proper sanitation procedures.
• Inoculate sterilized substrate using appropriate mushroom cultures/spawn.
• Work inside a cleanroom inoculation environment equipped with a HEPA-filtered vertical-flow hood.
• Move inoculated blocks into incubation and fruiting rooms.
• Monitor mushroom blocks for contamination, colonization, and development.
• Identify contamination or other problems and report them promptly.
• Monitor environmental conditions in incubation and fruiting areas.
• Harvest mushrooms at the appropriate stage of development.
• Properly handle, clean, and sanitize equipment and production areas between batches.

Indoor Greens Production

On the hydroponic greens side of the farm, you will:

• Plant rockwool cubes in our indoor growing tents.
• Prepare and maintain growing systems and planting areas.
• Monitor nutrient reservoirs and ensure they remain properly filled.
• Check and maintain pH and EC within established target ranges.
• Monitor water levels and nutrient conditions.
• Inspect plants regularly for signs of nutrient deficiencies, pests, disease, environmental stress, or other problems.
• Identify abnormalities and communicate problems before they affect the crop.
• Monitor automated irrigation and environmental-control systems.
• Ensure automated watering schedules are functioning properly.
• Monitor growing temperatures and other environmental conditions.
• Perform routine maintenance and troubleshooting of automated growing equipment.
• Harvest and handle greens as needed.

Cleaning & Sanitation

This is a major part of the job.

Mushroom production requires extremely high standards of cleanliness and sanitation. The technician will be expected to take ownership of keeping the farm clean and organized.

If you don't like cleaning, this probably isn't the job for you. A clean farm is essential to producing healthy mushrooms and plants.

Equipment & Automation

The Farm Technician will also help maintain the systems that allow us to operate a highly controlled indoor farm.

You will be expected to:

• Monitor automated irrigation and watering systems.
• Monitor temperature-control equipment and environmental sensors.
• Check automated schedules and confirm that equipment is operating correctly.
• Identify equipment problems and communicate them before they become crop problems.
• Keep production equipment clean, functional, and properly maintained.
• Follow operating procedures and safety requirements for farm machinery and equipment.

What We're Looking For

We are looking for someone who is:

• Extremely dependable and responsible.
• Comfortable working with their hands.
• Comfortable working in a production environment.
• Detail-oriented and observant.
• Able to follow recipes, procedures, and sanitation protocols precisely.
• Comfortable working around water, soil/substrate, steam, and agricultural equipment.
• Comfortable learning new equipment and automated systems.
• Able to recognize when something doesn't look right and investigate the problem.
• Willing to perform repetitive tasks when necessary.
• Very comfortable cleaning—cleaning is a significant part of this position.
• Able to work independently while also communicating effectively with the rest of the team.
• Physically capable of standing, walking, bending, lifting, and performing manual work throughout the workday.

Preferred Experience

Experience in any of the following is a plus, but we are willing to train the right person:

• Mushroom cultivation
• Oyster or enoki mushroom production
• Indoor farming
• Hydroponics
• Controlled-environment agriculture
• Greenhouse production
• Plant cultivation
• Food production
• Agricultural production
• Laboratory or clean-room environments
• Sanitation and contamination control
• HVAC/environmental-control systems
• Automated irrigation systems
• pH and EC monitoring
• Equipment operation and maintenance

The Right Person

The ideal candidate is someone who enjoys working with plants, fungi, equipment, and technology and takes pride in maintaining a clean, organized production environment.

You don't need to know everything about mushrooms or hydroponics when you start. We can teach you our systems. What we cannot easily teach is attention to detail, reliability, a strong work ethic, and the willingness to keep a production facility exceptionally clean.

If you like the idea of working in a modern indoor farm where biology, agriculture, automation, and hands-on production come together, we'd like to hear from you.

To Apply:
Please submit your resume and a brief description of your relevant experience and why you're interested in working in indoor agriculture.