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Agricultural Communication & Journalism Internships

Category: Public Relations & Advertising

USDA Rural Development – Amber Kelly

Posted on by kjburke

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.

Purple Visions Production – Carlee Meeks

Posted on by kmtully

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.

 

Ringel Farms- Sarah Krehbiel

Posted on by kmtully

I interned with Ringel Farms out of Alma, Kansas this past summer. They grow grass fed beef, pastured pork, and chickens. They marketed their products at the Downtown Topeka Farmers Markets throughout the spring and summer. They also have a website. My duties were to create a brochure about their farm and products, create a monthly (which ended up being bimonthly) newsletter, keep their Facebook page up to date, and various other promotional posters. I learned about this internship through an email from the ACJ department. To apply next year, there will be an email sent out through the department next spring.

My favorite part about this internship was attending farmers markets and interacting with the consumers. My least favorite part of this internship was that it was unpaid, however the internship was remote, so I was able to live at home and work with them via email and phone calls.

I learned that you have to be extremely clear and concise when promoting agriculture to the public. My biggest growth is being able to better convey a clear, concise and truthful message about agriculture to consumers, farmers, and ranchers.

I plan to have a pick-your-own vegetable farm with my sister next summer. Our main goal is to educate the public about agriculture and where their food comes from and how it is raised. This internship has showed me how to better educate the public and even farmers and ranchers, on agriculture and promoting agriculture. It has showed me just how important it is to educate the public!

This internship is not just for any individual. Ringel Farms is looking for an individual that can help them better implement agricultural communications to promote and disseminate their products. At the end of the internship, I realize more than before, how very important it is to convey a truthful message about agriculture not only to the public but also to the farmers and ranchers.

Department of Agricultural Economics – Jamie Morrissey

Posted on by Courtney Boman

When I came back from my semester abroad in the spring of 2016, I was looking for an on-campus job that would help further my career and give me the experience I was looking for. A friend of mine told me the communications coordinator in Kansas State University’s Department of Agricultural Economics was looking for a student and that I should send him my resume. I did, had an interview and got hired on the spot.

Even though I was in college, I never considered working in communications in academia. Working in this capacity in academia can be very comparable to working in an agency but not all departments are like this.

The ag econ department is quite large compared to Communications and Agricultural Education, not only in faculty size but in the number and size of business units as well.  The research that goes on in the ag econ department is interesting and diverse and the business units range from risk management to local government.

I compare working for the department to working for an agency because there are multiple points of contact throughout the department and we must work with the various programs and business units to create the content they want and the content that fits with our branding.

When I first started, I did not know how big the department was. One of our biggest challenges was figuring out how we would manage all the different aspect of the department under one umbrella and one message. This is something that my boss and I are continuously working on a year and a half later.

My primary responsibilities include social media management, website management, design and writing. I have also gotten to learn quite a bit about  how to edit videos in Premier and After Effects.

Throughout my time with the ag econ department, I have been able to take what I learned in the classroom and apply it to really world situations. I have built so much on top of the excellent foundation I got in the ACJ program and I will be able to apply these experiences to what every profession I end up in after graduation.

Kansas PRIDE- Madison Blevins

Posted on by Courtney Boman

I worked for a non-profit organization known as Kansas PRIDE, which is located on K-State’s campus. This organization strives to promote an enhanced quality of life for citizens of Kansas communities through education, leadership development and recognition. My responsibilities included daily tasks such as answering phones, customer service, attending meetings and other jobs.

My responsibilities included daily tasks such as answering phones, customer service, attending meetings and other jobs. My main responsibility, however, was to use my major of Agricultural Communications and Journalism to write press releases, create documents and write newsletters.

My most exciting moment while working with Kansas PRIDE was when I got my first article published in the High Plains Journal. I was able to build a great portfolio by working with this organization and I highly recommend it to anyone who loves a friendly environment and utilizing their writing skills.

9 things you learn as a KWO intern – Amanda Sales

Posted on by Courtney Boman

After three years and three summer internships, here I am entering my final year as a K-State student. It’s a crazy thought! To sum up my most recent intern experience at the Kansas Water Office (KWO) in Topeka, I created a list of 9 takeaways from my time there.

9. You will inevitably have to explain what the Kansas Water Office is.

The KWO office gets myriad calls per day from people seeking the City of Topeka’s Water Office. Our receptionist is a pro at fielding these calls and directing the callers to the right place.

Example: Saying “I work for the Kansas Water Office” is usually followed by a load of questions. We’re the state’s water planning, policy coordination, and marketing entity. Imagine that we are an umbrella over the Kansas Department of Agriculture-Division of Water Resources and the Kansas Department of Health and Environment’s water bureau.

8. People will be people.

One of the most undervalued skills, in my opinion, is people relations. I learned a lot about people and personalities at KWO. In a realm where situations fringe around politics, you see many types of people.

7. Some people are really passionate about water.

I’m one of them now. I cringe when I see inefficient irrigation systems and I’m thankful for the conservation technology and research of this technology that KWO is funding to recharge the Ogallala Aquifer rather than deplete it. One major event over the summer was a field day for one of KWO’s three Water Technology Farms. The event showcased a combination of soil moisture sensors and mobile drip irrigation to help dictate when to start irrigating, when to stop, and most importantly, if it is even necessary at all. On the flip side of irrigating, it also frustrates me to see lawns being watered after a rainfall event. Save your water, people!

6. Working for the government is exactly what you would expect.

KWO interns are lucky to be paid, for one, as I know many state intern counterparts who are not. There’s also the importance of watching what you say and picking which political debates are safe to join. Usually it is better to stay neutral while in the public eye, because your actions represent the state government as a whole.

5. Being an intern for the state can lead to cool adventures.

KWO interns are allowed the opportunity to participate in the Governor’s Intern Program, which consists of six professional development sessions with fellow state interns. We covered the basic professional development topics like resumes, politic-related careers as a young professional, interviews, and how to act like an adult. We also participated in a lot of fun activities. For example, Wildlife, Parks and Tourism hosted us for a fun day at the Shawnee State Fishing Lake. The day included wingshooting, archery, kayaking and fishing. When was the last time you fished during a work day? KDA also led an agriculture-related tour to exhibit the facets of our state’s economic driver. In addition to these fun field days, we visited Cedar Crest and were presented networking opportunities.

4. There are still Kansans that believe water conservation is not their concern.

These people are quite the opposite of the water-passionate people discussed in number seven. It’s too bad there are still individuals unwilling to re-evaluate their water consumption because fear of risk outweighs the prospect of having water for future generations. Did you know that the Ogallala Aquifer, at current depletion rates, will be 70% depleted by 2064?

3. The optimal size for a Facebook graphic is a 470×470 pixel square.

This is the height/width size that appears on timelines. A major portion of my role at KWO included developing social media graphics, so I used this size standard to dictate my setup for creating the graphics we shared. In addition, I really enhanced my Adobe Illustrator skills when it came time to create engaging infographics that were worth sharing or retweeting. My advice for any students with interest in design—grab an easily portable notebook and every time you learn a new tool, technique or shortcut, write it down so you’ll easily know how to do it for future applications. I have one of these books and it helps immensely to speed up the design process.

2. Talking on the phone never gets easier.

No matter how much intern/job experience I have had, talking on the phone still gets me. There was one afternoon during the summer I was in charge of answering the phone while several staff members were in a meeting. Ironically, the first call was a person asking for the City of Topeka Water Office (see number nine). Soon after, a gentleman called asking for one of my co-workers. After accidentally hanging up on him twice, I finally figured out the correct way to transfer the call (#internfail). I suppose I am doing all right, though, if the hardest task of the summer was figuring out the phone system.

1. Real-life journalism isn’t like what they teach you in school.

Another part of my intern role included assisting with press releases. I came to discover that writing releases doesn’t always follow the clear cut rules taught at college. Call the source and ask for a quote? Writing something he/she would say and running it by them is perfectly acceptable. Write according to inverted pyramid style? Sometimes the person of most stature actually gets the first mention and quote block regardless. And like many places, gubernatorial entities follow their own style when it comes to writing. There were a few examples over the summer that in some way contradicted what professors taught me.

KWO was great to me and I now have the opportunity to extend my full-time summer internship into a part-time work-from-home job during the fall semester.

Overall, I recommend this internship to someone with an interest in politics, or someone looking to expand his or her knowledge of our state’s resources. Water is actually fascinating, and I encourage you to pay closer attention to it.

United Braford Breeders – Kaitlyn Alanis

Posted on by Courtney Boman

Just as all responsible agricultural communication students should do, I began searching for the perfect internship just as my sophomore year had begun. I was committed to my internship by early March, my housing arrangements were finalized by April and I had an internship start day of mid-June. Everything was going according to plan, or so I thought.

Since I had a few weeks before my internship officially started, I decided I would go back home to California and visit family. As fate would have it, I broke my ankle a mere two hours before getting to the airport, and my first stop home was the beloved emergency room.

This put quite the wrench in my summer plans, and due to not being able to drive, I was no longer eligible for my internship that I was counting down the days for.

I am sure you can imagine the stress I was in trying to find a new internship that typically takes months to find.

I turned to my trusty friend, Facebook, for some help. After posting my situation to two professional agriculture groups on Facebook, I received over 15 messages from different organizations willing to help me out. This was a solid reminder on just how grateful I am for the agriculture community; there is always someone willing to lend a helping hand.

I ended up interning with United Braford Breeders (UBB) as a remote communications intern under the direction of UBB Executive Director, Hannah Wine.  I could not be more grateful for how my summer internship went, even under what had originally seemed as unfortunate circumstances.

My internship consisted of writing news and feature stories for the UBB magazine, Braford News, designing advertisements and tradeshow materials, creating a media kit and developing content and design elements for promotional and marketing materials.

Since this was a remote internship, I was worried I may lose out on the valuable feedback and critiques that come from working in a professional office setting. However, this could not have been less true, and I would strongly recommend this internship to anyone. This was actually UBB’s first try at hosting a communications intern, and it went so well they will be continuing the internship program this fall.

Working for Hannah was a true pleasure, and I learned more than I could have ever hoped for.  While building a work portfolio I learned about developing feature stories, designing advertisements and structuring newsletters to the way people read best.

If I had to pick the most valuable piece of information I learned this summer, it would be to be flexible. Be flexible when you break an ankle, be flexible when you don’t get your dream internship, be flexible when the editors don’t like the format of your first design piece; just be flexible. It all happens for a reason, you just have to learn from it.

I would have never thought working remotely would turn into what I now call a perfect summer internship. As luck would have it, I am almost grateful to have broken my ankle because without it I would not have had the opportunity to work for United Braford Breeders this summer.

American Angus Association – Sarah Harris

Posted on by chantelles

I interned this summer with the American Angus Association as the communications and public relations intern. The application process was very fast paced and I was not sure what to expect when I got to Saint Joseph for the first day.

The original deadline to apply for this internship was March 1, and though I had thought about applying I did not get an application turned in. Luckily, a few weeks after the deadline Dr. Ellis forwarded an email from Jena McRell at the American Angus Association looking for more applicants for the position. I jumped at the missed opportunity and sent in my resume, cover letter, and two writing samples on March 23. I was amazed to get a reply the next morning — then set up a phone interview for March 25. I traveled to the Association headquarters in Saint Joseph, Missouri for an interview on April 2.

A few days after the interview in Missouri I was offered the position and accepted. A few short weeks later, I packed up and headed to Saint Joseph for the summer. My internship lasted from May 18 to August 13, and was packed with a ton of experiences in a very short time.

Day one I was given a handful of assignments to start working on including putting together a media kit for the National Junior Angus Show, media releases to write and some design projects. It was almost overwhelming. I had never written a news release and I got lost looking for the office where I was conducting an interview; however, I did learn the layout of the Association building very quickly.

The American Angus Association was host to six interns this summer in different areas of focus — The Angus Journal, Angus Genetics Inc., events and activities, and Angus Media. I feel like I had one of the best experiences, as I was able to work in every area rather than just one. Going into the summer I was not sure what I wanted to do with my degree in when I graduate in December, but my experiences with the American Angus Association have given me a better direction.

My favorite part of the summer was by far working with the production team for The Angus Report. I got to experience everything from running the teleprompter to writing scripts for the show. It was very fulfilling to see videos that I had shot and interviews that I had cut be used for an actual television show.

Throughout the duration of my internship there was never a dull moment and the workload never slowed down, which made the summer fly by. The National Junior Angus Show in July was another one of my favorite parts of the experience. A majority of the work I had done in the summer was leading up to the show and it was inspiring to see everything come together. In addition to seeing my designs displayed around the show ring, barns and printed in the show book, I was able to get a years worth of experience in one week. While at the show in Tulsa, Okla., I gained experience with social media coverage, news releases on winners and events, video interviews to be used for The Angus Report television show, photography, and writing personal interest stories.

I would recommend this internship to everyone — especially those who are not sure of what path in communications they want to go down. This internship gives you experience in writing, design, photography, videography and social media management along with a chance to travel to shows, farms and ranches. I learned so much and cannot express how blessed I was to have this experience with the American Angus Association.

American Hereford Association- Amanda Sales

Posted on by chantelles

It was to be the first real job I’ve ever had, dependent upon using programs I was merely an amateur at. Sounds scary, right? That may be how my summer at the American Hereford Association felt at first, but that isn’t how it ended. I would not have traded my internship experience aboard the staff of Creative Services/Hereford Publications, Inc. for any other summer adventure.

My interning journey began June 2nd and wrapped up August 20th. In those two-and-a-half months, I learned a lot of valuable communication skills, but more importantly, I discovered a lot of insight about my future career plans. Working in Creative Services, I coordinated the creation and production of a wide range of promotional materials and catalogs for cattle (and elk) ranches. This involved using Adobe InDesign for layout and even a little design of my own, communicating preferences with clients, and also using Photoshop and Illustrator to assist in the design. Previous to this summer, I knew just as much about my future career as the next person. Then I fell in love with the kind of work I did and, using my creativity and critical thinking skills, I knew by the end of the summer that this was exactly the line of work I want to pursue.

The biggest personal progress I saw during my adventure was understanding and using the Adobe programs. Without AGCOM210 (Principles of Layout and Design) on my transcript, I wasn’t sure how easily I would adapt. Luckily the tutorials and guided use in our slow periods at work gave me a solid foundation of the Adobe cloud.

Along with the skills attained this summer, there were a lot of exciting events that took place. I really loved traveling to the Junior National Hereford Expo in Harrisburg, Pennsylvania. The purpose of my attendance was labeling photos for the photographer to have them uploaded to the website and ordering shop. Though I worked long hours, it was exhilarating to be around the show atmosphere. I had never attended a national show before, so it was all so new to see the proceedings of the show life. A lot of neat things happened right at our office too. The AHA office is stationed right next to the big convention center in downtown Kansas City, where a lot of things occurred this summer. There was the National Skills USA Competition, Ramadan and President Barack Obama’s arrival, but by far the neatest part was when the American Idol auditions were in town. The day the judges came, our office took the lunch hour to stand outside for the arrival of J-Lo, Keith Urban and Harry Connick, Jr. (Look for me on television!)

Even with all of the excitement happening, there were still a few things I would have wanted different. I mentioned earlier my experience pushed me to a conclusion about my future career, though I also want to incorporate more than desk work into my upcoming career. My internship was solely desk and computer work, which doesn’t entirely suit my personality. I want to be out moving around, maybe capturing my own photos for any print work I do in the future.

I am thankful for all the time spent at the Hereford Association this summer and all the staff I worked with and I believe I can owe this whole great opportunity to knowing the right people. My boss for the summer is someone I have known through county 4-H for many years, and she has been giving me helpful tips about Ag Communications since I announced it was my intended study pursuit. She encouraged me to job shadow at the office prior to college, and I did just that. Two summers ago, I went in for a day and met everyone and learned what the office was like. I think it helped tremendously for my internship interview, which was by phone, because they all had a face to put with my name and a previous encounter to judge my assimilation to the office.

If you are looking for an internship that works extensively with design, you are good at communicating ideas with clients, you have a background in the beef industry, and you want to learn a wide variety of basic communication skills, I recommend this internship for you. Be looking out for the application next February!

Kansas Electric Cooperatives- Kennedy St. George

Posted on by chantelles

As a second year student at K-State, I never would have guessed that such an incredible experience would have come my way. I had the opportunity to intern with Kansas Electric Cooperatives, Inc., from October 2013 through May of 2014.

Kansas Electric Cooperatives (KEC) is the statewide service organization for the rural electric cooperatives in Kansas. Formed in 1941, KEC represents the interests of our members which includes 29 distributive cooperatives and three generation and transmission electric co-ops. Located in Topeka, I commuted four days a week from Manhattan to be in the office. I also had the opportunity to see different parts of the state and worked from home some days as well.

I heard about the internship possibility after visiting the all university career fair in the fall and was hired on in October, after an internship with the State Fair of Texas. I was drawn to the internship due to the aspect of the magazine that was published and my interest in writing for a publication. Each month KEC and the communications team turns out Kansas Country Living magazine that has a circulation of 122,000 households.

Aside from the magazine, I was guaranteed a well rounded experience and I was not let down by that promise at all. My internship duties included writing for the magazine, as well as the newsletter, Rural Power, photography, and design; however, I got a lot more than that. I also had the opportunity to do event planning, advertisement sales, company representative at career shows and member annual meetings for our cooperatives across the state, interviewer for youth tour participants, and so much more. I had only opened Adobe suit once prior to this experience and now I have it on my personal computer and use it somewhere once a day.

My writings included feature stories, interview recaps, statewide news, legal issues that our members needed to know about, and even monthly book reviews. Each month I had the opportunity to layout and design cooperative specific centerspreads that are inserted into the magazine. I learned the value to deadlines when my direct supervisor was on maternity leave for two magazines!

A photo I took was even used on the cover of February 2014’s magazine! I took a lot of pictures for covers and of events that the cooperatives held across the state for their members. The photos were then used for projects either at KEC for the statewide or within the cooperatives centerspreads. Through my photography, I was able to learn more about Photoshop and had many projects to utilize what I learned. Trying to do a cover of KCL was my favorite thing to do in Photoshop.

I got a well-rounded experience and a lot of pieces to build my portfolio with my time at KEC. I have truly enjoyed the sense of community for the members we work for and this summer I will be headed to Dodge City for the communications specialist intern position with Victory Electric, one of the members that I help now through the state wide.

The professionalism and the skills that I acquired through my internship really set in stone for me that I enjoy working for a publication, working on deadline, and really do enjoy writing as much as I thought I had.

I cannot wait to see where this degree leads me in the future, but for now I couldn’t be more pleased for the opportunities that have been presented to me from the internship with Shana Read, Carrie Kimberlin, and the rest of the staff at Kansas Electric Cooperatives.