Ronni Brown completed an internship at Britton Elevator, Inc., an agricultural retailer in Britton, MI. Britton Elevator has 12 grain silos, 3 grain bins, a fertilizer shed, chemical barn, seed house, office, and mechanic shop. As an intern, Ronni's duties included scouting corn and soybean fields for issues, reporting to supervisors, writing custom spray applications, and creating weekly newsletters. The experience provided management, people, and writing skills. Though Ronni would still take the opportunity, more farmer contact and experience riding with applicators would have been beneficial. The internship helped Ronni determine what they don't want to do and gain a better picture of

1. My Internship Experience
Ronni Brown
ANS 493

2. Who I Am and Where I Come
From
 Ronni Brown
 Senior in Animal
Science
 From Bear Lake, MI
 Companion Animals or
Horses
 Marketing
 Came from Grand
Valley
 Studied Pre-Med and
changed my mind

3. Britton Elevator, Inc.
Fertilizer
Mechanic Shop Barn
Chemical
Barn
Office Elevator

4. Britton Elevator, Inc.
Britton, MI
12 silos
3 grain bins, 1
recently built
summer of 2012

5. Britton Elevator, Inc.
Fertilizer Shed
Chemical Barn
 Sell to farmers and
custom application
Office with hardware
Scales

6. Britton Elevator, Inc.
Seed house
 Treat seed
 Sell as BEI Seed
 Work with BioGene

7. Learning Objectives
 Gain valuable experience in a different part of
Agriculture
 Relate my animal science degree with this different
subdivision of Agriculture
 Obtain management knowledge through working
with different types of management

8. Job Description
 Britton Elevator, Inc. is a full service Ag retailer
looking to add a hard-working individual to their
team. The job will include looking at corn, soybean,
and wheat fields to determine when custom
application needs to take place. Other duties may
include miscellaneous office tasks. Interns will also
have the opportunity to see various sides of the
Agriculture industry.

9. Co-Workers
 Jerry Forsyth
 Elevator Manager
 Lora Feldkamp
 Office Secretary
 Kala Belson
 Internship Supervisor
 Scott Wahl
 Internship Supervisor

10. Co-Workers
Davey Penterics
 Crop Scouting Intern
Ashley Frye
 Crop Scouting Intern
Other workers including mechanics, custom
applicators, elevator workers

11. Primary Duties
 Daily scouting of corn and soybean fields
 Looking for disease, insect, or weed issues
 Report to supervisor and confer to make best decisions for field
 Write-up custom spray application sheets
 Weekly newsletter and reports sent to farmers

12. Corn Fields
Corn Smut
Corn at about V2 stage
Beginning Tasseling

13. Corn Fields
R1 Stage
Ending of Pollination
Kernels Growing From
the Tassel

14. Soybean Fields
Chemical Damage
Soybean Disease Foxtail Found in
Soybean Field

15. Extra Experiences
Riding with
the custom
applicators

16. Extra Experiences
Wheat
Harvest
Grading Grain
Moisture
Weight

17. Key Experiences
 Management Skills
 People Skills
 Difficult Personalities
 Sales Techniques
 Catering to the Customer
 Writing Experience
 Newsletters
 Job Descriptions

18. If I Knew Then, What I
Know Now
 Would still take the opportunity
 May have gone into it with a different attitude
 Would have put more effort into getting different
experiences
 More farmer contact
 In the tractor during harvest

19. How the Experience
Changed My Goals
 Figured out what I didn’t want to do
 Nice to learn different sides of Agriculture to get a
better full picture
 Gained a lot of experience and knowledge
 Not just with crops
 Management

20. Not All Business..