2023 Summer Intern: Sam Schroeder

Hello everyone, my name is Sam Schroeder, and I am an agronomy sales intern working out of the Aurora location. I will be entering my junior year at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln majoring in Ag Economics with a minor in Agronomy. I grew up just outside of Phillips, Nebraska where I have been surrounded by farming and livestock my whole life. Last Summer I worked in the agronomy warehouse, and now I am with the salesmen learning what they do.

As I was saying, I worked in the agronomy warehouse last summer and learned a lot of valuable things that have helped me get a head start on what I am doing this summer as an intern. I learned about how a co-op is run and how important logistics and communication are to the company. Last summer I also helped at the liquid plant loading fertilizer and the anhydrous plant where I learned so many valuable things. I would like to thank Matt Boehle, the office manager in Aurora. He has taught me everything I know about how the warehouse is run and how difficult it is to run it.

So far working this summer as an intern has been very interesting, I have learned so much just from being here the past 4 weeks. From day one I was introduced right away to the agronomy sales industry. My mentors showed me the different aspects of their work and how to do things efficiently and in a timely manner. They emphasized the importance of understanding the farmer’s needs, the challenges with crops, and solutions for addressing issues. This taught me that being a successful salesman is built on trust, expertise, and specialized solutions.

This summer has been a lot of fun from loading tender trucks, learning how important the tender truck drivers and the sprayer operators are, and getting lots of experience out in the field. I have been riding around with Jeremy Hope who is a salesman at the Aurora location, and he has taught me many things about being an agronomy salesman. We have scouted fields and we have talked to many growers. It is cool to see the relationship he has with all these growers who trust him to make the right decisions for their fields.

I am most excited to go out and get more experience in the field as well as make strong relationships with employees in the company and growers. I can’t wait to see what this summer has in store for me!