Seed, Corn, & Various Grasses

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This week was much different than last week, now that I had gained an overview of how the various operations worked.

To start the week, I spent much of my time working at the feed production business. We were attempting to figure out a process for a consumer-friendly portion size of the feed. While the feed was already produced, we worked on creating a streamlined bagging process. This included bagging, weighing, sealing, and storing the feed bags. Once we did this, I was able to use my experience in Excel and financial modeling to help come up with solutions and new questions surrounding the process.

As the week progressed, I was able to learn about the corn extruding process. First, we picked up corn from a local grower. I was intrigued by the process; we were able to drive a semi-truck. To begin the process, we weighed the truck, then we went to the silos and used a conveyer belt to fill the truck up with corn. We then weighed the truck again and used the current market price of corn to find the total cost. I was then able to see how the extruding process of corn worked. It was interesting to see first-hand all of the components necessary in running an industrial operation. As I learned about the different machinery, I took notes so that I can create a detailed model later. We finished this process early, extruding several tons of corn. To round out the evening, myself and another employee completed property maintenance.

My host and the younger employees with whom I worked with educated me on the different types of grass. We found that there was an abundance of cheat grass, mustard, and some yellow toadflax growing on the pasture, all of which are either not beneficial or dangerous for the cattle. Late into the evening, I was able to sit in and learn how to operate a swather to cut the grass. This process was interesting to me as I was able to see how technologically advanced the swather was with its assisted driving system that utilized GPS to make the rows straight. We then moved the horses to a different pasture as they were running out of grass.

Thursday was spent gathering and hauling cattle. We gathered the cattle on horseback and sorted them into pairs. We then separated them into calves and cows. I learned that this was the case during transportation to prevent the larger cows from stepping on the small calves. We then loaded up the cattle and took them to a pasture around 45 minutes away near the border of Nebraska. We did this 3 times to haul around 40 cows.

Towards the end of the week, we started the day early to fix some tractors, learning from the experience of the younger employee. I then spent a few hours weed-eating a property that will be used for a residential rental. Then I sat in the swather for the remainder of the day with my coworker until a storm arrived. On Saturday, we woke up bright and early to volunteer at a local town event – a day where the whole town and surrounding region come together for festivities. My host is a member of the club that was the sponsor of the event. After helping set up, we participated in the parade where several other sponsors of the event participated. My exposure to the people in the region thus far had been solely from working and meeting people. However, it painted a different picture of the town with the whole community together. It was exciting to talk to some of the locals and learn more about the work that they do and the lifestyles that they live.

Submitted by: AJ Mishra
Edits by: GrowinG Internship Team