Crop Technician / Agronomy Apprentice
GROWUP URBAN FARMS LIMITED
KENT, CT13 9FA
Closes in 13 days (Wednesday 29 January at 11:59pm)
Posted on 15 January 2025
Contents
Summary
As an Agronomy Apprentice you will have the chance to start your career at our state-of-the-art vertical farm near Sandwich, Kent. You will work and learn alongside highly experienced horticulturists, food technologists and plant scientists.
- Annual wage
- £16,000 a year
- Training course
- Crop technician (level 3)
- Hours
-
Monday to Friday, 8am to 4pm
40 hours a week
- Possible start date
-
Monday 10 February
- Duration
-
2 years
- Positions available
-
3
Work
As an apprentice, you’ll work at a company and get hands-on experience. You’ll gain new skills and work alongside experienced staff.
What you’ll do at work
The job is varied. While your core responsibilities will be to assist the agronomy technicians, making sure make sure the crops are grown in the optimum environmental conditions and received the right fertigation, you will also have the opportunity to work with the production team, technical team and R&D team.
Role Description
- Monitor fertigation and environmental conditions.
- Check the irrigation system and carry out daily maintenance.
- Calibrate the various measuring and dosing equipment (pH, EC, dosing pumps…etc.).
- Mix fertilisers and bio- stimulants.
- Help with crop checks/crop walks during the growth cycle and post-harvest.
- Collect samples to send for analysis.
- Help with farm operations when required (seeding – harvest – packing…etc.).
- Once you’ve got the skills and confidence, we’ll give you the opportunity to work independently and look after the crops with limited supervision as part of our weekend rota.
- Always work in a safe manner, and be involved in our H&S improvement plans.
Where you’ll work
PEPPERNESS
MONTAGU ROAD
SANDWICH
KENT
CT13 9FA
Training
An apprenticeship includes regular training with a college or other training organisation. At least 20% of your working hours will be spent training or studying.
College or training organisation
NORTH KENT COLLEGE
Your training course
Crop technician (level 3)
Equal to A level
Course contents
Your training plan
You will be studing at Hadlow College one day per month.
Requirements
Essential qualifications
GCSE in:
- English (grade 4)
- Maths (grade 4)
Let the company know about other relevant qualifications and industry experience you have. They can adjust the apprenticeship to reflect what you already know.
Skills
- Communication skills
- IT skills
- Attention to detail
- Organisation skills
- Problem solving skills
- Presentation skills
- Team working
- Creative
- Initiative
- Physical fitness
- Reliable
- Enthusiastic person
- Passionate about plants
Other requirements
.
About this company
At GrowUp, our purpose is simple: better food for all. We grow the freshest, crispest leaves with care, without pesticides, all year round. We believe healthy, delicious leaves should be affordable and accessible to everyone. In 2013, we started to get excited about the idea of combining new and existing technology to grow food that tasted better, lasted longer, and helped to reduce the environmental impact of getting healthy food onto people’s plates. We’re unique because we’ve cracked the biggest challenge in vertical farming – energy. Our big breakthrough at GrowUp Farms is breaking the reliance on electricity. We use renewable heating and cooling for most of our energy requirements, which means we use far less electricity and our bills are lower. We’re growers and, like anyone who produces food, we use technology, innovation, and strategy to produce the best food we can. We may be growing vertically, and indoors, but we’re a part of the great British farming tradition, creating a more resilient and sustainable food system. From the little gem of an idea eleven years ago, we’re now investing more than £100m to build Pepperness, our vertical farm, in Sandwich in Kent. The investment has been led by Generate Capital, a US Public Benefit Corporation that invests in sustainable agricultural infrastructure and shares our commitment to transforming the systems that we need to build a world where we can live within the limits of our planet.
After this apprenticeship
Potential for employment within the industry, or seek further education once qualified.
Ask a question
The contact for this apprenticeship is:
NORTH KENT COLLEGE
Lucy Penniall
lucypenniall@northkent.ac.uk
The reference code for this apprenticeship is VAC1000296355.
Apply now
Closes in 13 days (Wednesday 29 January at 11:59pm)
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