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Agricultural Communication & Journalism Internships

Category: Photography

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.

Where the Grain Commodities Align – Tarra Rotstein

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Pasta, leavened and unleavened bread, meat, soy milk, tofu, and ethanol may appear to have nothing in common but all of these products can be produced from four main commodities: wheat, corn, sorghum and soybeans. In summer 2018, I served as the communications intern for the IGP Institute. The IGP Institute is an entity of the Kansas State University Department of Grain Science and Industry. At the Institute they educate professionals in the industry about grains and their different processes to help those professionals run their facilities more efficiently. Through this opportunity I was able to learn about the grain industry and the impact that U.S. grains has world-wide. I was able to work closely with the communications team: Lisa Moser, marketing and communications coordinator, who served as my supervisor; Pat Hackenberg, educational media coordinator; and Kelly Boswell, events coordinator. The IGP Institute is located in Manhattan, Kansas. This allowed me to have extra learning time, because I started the Monday after finals and had my last day the Friday before school started.

I found out about this internship through a friend who had the internship the previous summer and enjoyed it so much. I knew I had to apply for the opportunity.

Each day of my internship gave me the opportunity to learn more. My tasks day-to-day differed, but I had the same tasks each time a course was taking place. Every time a course took place, it meant that I was in charge of capturing the photography and videography for the course, writing a news release, creating a video recap of what happened during the course and interviewing a few participants on camera. This involved planning out my entire week, the Friday or Monday of to ensure I took pictures and videos at the most optimal times, along with coordinating with the course instructor times for interviews and who to interview. I also scheduled a time with the course instructor to record their portion of the video recap for the course.

One of my biggest projects over the summer was redesigning the Department of Grain Science and Industry website. I felt a huge honor in being the one to come up with the plan for redesigning it and when it was approved by the Department Head it felt awesome. I was not interested in web design before entering this internship, and now I am. I have been exposed to web design and have lots of hands-on experience that I can take with me throughout my career.

During my internship I knew there were opportunities to work on video projects and I let my supervisor know I was interested in those. She assigned more projects to me where I worked in videography which was beneficial to my interest and has made me want to continue to pursue those interests.

If there was one thing I learned this summer more than anything, it was that I learned how to learn. In the communications world everything is always changing from social media platform algorithms to updates on Adobe software to working on a new type of computer; there will always be changes that are challenging. I learned how to overcome those changes by learning from others and the internet. If you are ready to learn and want to experience what a ‘real’ job is like, apply! In this position I never felt like just the intern, I was doing projects that needed to be done for the organization and was making a difference.

Quality Beef, Quality Internship – Sarah Moyer

Posted on by kjburke
Sarah at Certified Angus Beef in Ohio

Scanning the meat section at a grocery store, I spot a familiar golden yellow seal and crimson banner, signifying a brand that stands out among the rest. It’s also recognizable in many top-quality eateries across the country and in other parts of the world. This year, the Certified Angus Beef® brand (CAB®) celebrates its 40thanniversary and continues to be a premium brand in the market.

Their producer communications internship centered about writing and, of course, beef. It stood out to me for these reasons as I searched for additional professional experience between my junior and senior years. Originally, I heard about the internship from one previous intern and a course instructor of mine, both of whom encouraged me to apply. I took advice and applied online quickly in early November or late December, interviewed and was presented with the opportunity to work for Certified Angus Beef LLC (CAB) during summer 2018.

In early January, I flew to Wooster, Ohio for my first full experience with the brand. Young beef leaders gathered at the Culinary Center for a short seminar; and we spent time in the meat lab with beef carcasses, in the conference area with CAB professionals, and in community with one another. It was an all-around educational program for beef lovers in attendance. This only scratched the surface for what was to come. To learn more about the brand, visit certifiedangusbeef.com or CABpartners.com.

I decided to work and live in Ohio for my summer internship from the end of May to mid-August. Producer communications interns in the past have not normally migrated out to the corporate office (since the Manhattan office closed), but the move enriched my overall experience tremendously. I leveraged office contacts and stories for my team, connected with co-workers in other divisions, learned about retail and food service, attended an all-staff meeting in July, and participated in biweekly staff breakfasts — one of my favorite CAB company culture trademarks. The work environment of a company can’t be understood remotely, so I encourage other students to work in a traditional office setting at least once before graduation.

Working with the CAB writing team across the country, I created technical news releases, columns, features on brand partners, posts for the Black Ink®blog (www.blackinkwithcab.com) and video scripts. Interviews included ranchers with registered Angus bulls, culinary chefs and other partners in the beef cattle community. I will utilize many writing and media pieces from this internship in my portfolio as I search for a full-time job.

Strong writing students who are coachable and can handle independent projects should apply. Although I worked in the corporate office, my supervisor and “writing coach” work remotely; so effective email and phone communications were critical. Basic photography skills are also highly important for assignments.

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

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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.

Bittersweet Endings – Janelle Marney

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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.

The World of Livestock Photography – Ashley McKenny

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In summer 2018, I had to the honor to be an intern for Legacy Livestock Imaging. Legacy is a livestock photography company. For my internship I traveled to five different junior nationals with Legacy.

I found out about this internship in my Imagery in Agriculture class. Heidi Anderson, the owner of Legacy, came and spoke to my class. She spoke about Legacy and how they started a photography company and building that brand. After Heidi spoke I talked to her about the internships Legacy offers.

Each junior national lasted about a week. The first junior national we attended was Red Angus. Red Angus was a fun junior national to attend and great that it was the first one. Red Angus is a smaller breed and they have fewer people attend their junior national compared to Hereford or Angus. With less people coming to this show it was a great week for us interns to “get our toes wet” and meet a lot of new people.

The second week we went to Shorthorn Junior Nationals in Madison, WI. This was the “bigger” junior nationals we attended. This was also the first junior nationals that we were not the official photographers. Not being the official photographers made this week very different from the week before where we were the official photographers. We were not allowed in the ring at this show and we also did not make sure we have photos of every exhibitor. Instead we photographed from outside the ring and only of past clients.

Week three, Legacy went to Brangus Junior Nationals in Hutchison, KS, one of the smallest junior nationals, while I attended Hereford Junior Nationals in Grand Island, NE, the largest junior nationals. I attended Herefords to show my Hereford heifer. Although Legacy did not attend this junior national I still captured some photos of clients.

For the fourth week we all met back up in Madison, WI for Angus Junior Nationals. This is the junior national I have the most experience with being that I have shown Angus since 2013. Angus junior nationals was similar to Shorthorns in that again we were not the official photographers. We interns did get to do more with editing though this week.

From Madison, WI we headed all the way to Denver, CO for Limousin Junior Nationals. This was our last junior nationals of the summer. Here we were the official photographers, so we had more to do and were in the ring almost every day. This week I gained more experience with organizing photos from Angus. We had so many photos from Angus of different clients and they needed to be put in specific folders for each client. This was a great skill to learn.

Overall my summer was great interning for Legacy Livestock Imaging. It was the perfect combination of photography and show cattle. I have since been asked back to shows in the fall with Legacy and am excited to see what the future holds.

USDA Rural Development – Amber Kelly

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During the summer of 2018, I had the opportunity to intern with USDA Rural Development in Kansas as a public information officer intern through the Pathways program. I didn’t know what to expect with this job, but it ended up being really cool and allowing me to practice all of the things I’ve learned at K-State.

While many of the internships I had heard about from my peers had a main summer project, mine didn’t. I consider my “main project” to be learning how to work in a federal office job environment. My duties were exclusively determined on a day-to-day basis, and every day was something different.

Various projects included:

  • Internal communications
  • Writing and editing
  • Communications assistance
  • Photography
  • Learning!

Internal Communications

Any time the state director had information or events that the entire Kansas staff needed to know about, I got to write and send it. This was the most creative part of my job, as USDA has a strict policy for communications to the public but is less strict on intra-agency communications. I could include pictures and graphics and practice creative writing in these announcements.

Writing and Editing

Rural Development helps build housing, businesses, and utilities in rural America through loans and grants. Employees meet with people every day to help with grant applications and to connect them with opportunities. Equally important is recognizing the amazing work my coworkers did by writing “success stories” and press releases. The national Rural Development office sent a list of grant and loan recipients and I localized it by highlighting the ones in Kansas. These are posted on the Kansas Rural Development website. Another way of highlighting the good things happening in rural Kansas were “success stories,” which were in-depth articles about specific projects.

Communications Assistance

Communication is important in every job, not just as public information officers. Often, the loan specialists would ask the communications department for help with their communications. These were typically my larger projects and more diverse. One of my favorite projects was revising and editing a directory to ensure 508 compliancy. That’s making sure the document is compatible with screen-readers and accessible for those with disabilities. Another task I had was to cross reference cities with multi-family housing and summer food programs within walking distance, two Rural Development programs that go hand-in-hand. A third project I had was to design an award certificate that one of the loan specialists wanted to give to lenders to reward their hard work.

Photography

The best days were ones that I got to travel around Kansas! I often accompanied my supervisor and the state director to ground breakings, and even got to tour a hospital construction site and see behind the scenes. Sometimes I even got to drive the government car! At these events I typically got to practice some photog skills and meet the people who were affected by the work USDA does.

Learning

By far the best part of this internship was learning. I had to familiarize myself with the programs Rural Development has in order to write about them. This included approximately a bajillion acronyms! My last week on the job, I was able to attend Rural Development’s national public information officer training and learn all about the newest guidelines for social media usage, inspirational press release writing, effective interviewing, and a thorough photography lesson. I was able to really explore my interests with this job and learn more ways of using an agricultural communications degree.

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

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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.

Purple Visions Production – Carlee Meeks

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This fall, I took a risk by interning for a small livestock photographer. It was not the typical internship by any means. The owner of Purple Visions Production, Derek Vogt, approached me about coming to work for him. I’ve always been interested in career in livestock photography so I decided to take the chance and learn the ropes from an extremely talented photographer.

Unique is one way to describe my experience. Unlike most internships, I was the first person to join the business. Although it was a difference experience, it was the perfect fit for me. Derek has grown his small business so much in the last two years, it was an honor to learn and work with him by traveling around Neb. and Kan. to different cattle operations. He taught me all the necessary skills needed while also pushing me to grow and learn things on my own.

Every weekend I would hit the road and travel to new cattle operation. These operations need videos and photographs to promote their online or production sale that they have upcoming. It is intimidating to be responsible for such a large task because the operation relays on it for their success. Derek trusted me by giving me my own livestock shoots. Because of his trust in me, my confidence in my photography skills has grown so much in the past three months.

My other responsibilities for Purple Visions included contacting and communicating with clients, finding potential clients, posting content on Facebook and designing graphics for clients. In the past, Derek has not offered any graphic design. It’s exciting to have the opportunity of growing the company by offering another area of skills that I have worked on developing.

My biggest area of growth that I realized was my ability to work independently with minimal supervision. I also recognized my ability to communicate effectively with my employer and clients by listening and then producing accurate content that they envisioned.

Through my many activities at Purple Visions I have grown as a photographer, designer and overall communicator. I’ve grown to love this business and the people that I get to work with each week. I look forward to where a career with Purple Visions will take me. Taking the risk of interning for a small business worked for me and it could work for you too if you’re willing to take the chance.