Summary of Experience

Projects I completed this summer included scouting corn, cotton, sunflowers, millet, grain sorghum, alfalfa, and black eyed peas. Along with those crops scouted, I also helped install soil moisture blocks, maintained vehicles, cleaned the shop where our vehicles are, completed ten hours of community service, presented a harvesting ceremony to Plainviews’ Lions Club, and conducted a mapping commonwealth exercise. All of these projects were new to me and I’m so glad; looking back now, that I had the opportunity to try new things. I would say mostly everything I experienced working for Todd Agricultural Consulting was a success although, like anything else worth the time, was challenging. I had knowledge of crops from school but haven’t had the most experience applying that knowledge to the field before I came to Plainview. This was a slight challenge but I would say I caught on quickly and was able to apply basic crop knowledge to my every day work. Aside from the field work.. scouting the crops for insect pests, diseases, weeds, and soil moisture: we were taught how to properly maintain a clean vehicle. It’s easy to let items in your car pile up and eventually it becomes a mess. Our boss has a lot of respect for his equipment so every morning, we would clean the vehicles. This job included wiping down the interior, throwing out the trash, conditioning leather if applicable, vacuuming the inside, cleaning the windshield and washing the exterior when necessary. Doing this every day became a routine and allowed for us to work efficiently with no distractions and clean equipment. As for the Ogallala portion of my internship: it was cool to branch out into a world I’ve never thought about before. I would say I was one to pass through a small town and make the quick assumption that there was nothing there and go about my business. After the retreat, I began to realize all of the assets small towns have that you may not notice at first. For example, I found a church to attend on the weekends. I also found a golf course for recreation when I had the time. Most all assets I identified you would never see passing through Plainview from the interstate. I also liked how I have been posting blogs and social media posts to let others that I don’t even know how I am doing. Its good to know that people care. Overall, I would say this internship exceeded my expectations and I am very grateful for the opportunity.