• We will accept 3-6 interns for the "summer" (at least 10 weeks of actual work).
• At the moment, we can offer three positions at $2,000/summer, plus room and board; and three unpaid interns, who will also be provided room and board. Your chances of getting the job may be improved if you can accept a position for room and board only.
• We can offer shorter terms, or longer ones. We are especially busy in the spring and can use help from April through October.
• Living quarters are tents, either individual or group depending on preferences; and board will be provided via an intern run dining co-op. Arrangements are primitive, but flexible!

• The farm is a rapidly expanding small independent horticultural research station with an international reputation. The chief work consists of advanced domestication and development of woody perennial plants for simultaneous production of food and biomass fuel; developing sustainable Òwoody agricultureÓ systems for both Third World and First World agriculture.
• We have presented several invited papers on the ramifications of using woody plants for large scale food production at international symposia on Global Warming.
• The primary research species here are hazelnuts and chestnuts (Corylus and Castanea); there are also plantings of hickories, pecans, apples, and Christmas trees.
• Badgersett is located in rural SE Minnesota. The landscape is hilly with mixed hardwood forest and farms, the soil among the best agricultural soils in the world. Mosquitoes are rarely a problem; grass pollen is abundant.

Intern research will consist primarily of taking data on tree performance, making controlled pollinations, and caring for the research plantings, including planting, planting crew management, mapping, weeding and mowing. We use Macintosh computers for data handling. Interns will be trained in the judgments and techniques necessary for data taking, pollination, and the other projects. We will also make time for extensive discussions of the theoretical aspects of the projects, and make a real effort to see that the intern learns as much as he or she cares to about our work. Some interns have received college credit for their work here. Individual research projects, with the goal of publishing papers or generating a thesis, are possible.

The interns live as part of our extended family, and will sometimes be expected to pitch in with non-research related farm and chores as well as work in the research plantings. Those other chores may include gardening, cooking, firewood cutting, Christmas tree shearing, and construction. It would help for the intern to be strong and healthy. It is likely that a Junior or Senior would get the most out of the experience.

Interest is increasing nationally and internationally in our projects, and students will be fully involved in what we believe is cutting edge work. As of 1989, Badgersett Research Farm has a cooperative research agreement with the Hubei Academy of Agricultural Science, PR China, which now includes both land and money from the Chinese government. Researchers in India and South America are also interested in starting woody agriculture research projects with our help. For further insight into the kind of projects associated with Badgersett Research Farm, those interested may wish to look up the February, 1990 issue of the National Geographic, which contains an article on chestnuts; and search on "woody agriculture" on the web.

For more information, write or call:

Philip A. Rutter

Badgersett Research Farm

Rt. 1 Box 141, Canton, MN 55922 (507) 743-8570

email : Woodyag@aol.com

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last updated 3/9/98