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Agricultural Communication & Journalism Internships

Category: Crops

Learning About Wheat – Mary Marsh

Posted on by kjburke
Mary snapping photos in the greenhouse.

This school year, I started a whole new job- I was the communications intern for Kansas Wheat. This job was way different than any of my other jobs. This was my first office job. I heard about this job by word-of-mouth from one of my friends. Other students can apply for this internship by filling out the application, emailing their resume and cover letter to Jordan Hildebrand.

Kansas Wheat Commission has the checkoff program, and two cents from every bushel of wheat sold goes into this program. This funds efforts for communication and lobbying on behalf of the farmer. It is the job of the Kansas Wheat Commission to give a voice to the Kansas wheat farmers.

My job as intern was to report to Jordan Hildebrand and Marsha Boswell. They were great to work for. They wanted to see the interns excel and were willing to help in any way they could. We were in the same building as the Kansas Foundation for Agriculture in the Classroom which meant more people who could help if I had a question about different programs and ideas.

Coming into this internship, I swore I was not interested in writing. I did not want to be a writer. I was more interested in doing social media, graphic design, and video work. After creating social media content for a few months though, I found that it was not really my forte. I enjoyed seeing my posts getting attention, likes and shares and being creative and quirky was up my alley. On the other hand, we were trying so hard to build a lot of content that many posts were unnecessary. They noticed I was getting bored with content creation, so they let the other intern be in charge of that task. Without having to do the social media content, I was free to work on various writing assignments.

My three favorite writing assignments were “What is Hopping with Wheat Beer”, “Norman Borlaug” and “Heritage versus Modern Wheat”. This gave me a chance to learn more about the science behind beer, what makes a wheat beer, and if wheat would affect flavor, color, or body of the beer. It was a chance for me to learn more about chemical processes behind beer creation and it debunked many previous notions I had about wheat beer! I got to really dive head first and find out about the life and times of Norman Borlaug. As for the heritage versus modern wheat article, I got to learn more about what it is and the differences are. I did not realize how much I love and miss writing. I was really proud of the stories I wrote and submitted. This has given me some direction for what I want to go into after graduation.

The best day at work though was easily the day when I got to take pictures in the greenhouse. I took my personal camera and I went crazy! I took so many pictures of the wheat in different stages of growth. It was fun getting to shoot in a variety of lighting all in one swoop!

Overall, this internship was excellent and I had a great time. I would highly recommend it to anyone who is a little bit unsure what direction they want to take with their degree. It was easily one of the best jobs I have ever had. I cannot wait to continue with them next year.

Harvest and Grain-Working for a Co-op – Mikey Hughes

Posted on by kjburke

I spent every summer of my childhood on my family’s harvest crew. In mid-May, we would load up our belongings and head toward Texas, spend the summer cutting crops throughout the Midwest, then come back home right after school started. I never got to spend my summer at the pool with my friends, but I wouldn’t change anything about my upbringing. I remember the co-op as an essential part of my family’s business. Traveling to the co-op not only meant receiving some candy, but also dropping off the grain and earning money the farmer had worked all year to collect.

My name is Mikey Hughes. I served as a communications intern for Mid Kansas Cooperative in summer 2018. I am currently continuing my education at K-State as a junior in agricultural communications and journalism.

I began my internship with MKC in February as a member of the Collegiate Career Development Program in Manhattan, Kansas, but I worked in Moundridge, Kansas for the summer. My internship extended past the summer and I am yet again a member of the CCD.

Since joining MKC, my knowledge of the cooperative system has greatly expanded. One of the best parts of working for MKC has been experiencing the value this company places on interns, employees, member-owners and the surrounding communities.

During the summer, I worked on most of the communications materials produced by MKC, both internally and externally. My regular tasks included: writing a producing a monthly employee newsletter, writing bi-weekly articles, managing content on social media, designing graphics as needed, managing content on the website and taking photographs for use in publications.

My final project this summer was writing and directing a short commercial for MKC. My plan included producing a compelling, short commercial that will represent the company for several years that can be used for many different outlets. You can find the finished product, and much of my other work on MKC’s Facebook page.

I have enjoyed working in many areas across the communications field. As an agricultural communicator, I am well-aware that my future role will likely be as diverse as my internship was. I learned how to write for the audience I am targeting, run analytics on social media and develop strategic communications plans for the project I am working on. Those skills are just a few of the concepts I will transfer to my future career.

MKC’s internship was a taste of what my future career will look like. If you’re seeking an internship that provides actual experience and treats you like a member of the team, this one is for you. I went into work every day this summer knowing that my job was valued and necessary for the success of the company. I cannot think of an internship that places so much responsibility on the intern and I am thankful for the opportunity to work for a company like MKC.

On the Right Career Path – Kaitlyn Vicker

Posted on by kjburke

My name is Kaitlyn Vicker, and I am a senior in Agricultural Communications and Journalism, with an emphasis in environmental sciences. This past summer, I was the Summer Communications Intern at Kansas Wheat Innovation Center located in Manhattan, Kansas.

The following points are some intern responsibilities:

  • To research, prepare and write press releases and new articles for distribution
  • Conduct interviews and write harvest reports
  • Write blogs for Kansas Wheat websites
  • Assist with editing and design communication tools, including newsletters and websites
  • Answer phones and greet visitors as needed
  • Carry out special plans and projects with various Kansas Wheat staff members in support of the marketing plan
  • Assist with design of the annual recipe book

I learned three things during my internship: relationships are key, the things we are doing matter, and communication. There are multiple familiar faces outside the organization of Kansas Wheat. Getting to know them personally and building those relationships continues business growth and creates new possible connections. We are all advocating for the same idea and purpose at Kansas Wheat: farmers investing in their future through wheat genetics research. The projects you are working on or the articles you are writing might feel like they aren’t impacting the public. I learned the work I was doing was making an impact on the public, not just in the United States, but worldwide. People have an interest in the wheat produced in the United States and possibly Kansas wheat specifically. Putting out correct and accurate information regarding wheat is important to create a consistent message to the public. I also learned communication is important in any work place or environment. In order to effectively and efficiently get projects done, we need to communicate with coworkers to help collaborate on their tasks for the end project. This will not always create an easy road to the finish line, but it could help answer questions and confusion.

My biggest area of growth was the connections I made, as well as discovering a new interest of mine. Since my internship, I have had the opportunity through my classes this fall to have conversations with coworkers of mine from Kansas Wheat, who happen to be K-State AgCom alumni. This experience helped me gain experiences as well as connections. I can reach out to these individuals for advice on agricultural or ag communications questions. They are willing to lend a helping hand by giving me firsthand experience in their career(s) in ag communications and journalism.

This internship taught me three things: I am in the right direction of a career for myself, I learned a new skill in graphic design and there is always room to grow and learn new things. The more and more I get into classes that are geared toward my major, the more I know I am in the right career choice for me. Even though I am not for sure which direction I would like to go, I can be confident in my choice with Ag Communications and Journalism has a job out there that is best suited for me. During this internship, I picked up a new interest or skill in videography. In the same way that “a picture is worth a thousand words”, a video can help capture a moment or connect the viewer to the subject of video in a different way than words or a picture might. This is a skill I am researching more on my own and would love to use it in the future. The last thing I learned was there is always room to learn something new. There is always a different way something can be done or a different way to express an idea. I look forward to all the new ways I will learn in how to communicate with the public in the future.

I would recommend this internship to anyone who is wanting some hands-on experience with agricultural topics and issues. This internship gave me experiences in social media, writing press releases and articles for the website, as well as communication with farmers and co-ops. These experiences are things I will take with me for a long time.

Bittersweet Endings – Janelle Marney

Posted on by kjburke

Although my journey with Central Valley Ag as a Marketing Intern may have been short-term, the experiences and skills I gained will last a lifetime. Starting off the summer away from home and Manhattan I can honestly say I was nervous but also really excited for what was in store. Right out of the gate, I was working behind the scenes on the production of Allen Eilert’s #WEARECVA video and helped take still shots throughout the process. Soon after, the other marketing intern and I were off to Courtland, KS and Hampton, NE producing videos of our own! The learning and engagement never ended throughout my summer. I had experiences that I can say were both good and bad but, nothing that I couldn’t take on.

One of these challenges was flying the drone while shooting for our videos. As non-difficult this task may sound, it was a bit more challenging than even I expected. I had to learn how to change the settings on the drone’s camera in order to match the settings on our video cameras. Another challenge I had with the drone was with the flying. Depending on if the day was windy, at times you would have to compensate more while flying forward and could then see the blades in the video film, making it unusable. However, I did get better with practice and although some of my first experiences weren’t the best, they did get better and I became quite a “pro” with it.

One of my favorite parts of this summer was engaging with the other interns and coworkers at our CVA locations. I enjoyed learning more about each person I met and learning about what they do. I feel like this helped me gauge what people would like to see in the work that we produce. For example, what they would want to see on social media from CVA.

I had many great experiences with CVA. I feel bittersweet about my internship ending. I enjoyed my time and the projects I worked on. But I also am excited to be back at Kansas State University and furthering my education. Simone Biles once said, “At the end of the day, if I can say I had fun, it was a good day.” For me, every day was a good day regardless of the challenges I had to face because I know at the end of each of the 82 days, I became a better marketer and a better communicator.

Soil isn’t Dirt: My Internship with the K-State Department of Agronomy – Danielle Comstock

Posted on by kmtully

Agronomy is the study of plants and soils and their environment. Before I began working at the Department of Agronomy, I had no idea how it was different than any other agricultural science. Now, I struggle to put it into words for the opposite reason. Agronomy is too complex, too interesting of a science to put into one definition, and I’m the communications intern.

I first heard about the internship from my advisor, Dr. Lauri Baker, in July 2016. They were looking for an agricultural communications student to be their communications intern to work during the school year. I’ve worked there ever since. I really enjoy the environment at the department. My supervisor is the department head, Dr. Gary Pierzynski. However, I work for anyone in the department that wants help with a communications project. My main task is managing the department’s Twitter, Facebook and Instagram accounts. I have also helped with making educational videos, designing posters for displays, taking photos out in the field, greenhouses or even of drones flying through the air, writing articles and press releases, working on the departmental website and so much more. One of my favorite things is that I get to work with so many different people.

Caption: Just another day in Agronomy. I got to go out and capture photos of the UAS270 class flying drones as part of the precision agriculture option.

I also love learning more about agronomy each day that I work there. One of my first few weeks there, the eUpdate editor at the time, Steve Watson, asked me to tweet an eUpdate article and to find a generic photo of wheat to go along with it. After about a minute, I had tweeted the article with a close-up photo of what I thought was wheat. After about half an hour and several engagements on the tweet later, Steve turns to me and says “Danielle, that’s not a photo of wheat.” It turns out, the photo that I thought was a pretty photo of wheat was missing the awns, or as I fondly refer to them, the spiky things. He quickly took the tweet down and put up one with a correct photo.

Caption: K-State bred wheat variety Everest with awns. Photo courtesy of agfax.com.

While it was quite embarrassing, that is something I may have never learned if I had not worked at the agronomy department. Also in my time there, I have learned to never, under any circumstances, call soil “dirt.” It is virtually a sin to use such a derogatory word for one of Earth’s most precious and valuable resources.

I really enjoy getting to do so many aspects of communications. It ensures I never get bored with my job. I have been able to gain experience in social media and gathering analytics from various platforms, while the next day you can find me in the field trying to find the best angle to shoot video of a field of whatever crop is growing at that time. I recently just tried my first hand at advertising on social media. Each day is different. I get to work with a variety of audiences as well. The Twitter account mostly targets practicing farmers and agronomic professionals. I work with student recruitment and our other two social media platforms target prospective and current students, which is a whole new age group. I even get to work with kids when we promote and hold the Agronomy Kids’ Field Day. All in all, it’s a valuable experience that would be hard to find anywhere else.

Caption: Manhattan elementary school students learning about soil at the Agronomy Kids’ Field Day.

A final aspect that is truly great about my internship at the agronomy department is that I can present new ideas and the people I work with are always willing to listen to those ideas and help me put them into action. As an example, when I started the job, the department did not have an Instagram page. I presented the idea to my bosses and described the value an Instagram account could hold for gaining students in the program. While they had little knowledge of the social media platform, they trusted me and let me implement the idea. That was just my first day on the job! Often as an intern and student, it becomes easy to feel undervalued. I appreciate that the people I work with treat me as a colleague, and not just as a student. I have been working at the department for two years now and hope to work there until I graduate. I learn something new each day, whether it be about agronomy or about being the best person I can be. I would recommend this job to anyone, not simply because it’s a good, paying job, but also because the people and experiences are almost impossible to beat.

International Grains Program Institute -Taylor Belle Matheny

Posted on by kmtully

The start of a new year is a time many of us enjoy to begin something new. For me, the beginning of 2017 was the start of my internship at the International Grains Program (IGP) Institute. The IGP Institute focuses on serving Kansas and U.S. grain commodity organizations through education. Each month Manhattan welcomes domestic and international participants that are attending a course hosted by IGP.

As an intern, my responsibilities include developing the Stakeholder News Brief, writing press releases, writing year in review story’s, updating the website, and taking course photos. The ability to develop my skills and grow in these different areas has opened my eyes to an entire new side of agriculture.

From the beginning, I wanted to challenge myself and grow during the internship. The courses I took prior to my internship taught me the basics of writing, photography and design, but I knew that I needed to develop a stronger set of skills. Throughout the semester I have been challenged in each area and have seen improvements in my skill set. One of my greatest improvements was being able to use Adobe software to create graphics that are appealing to our target audience.

Looking toward the future and a career, each aspect of my internship will be useful in the workforce. The skills I learned will be applied to my future career, but I believe other parts of my internship will be just as beneficial. Learning to communicate with others in the office outside of the communications department has taught me how to work with all types of coworkers. These lessons have allowed me step outside my comfort zone and network with other individuals.

The most exciting part of my internship can be tied to the famous line; “no two days are the same”. Each morning I enjoy being assigned new tasks that aren’t in my normal day-to-day routine. The various projects with IGP commodity partners and within the institute make that line come to life. This has made each day different and has given me the chance to use my creativity on projects.

The ability to learn about a different aspect of the agriculture industry has been the most rewarding part of my internship. Being raised on a beef cattle operation in Kentucky, I didn’t have a true understanding of the grain segment of our industry. My internship has given me the chance the combine my passion for learning, agriculture and communications into one remarkable experience.

Kansas Wheat Commissions – Hannah Schlapp

Posted on by Courtney Boman

Since October of 2016, I have had the pleasure of working at the Kansas Wheat Commissions office as a communications intern. Working at the wheat office has given me a completely different perspective on the wheat industry, and for the better. Coming from northern Illinois, wheat is not something we typically see, so even though I was the communications intern, I have learned a manifold of information about wheat and the industry surrounding it.

Kansas Wheat’s main goal is to produce profitable innovations in wheat. They are in a cooperative agreement with Kansas Association of Wheat Growers to help fund research projects to get new wheat technology to the producer’s hands more quickly.

Since working here, I have had the opportunity to write articles, help design monthly magazines in InDesign and design ads. I also had the opportunity to help with the National Festival of Bread competition by interviewing all competition finalists and writing a bio.

Working for Kansas Wheat has been a huge benefit to me in terms of knowledge and growth. I have learned so many things about the communications side of a business, that there are multiple different types of wheat (because I really had no idea), and I have even had some of my articles get published in the High Plains Journal and other sites.

Since I had recently switched my major, I had very little experience with most things in communications and journalism going into my internship. While interning I have grown my writing skills and design skills, including InDesign, Photoshop and Illustrator.

The Kansas Wheat Commission is an internship I would suggest to anyone who is looking for a communications job. Between the great people who work there, a snack table with goodies, and the work required, you are able to learn so much and have fun at the same time.

Encirca Services, DuPont Pioneer – Celine Beggs

Posted on by chantelles

I truly believe precision agriculture and big data will are the future of production agriculture. I have always been fascinated with the many different areas of precision agriculture, so it was only fitting that I was able to complete an internship with the Encirca Services team at DuPont Pioneer in Johnston, Iowa.

Encirca Services is a suite of services created by DuPont Pioneer. There are several different services that a grower can utilize in their everyday operations. Encirca Services encompasses a large rural weather network, variable seeding and nitrogen prescription, and a huge collection of field notes.

Through my internship as the Encirca Services Marketing Intern, I was able to complete many different projects that all helped me learn about the industry as well as gain professional experience. I worked on a pleather of projects that ranged from legal to research to marketing and advertising.

In the beginning, I had three main goals. First, I was asked to contact DuPont Pioneer Seed Representatives to promote the Encirca View Premium Weather Station from DTN/The Progressive Farmer. I was excited to help contribute to the growth of the largest rural weather network as I contacted and sold 150+ stations. Next, I was asked to create a social media campaign using some of the new marketing terms created by the advertising agency and the marketing team. Finally, I was tasked to create a weekly metric report that showed the growth of notes taken per business unit. I had little experience with Microsoft Excel until I started this project, but I eventually became proficient with the program.

Although I had three main projects, I was able to step outside of these areas and complete some smaller projects. One project was to create legal documents for the Encirca Services CSAs. Another project I was asked to help with was to take on a small role in an administrational position for a research project. I was also asked to help represent our service at the InfoAg 2015 Conference in St. Louis, Missouri. I was able to pitch our product to many of the precision agriculture industries best.

I learned about the internship programs offered by DuPont Pioneer through K-State’s All University Career Fair. The representatives did not promote a specific position as they promoted all internships across many different areas. After discussing the opportunities offered by DuPont Pioneer with a friend who previously interned with the company was it that I learned about the Encirca Services Marketing Internship position.

I would recommend this internship to someone who is interested in precision agriculture and wants to gain a broad view of a marketing position. I was lucky to see all of the different aspects that make up a marketer. An interested individual needs to be self motivated and is always willing to ask for help if the get stuck.

All of the internships for DuPont Pioneer can be found here: https://www.pioneer.com/home/site/about/careers/student-center/internships/.

Kansas Soybean Association – Dana Schultz

Posted on by chantelles

Dana kssoybean

As the summer after my sophomore year quickly approached, I realized my resume was seriously lacking in professional experiences. I needed a summer internship, but I was a little behind. Everyone else was already applying and interviewing for prospective positions. I scoured every website for potential summer internship. I found one on the Career Employment Services website in Topeka, Kansas for the Kansas Soybean Association and Commission. My family grows soybeans and I had a little bit of knowledge on commodity organizations. The post simply stated it was a summer internship with a variety of responsibilities and duties. During the interview, they decided I was the right fit for the position and we set a date for me to start.

One of my major projects was designing and collecting data for the Kansas Congressional Districts report. I used the United States Department of Agriculture’s website to gather statistics about agriculture. These statistics focused on quantity and dollar amounts of crops and livestock raised in the United States. The report was organized to show total production amounts in Kansas, total production amounts for Kansas counties, and where Kansas ranked among other states. The crops recognized were soybeans, corn, wheat, sorghum and sunflowers, and the animal products included beef, pork, milk, wool, and honey. Once I had all the information, I designed graphics and illustrations to display this information. Once designed and thoroughly proofed, I presented the printed and electronic version to Kansas Senators and Representatives in Washington D.C. during the National Biodiesel Conference.

I was also in charge of planning the annual Corporate Tour. Each year, the Commission and Association board members travel to a different part of Kansas to tour local agriculture business and meet area members for a few days. During my internship, McPherson, Kansas, was the destination. I was in charge of contacting caterers, meeting venues, restaurants, businesses, and potential guests. I had to keep accurate records of all communication that took place and report all the options for everyone in the office to vote on. Once the itinerary was finalized, I designed and mailed invitations and personally contacted board members to gather a number of attendees. The trip included a tour of Lindsborg, Kansas, a tour of AgCo in Hesston, Kansas, a tour of McPherson’s oil refinery, a tour of PrairieLand Partners, a tour of the Hesston, Kansas lawn mower factory, a meeting at the McPherson Opera House, meals catered during lunch and dinners at local restaurants.

Among other smaller office duties, I created and mailed the annual Biodiesel Survey, traveled to farm shows to promote soy products, updated the membership data used in presentations, presented a soy products presentation to the Emerging Leaders Academy, and attended various conferences for soy products and biodiesel.

My internship started in May of 2014 and ended in August of 2014. This internship was a great opportunity to meet industry professionals, travel, boost communication skills and sharpen professional abilities. The people I worked with were great at finding the balance between a learning college student and a business professional. They were flexible with me and constantly pushed me to do my absolute best. I learned how to better connect my presentations and designs to the audience and to keep accurate records of communications while planning an event. This is a great internship for anyone who isn’t quite sure where they want to go in the industry. The supervisors easily tailor the internship to build your experience to fit your goals.

To apply for the Kansas Soybean Commission internship, visit http://kansassoybeans.org/forms/ or contact Kenlon Johannes at Johannes@kansassoybeans.org.

Monsanto Field Sales Internship- Nathan Lauden

Posted on by chantelles

My dad always told me “You can do anything for a summer. Take advantage of some crazy internships if they let you!” I have taken this advice to heart and this past summer it played out in full!

This past summer I had the opportunity to be a part of the DEKALB/Asgrow team in Western Wisconsin as a Field Sales Intern for Monsanto.  It was filled with challenges, plenty of learning opportunities and a whole host of new and exciting adventures as I went through my 3 months with the company.

I found out about my internship through visiting the all-university career fair that K-State Career and Employment Services offers every fall. It is packed with 250+ employers in Bramlage Coliseum with companies looking for interns to full-time employees, engineering to family studies and everything in between. Monsanto was one of the companies looking for interns at the fair and after speaking to their recruiter I quickly found myself having a great conversation about my background with 4-H and FFA and skills that I had learned through those organizations. This conversation ended up with being invited for an on-campus interview the following day with a different recruiter.

Following the on-campus interview I was told to await a response and it came the last week in October. I was asked to be a part of a group of 40 Field Sales Interns that came from universities spanning the nation, Fresno State to Penn State. The next step was awaiting our location placements and this is where I was honestly almost giddy inside. When asked where I would like to be placed for the summer I chose to go out of my comfort zone and say “why not?” I had asked to be anywhere but Kansas and Missouri and try living in a new part of the country for the summer. I figured when else in college will I have the chance to really test drive a new part of the country so thoroughly and have a unique experience like this? After my options were given I chose to be a part of the DEKALB/Asgrow Wisconsin team and placed with my boss for the summer Kevin Altendorf, who was the District Sales Manager for, generally speaking, the western part of Wisconsin closest to the Twin Cities.

In general I was told that my responsibilities would include some general sales type work in regards to helping the team, but in all honesty I wasn’t exactly sure what that meant. When we arrived in St. Louis at Monsanto headquarters for our orientation week, we were given much clarity as to our projects for the summer and what that would look like for the next three months.

We were tasked with three large projects and then expected to handle any other sort of work our on-site bosses had for us to do. These included:

  • Customer Calls- this includes calling on around 40 current, past or potential customers of DeKalb/Asgrow products. This is to get exposure to real growers and what they do on a day-to-day. Since these are our customers getting a chance to meet them and know who they are is very important. I chose to use this experience to come away with why do they choose Monsanto products in general versus using competitors.
  • Climate Corporation and Top Producers- This project consists of my calling on 28 “Top Producers” for Monsanto to discuss and complete a survey with. These are very large growers within my region, as they are high volume customers of Monsanto. Our role is to discuss Climate Corporation, a new company and technology to Monsanto that became available in November.
  • Team Project- this means that I will be setting up a project with my trainer to the benefit of his work and the team. I chose this experience to be a market analysis of three counties within my territory to find out in what ways can we grow business with our customers within that area.

In terms of learning experiences this past summer I learned such an incredible amount. The biggest piece was I found out that I have the capacity to learn about any topic if I choose to work hard. I am not from a production agriculture background and knew nothing compared to many of the interns that I started with about row crops. The best thing for me was that I had an incredible mentor in my boss who was able to meet me where I was at and help me to learn more about the business and agronomy in general. I learned to not be shy about asking questions, because even though I may look back now on some of my questions during the first week and think, wow what was I thinking asking that, there is a huge amount of value to asking the basic questions.

My favorite part of the internship was getting to meet with the actual producers and visiting with them about their operations. This was something that, as an agricultural communications major, I felt I had been lacking in my experiences so far, and never felt like I was able to connect with on-campus assignments due to that. But now I can put a face to my writing projects. I can say to myself, I am writing this for Jim, or what would Adam want general consumers to know about his farm, so I can better advocate for them.

I would highly recommend this internship experience to anyone who has a desire to know more about sales or understand more about agronomy and row crop producers. You are very well taken care and given an incredible network to feel safe asking questions and relying on. As much as this project is meant for them to see you perform they also want to see you grow as not only a sales employee but as a person.

Rodd Whitney is a great contact to know more about the Field Sales Internship program as well as full-time placement within Sales at Monsanto.

IGP Institute- Kelly Hannigan

Posted on by chantelles

As I was finishing up my junior year, it was finally starting to dawn on me that graduation was quickly approaching. Agricultural communications had always been my home and I was happy there but I knew that if I wanted to get a head start on my career, I needed to take the first steps in gaining professional experience.

I’m not entirely sure why, but I had always pictured internships as they were portrayed in movies. I assumed I’d be fetching coffee and making copies for eight hours a day, five days a week and if I was lucky, I might be able to write a news release once in a while. Thankfully, my internship at the IGP Institute was nothing like I had initially imagined.

After coming back from Christmas break when my parents so kindly urged me to make a career plan, I began searching the Career and Employment Services job board online. However, I ended up hearing about the IGP Institute communications internship through the ACJ listserv. What drew me to this position was the reputation that the IGP Institute possesses throughout campus. In all honesty, I wasn’t entirely sure what it was that they did but I knew that they were a very prestigious establishment and the students that had worked there before had wonderful things to say about their time there.

In the spring of 2014, I was offered the communications internship and I am still presently working there as a part-time communications intern and part-time distance education intern. As the communications intern, I was responsible for writing and editing press releases, updating and maintaining the social media platforms and updating the website. As a summer project, the associate director of the IGP Institute, Mark Fowler, also asked me to conduct social media research project to help improve their overall marketing efforts. The research included conducting five focus groups and then later creating a top line report to present to the IGP staff and advisory board members.

It’s incredibly difficult for me to narrow down a specific area that I feel like I’ve grown the most this summer. From a technical standpoint, I was able to refine my writing skills to create professional news releases. As far as personal growth, one of the most rewarding aspects of the internship for me was the involvement with the course participants. I had lived a fairly sheltered life growing up in Strong City, Kan. I had never really been around so many different cultures or experienced first-hand the diversity that the IGP courses had to offer. I think I learned more from the conversations I had with the participants than I ever did in a classroom. The interaction with the participants was by far my favorite part of the internship. I was able to develop networking relationships with industry professionals from not only Kansas, but from around the world.

If I had to choose any one thing that I least enjoyed about my internship at IGP, it would probably be the desk time. I’ve never been the kind to enjoy sitting at a desk for eight hours a day. Luckily, this internship provided many field trip opportunities where I was able to tag along and take photos so I wasn’t always in the office. It did teach me however, that when I look for a job after graduation, I need something that incorporates fieldwork into the communications position.

Taking this internship was easily the best decision I’ve made since attending K-State. I’ve not only grown as a professional, but as a person. I was incredibly lucky to work with such a talented group of people at IGP that were genuinely interested in teaching me. Even the staff members that weren’t involved with the communications department took the time to help me with any questions I had or involve me in each project. I may not have a lot of industry experience, but I do know that the IGP Institute team is one of the best work environments I will ever be in. They were always quick to congratulate me any time a news release was published and always wanted to see each other succeed. Just by being around this incredible group of people, I’ve learned what a professional team truly is.

To apply for internships at the IGP Institute, contact Lisa Moser at lmoser@ksu.edu. I would highly recommend this internship to anyone that wants to get his or her foot in the door with the agricultural industry. Even if you aren’t sure what it is you want to do after graduation, this is a great job to jump in to. There are all aspects of communications incorporated into this position ranging from video editing to creating news releases.

DuPont Pioneer- Marie Annexstad

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This summer I worked for DuPont Pioneer as a Marketing Communications intern. My position was located in the Northern Business Unit office which is in Mankato, Minnesota and allowed me to live in my home state for the summer. I started in the middle of May and completed my internship at the end of August.

I found out about this job position through the Kansas State University Career Fair.

An internship’s outcome depends on what you make of the opportunities you have been presented with. When I began this position I had a set of tasks which I had to complete. While I was setting my goals along with my supervisor I asked if she would consider allowing me to take on a standing initiative in the business unit and create a marketing plan for it. She agreed and handed me the reins of the launch of GrowingPoint agronomy in the business unit.

Pioneer’s presence at trade shows provided opportunities to promote GrowingPoint using the already established channels. We ran a strong social media push beginning with our first trade show during the first week in August continuing through our last trade show that ended in the middle of September. Other methods of promotion included print, digital, and radio media. Creating this marketing plan was the favorite part of my internship.

In the beginning, I was immediately put to work on the design and launch of a brand new initiative. This initiative was the creation of digital sell sheets, for our business unit. I found this assignment to be the most difficult part of my internship as a lot of data had to be organized in Excel. I did, however, become proficient in using Excel more efficiently. Sell sheets have links to Pioneer.com product profile pages that display large amounts of agronomic information which assists sales representatives and growers to make informed decisions on the right products for their operations.

Next, it was my responsibility to choose an app which would be the best format to display the sell sheets in. Through much research I found the app Adobe Reader to be the most useful. I developed and presented a tutorial that would help guide sales representatives step-by-step through the process of how to use sell sheets effectively with customers throughout the business unit.

In addition, I was fortunate to have been given the job of organizing and planning trade shows. During the summer the Northern Business Unit attends four major summer trade shows: Minnesota Farm Fest, Wisconsin Farm Technology Days, Dakota Fest, and Big Iron. Planning of each show included opportunities to lead conference calls with different committees to make sure logistics were in order including graphics, giveaways, landscaping, promotional material, and workers. Each show hosted a different array of people, and required different tactics to market Pioneer® products. I traveled to and attended all of the trade shows and coordinated Pioneer’s presence at each show on-site.

I enjoyed being given the responsibility to design various graphics to market Pioneer’s new initiatives Pioneer GrowingPoint Agronomy and Encirca Services.

I also assisted with creating materials to help sales representatives with their responsibilities. These included corn and soy print sell sheets, forage print sell sheets, and handouts on various topics. Encirca Services was a new initiative for Pioneer this year, so I created a tutorial for sales representatives to aid them in understanding of the process of how to make an Encirca Note.

My experience with Pioneer as an intern this summer helped me to develop professionally. I was expected to work independently. As a result I learned to prioritize as I juggled many responsibilities. I learned to communicate efficiently and effectively with my superiors. The work environment was intense and professional. I learned to conduct myself in a similar manner. Overall, this was the best internship experience I have had thus far. I am confident that the after I graduate from college I will be pursuing a career in marketing and communications in a work environment similar to Pioneer.

I recommend this internship to anyone who loves design, event planning, and marketing. It was a great place for me to grow and develop professionally. To apply, visit the DuPont Pioneer Career Development Center.

Mid Kansas Cooperative Internship- Calli Mathews

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Mid Kansas Cooperative Association is a full-service farm cooperative offering a complete line of supplies and services for both farm and urban customers in 11 counties throughout central Kansas. MKC has a current membership of more than 4,800 members. MKC was founded in 1965 by the merger of three neighboring cooperatives in Moundridge, Buhler, and Groveland. Since its founding, it has grown in size and territory through mergers and acquisitions. More than 200 employees play an important role in the growth and success of MKC. Thirty-four grain locations offer combined elevator space of 29.3 million bushels. Wheat is the major crop grown. Due to the area having a strong aquifer underlying much of its territory, this allows irrigation of corn and soybeans. MKC offers a lot of different services some of which include: Agronomy, Precision Ag, Energy, Feed, Grain, and Financial assistance. I was fortunate enough to have interned for MKC and will be discussing the things that I gained from this experience.

During my internship, I was assigned a lot of different duties. When I first arrived at MKC, my first task was heading the Annual Meeting. Some of my responsibilities involved finding a caterer, photographer, florist, entertainment, and workers to help with registration. The event took place at the State Fair Grounds in Hutchinson, Kansas. We were only allowed 48 hours to set up for the event and a lot of time went into setting up stages, decorations, tables and chairs. During the Annual Meeting, I was responsible for prompting speakers and working with the tech employees.

The answer plot session that MKC provided was an educational tool for the farmers to see the different crop and herbicide varieties that would fit into their crop rotations. My responsibility was to send out the mailings providing the general information about the event. The day of the event I was heading the registration table and overseeing the preparation of the food. Along with this event came customer appreciation meals. After wheat harvest is over MKC puts on meals at the different locations within their territory. Among these, the MKC employees and I would prepare breakfast, lunch and dinner for the members and their families. This was an opportunity for MKC to get out among their members and show the appreciation they have for them. This was the most enjoyable part of my internship because I was able to get out and meet the variety of people that MKC provided services to.

I was also involved in heading the community stewardship campaign. MKC was fortunate enough to be in a partnership with Land O Lakes, in which we were able to bid for grants to help out communities in our surrounding area. I was able to meet the different organizations and help make their projects come true. Within the last five years, MKC has been able to donate over $300,000 to different organizations. I was also able to use my dsign skills by heading other campaign projects for Team Marketing Alliance, which was the Grain division for MKC. Coupling that, I brainstormed ideas for the new MKC website and Facebook page. This was something I was apprehensive about, but gained a lot of experience and confidence through working with graphic designers and the tech employees.

I was able to gain a lot of experience by writing for the company website, employee newsletter and the MKC magazine “Connections”. This was a neat aspect of the internship because I was able to interview new people and employees. Also, I got the opportunity to write all of the biographies for the Field Marketers, Certified Energy Specialist and board members. Along with the writing I got a lot of editing experience. MKC invited their employees to write articles for both publications, so with that all of them needed editing.

MKC taught me a lot about how to be confident in myself and take charge in any situation. A lot of that was due to my supervisor who was diagnosed with cancer right before my internship began. I had to hit the ground running the moment I set foot in her office. She gave me the opportunity to step up and use the skills that I obtained in class and put them to work in the real world. I was able to put my public speaking skills to the test when I was asked to give a presentation to the CEO and board members about the new Facebook page I was creating. Overall, I was able to understand the cooperative sector. Before this experience I hadn’t put much thought into what a Coop really was. However, after being so involved with MKC I learned that the cooperative sector is where I would like to stay. At the end of the day, we are there for the farmers and their families and I appreciated the effort that MKC put into satisfying each and every one of them.

Kansas Wheat Internship- Nicole Stieben

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Kansas Wheat is the cooperative agreement between the Kansas Wheat Commission and the Kansas Association of Wheat Growers. The Kansas Wheat Commission is an advocacy organization, which is funded by Kansas wheat growers. This group works to secure the future of wheat growth in Kansas through research, education and domestic and international market development. The Kansas Association of Wheat Growers is a member-governed organization responsible for representing wheat growers at a national level by providing grass-roots leadership to the U.S. wheat industry. Together, these two entities work through Kansas Wheat to make sure the importance of wheat is known to not only producers, but consumers and buyers as well.

As the communications intern at Kansas Wheat this summer, I had many daily responsibilities that included updating the computer database for the Kansas Association of Wheat Growers, writing press releases on various wheat related issues or events and editing work of other staff members as Kansas Wheat.

I also had a few larger projects that I worked on this summer. From the very start of my internship I was put in charge of making posters, flyers and other forms of publicity for this year’s National Festival of Breads. This baking competition happens every other year and much planning is put into its success, so getting to play a role in this was a great experience. I also did daily harvest reports where I would call around to wheat elevators in Kansas, as well as wheat farmers, to find out the scoop of how their wheat harvest was going. I have previous experience with wheat harvest as I spent many summers working at the elevator in my hometown, so getting to hear from many elevator managers about the progress of harvest in their area was a highlight of this project.

I also had a couple of design projects that were assigned to me during the internship. After the National Festival of Breads was completed, I put together an annual cookbook of the recipes, which was handed out at the State Fair and distributed among nutrition educators around the state. In addition to the cookbook, I was also in charge of putting together the 2011 Kansas Wheat Annual Report. I was challenged with coming up with a fresh design scheme for the report and had fun using techniques I learned from previous experience and my classes at K-State.

During my internship at Kansas Wheat I learned valuable lessons and gained experience that I will use for the rest of my life. The sense of responsibility I was given as an intern helped me the most, as I was given the challenge of meeting deadlines, contacting sources, generating story ideas and being held accountable for my work. I also learned to not be afraid to make mistakes, because in fact that is when you will grow the most.

I have always been a bit reluctant to ask a ton of questions when I’m not sure of what I’m supposed to do. Usually I just try a bunch of different ways until I find something that works for me. But this summer I was faced with deadlines and time constraints that did not allow for this method, so I learned to ask questions and not be afraid of sounding stupid and it turned out to be the best way to show how interested I was in Kansas Wheat as an organization. As soon as I spoke up and voiced my opinion about projects or simple day-to-day tasks, the rest of the staff realized my interest in the success of Kansas Wheat and I was granted more responsibility.

KFRM Internship- Taylor James

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The internship for Taylor Communications, or more specifically, KFRM 550 AM began in late May. The station I was based out of happened to be in my hometown of Clay Center. It is a medium size radio station that shares office and studio space with KCLY, which is a FM sister station of 550 AM. No fancy title, I was just known around the office as the summer intern.

For the first couple of weeks my duties consisted of researching issues facing the wheat harvest in Oklahoma and Kansas. KFRM’s broadcast region stretches into several states, but the main focus for the wheat tour was everything north of Interstate 40 and the Kansas-Nebraska border. I spent about a week looking up which varieties of wheat where the most prevalent in the area, communication with extension agents to glean local information and researching diseases and pests that were likely to be harmful in 2010.

While I was at the station and not on the road, I helped record some advertisements. This was a great learning tool as it familiarized me with being able to run the equipment and modify ads so that they were a better fit for the customer. The sound equipment became vital to be able to use for the next part of my internship at county fairs as well as recording sound bites for portfolios, scholarships, etc.

I began the wheat tour by traveling down to Yukon, Oklahoma on the last week of May. Along the way I stopped at a few northern and central Oklahoma grain elevators to get a grasp on how soon they would be ripe to harvest in their regions. Anxiously awaiting combines and harvest crews I was dismayed upon arriving in Yukon and realized they were still a day or two away from cutting. While this may not seem like a big deal, the radio station had already allotted time for eight radio broadcasts a day from the wheat tour. They also had sponsors for the tour that were expecting to get in their radio plugs. I was able to scrounge enough reports to keep the places filled until two days of rain hit the region. Still, there were radio spots with my name on them back at the station. I was able to rely on public speaking and common ground to find people associated with the harvest and get them to talk to me about what they had seen or heard. This phase of the internship was a bit like trial by fire; I hadn’t had much experience at getting interviewees and was placed in a position of finding 5-6 a day. It was a great time to realize the scope and weight of my job.

After spending four weeks and a shade of 6500 miles in the Harvest Tour Chevy Equinox, I traded it in for a regular cab Dodge pickup and cargo trailer for the 2010 County Fair Tour. Using this I would travel to 30 county fairs in Kansas. County fairs ranged from Syracuse, Kansas in western Kansas to Cowley County in the southeast.

The first county fair was in Great Bend, Kansas. It became evident to me that this part of the job would be considerably easier to accomplish as some interviewees were turned away. Pulling into a fairgrounds with a radio truck and trailer was like an ice cream truck to some of these 4-Hers, parents, extension agents and fair board members. Although there were nine spots to fill every day on the air, I usually ended up being done recording within an hour or two of being on the grounds. Some kids were shy, but would quickly open up when they got past the part of having large headphones on their heads and began to talk about their projects. Being a 4-H member as I kid I had several projects, but there were a lot I had never heard of while being at the county fairs. Turtles, mice, snakes, robotics, even alternative energy were projects that came up while on the road. It was also greatly helpful to find extension agents and other people of interest at the fair to shift the spotlight onto fair activities and other community aspects of the fair.

Throughout the summer I learned a lot about deadline responsibility, time management, being able to work with on air talent and sponsors and gave me my first taste of professional employment. Being able to fill those spots on the air allowed me to better utilize my location and communication skills to make sure the employees back at the station didn’t have to do extra work to juggle time slots. This was a first time for me working with sponsors and receiving a new list of them every day for the fair tour proved to be difficult to change and work into a program that I had to keep versatile to be able to develop into completion every day. My internship ended in August officially, but I was asked to join the National Association of Farm Broadcasters at their National Convention in Kansas City in November. While there I met a large group of smart, experienced talent that offered advice and career opportunities down the road. The most rewarding part of my internship was being chosen for the Glen Kummerow Memorial Scholarship and being able to talk in front of the convention. This was the most rewarding to me as I was able to tell my story and how I had benefited from being a part of agricultural communications and agriculture radio.