A dairy industry internship strengthens career foundations

Grant Loose, an Agribusiness Economics and Management (ABEM) student, had an exciting summer internship with the U.S. Dairy Training and Education Consortium in New Mexico. The program brought students together from across the nation to gain knowledge in the dairy industry, such as animal health, logistics, politics, sustainability, and management.  

Read here about Grant’s internship accomplishments and how he will use them to strengthen his career foundation. 

Students and supervising professors came from cooperating institutions and organizations such as the University of Arizona, Texas A&M University, Oklahoma State University, Cornell University, University of Florida, University of Missouri, Texas Tech University, Colorado State University, and others. 

Supervising professors from cooperating institutions taught a subject to the student cohort each week. One week in particular, the program generously invited a guest lecturer via Zoom from Switzerland to discuss advancing technologies for dairy farming. 

Apart from classroom activities and lessons, Grant was privileged with several hands-on opportunities. One field day, he was able to learn how to conduct health testing on dairy cows and the logistical and financial consequences of the animal’s health. 

He collected blood samples and ran on-site tests. Grant explained, “This hands-on experience taught me how to use test strips and conduct tests for diseases like ketosis and subclinical mastitis. It was an invaluable opportunity to understand animal health monitoring techniques and their practical applications on a dairy farm.” 

Hands-on activities, such as testing, that reflect day-to-day activities that individuals complete within the dairy industry, are highly respected and requested by industry leaders. Grant mentioned that degrees such as ABEM and greater qualified individuals are sought out by industry leaders.  

He shared, “I now have the ability to utilize a new set of connections within the dairy industry, along with the knowledge I learned during my internship, to find a meaningful job within the dairy industry because the mix of good internships, especially the USDETC internship, and a college degree is attractive to employers.” 

Intersectional knowledge and experience in animal sciences, supply chain, financial, data, and employee management have given Grant a leverage to understand his capabilities and interests to pursue alongside his ABEM major. 

Grant credits several ABEM core courses to his understanding of the agricultural and economics theories mentioned during the internship. Between data management software and financial management, and new animal sciences aspects, Grant is significantly accomplished. 

He was awarded third place and a certificate in the Dairy Challenge Assessment held by the program, where he had to complete an evaluation of a dairy farm’s operations, identify their strengths and weaknesses, and prepare a presentation for a panel of judges. Moreover, he was evaluated with an ‘A’ grade in the classroom portion of the internship he completed, proving that Grant was able to demonstrate high learning abilities in a brand new curriculum, animal sciences. 

Grant concluded with, “This experience has accelerated my career development by equipping me with practical skills and a strong foundation in both agribusiness and animal science—making me a more well-rounded and capable professional in the field.”