If you live in the Basin and have ever been unemployed, you know looking for a job in Klamath Falls can be a challenge. While the rest of the state and the nation seem to be getting out of the unemployment gap, for whatever reason it seems that Klamath Falls has a hard time catching up. And if you do land a job, sometimes you’ll find wages are lower than elsewhere. For a job-hunter that’s looking to provide for a family, that can be frustrating.
However, have you ever considered agriculture?
Seriously, as a source for Klamath County jobs, agriculture provides a ton of opportunities not usually given a second thought. And our farm is a prime example of the variety of employment opportunities people don’t consider because we’re a farm and/or we’re not located in Klamath Falls. But if you’re willing to drive a little ways and work hard, you might find ag is right up your alley.
For example, on our employment opportunities page, we have listings for not only farm jobs but also mechanic and office positions as well. If you’ve read our blog before, you know it takes a lot of people wearing a lot of different hats to keep the modern farm running and successful.
Have accounting experience or payroll experience? We need help running payroll and are looking for an experienced Payroll Bookkeeper. And if you’ve ever had the opportunity to process billing and have experience with databases, we’d love to talk to you about our Billing Clerk position. These jobs are located in Malin, and if you’re not familiar with the Klamath Basin that’s about 30 miles out of Klamath Falls. While it may seem like a commute, if you’ve ever lived in a larger city you know that sometimes it can take you that long and you’re only trying to go 10 miles to get home!
Perhaps you have a degree in horticulture or agronomy and are looking for an opportunity to make a difference? You should check out our Agronomist job opening. This is a great opportunity for someone who doesn’t want to be stuck in the office or the lab and would love to get their hands in the dirt while helping us grow the Basin’s best wheat, hay and potato crops.
Speaking of working with your hands, perhaps you’re more mechanically inclined and love the smell of oil and diesel in the morning. Perfect! We’re always looking for mechanics, and right now we’re looking for a Diesel Mechanic and a Farm Mechanic. These are great opportunities for someone who’s looking to get out of the headache of working for a dealership and loves the idea of turning wrenches and trouble-shooting issues for a wide variety of pickups, tractors and farm equipment. Not a mechanic, don’t want to farm but love shop-life? Then you should see our Assistant Shop Manager job opportunity. Again, not a typical farm job but still a position we need filled to keep our trucks and tractors on the road and in the fields. And all three of these jobs are based in Merrill, which is roughly 20 miles out of Klamath Falls.
And if you do want to farm, we have those positions available too! We always need experienced Tractor Operators to help in the spring, summer and fall to help with planting, laying out pipe and harvest. If you’re experienced in leading people and are motivated to succeed, we would love to talk to you about our Hay Farm Manager and Assistant Farm Manager positions. Both of these positions could provide a career with chances for advancement in our companies.
Don’t see a job you’re interested in but have skills, experience or education? We’d still love to talk to you. Whether you’re a welder, have an accounting degree or computer networking experience, there may be something on our farm, packing shed or offices that we need your help with. Gold Dust and Walker Farms offers benefits and wages on-par with many of the Klamath Falls job opportunities you see in the paper or online. We pride ourselves on trying to be innovative, which means it takes innovative people from many different walks of life to helps us succeed.
While this post may seem like a recruiting push (well, it kinda’ is), we hope our readers can see that it’s also calling attention to how much agriculture and farming has changed over the decades. There’s a lot of non-traditional farming jobs in ag these days. We need someone who’s just as skilled at running a tractor just as much as we need someone who’s skilled at running reports in Excel or Access. Both jobs are important – and keep our farm going. If you’re ready for a change of pace or a new opportunity, let’s talk.
