Discover Careers in Agriculture!

In the next five years . . .

We will have more people retiring from the ag sector than incoming employees to fill their positions. What can we do about that?

Career Connections can help students with the following:

Introducing positions that are not traditional “ag” jobs
Locate and secure internships
Identify events and conferences that connect to a student’s chosen pathway
Provide opportunities to visit with industry professionals; to ask questions and learn more about educational commitments and work/life balance
Encourage students to split up when they go to conferences and meetings; to meet new people and not only make connections, but follow-up on those connections.

Are you an advisor or faculty member looking to get your students more involved in the ag industry?

Kansas Corn’s Career Connections team can provide an on-campus or virtual visit to give students an opportunity to learn about the corn industry and the multifaceted career paths it provides. Our program can also bring local industry professionals to your campus. Whether you’re looking to open minds in a classroom or at a club meeting, scheduling a Career Connections event can benefit you. The process is simple, fill out the request form below and let us help you plan the rest.

We had a great turnout and students took away some valuable information. Everyone that presented encouraged students to take more ag business classes and diversify more. It was nice to hear what others had done since graduation, and it was really cool to have some FHSU Grads available for the discussion.
- Stephanie Eckroat, Ellis County Collegiate Farm Bureau Coordinator

Career profiles feature professionals in the many sectors of the corn industry

Professional Career Profiles

Professionals from the corn and agriculture industries share their stories here! This is a great resource for students and educators. Simply choose a field of interest and read the profiles highlighting that person’s job, career path and advice for college students.

Agronomy

Katie Harness

Major:

I attended Western Illinois University, I majored in agronomy with a minor in animal sciences.

Job Overview:

I work for Frontier Ag Inc in western Kansas/eastern Colorado as a sales agronomist and precision ag specialist. I program for Frontier Ag Inc’s precision ag technology. I create management zones with veris cart data and satellite imagery, after assessing this data I then make a prescription for the field.

Looking back, which class do you believe was the most beneficial to your current career?

The most beneficial class I took was IPM which stands for integrated pest management. In this class, we did a lot of scouting and learned about all the different diseases, insects and weeds. This course allowed me to have some hands-on experience and helped me to better understand chemicals and their active ingredients.

Are there any classes that you wish you would have taken? What are they?

I wish I would have taken some extra plant breeding classes, I knew the basics but not the specifics. Knowing this topic better would have helped me out earlier in my career.

Tell me a little about how you “landed” your current job and the career pathway that led to it.

I had some internships throughout college where I gained more crop scouting experience. I started out after college as scale help with Frontier Ag Inc. Through this, I gained a perspective that allows me to see the company as a whole. One of the sales staff took me under their wing and trained me and helped me grow in the sales aspect, since I knew the agronomy. I then was able to manage my own territory and was doing well at that. During the time that precision technology was taking off, I was asked to facilitate and create the precision ag program. This has been a great opportunity for me to bring this program to life for Frontier Ag Inc.

What does an average day look like for you? What time do you get to work? Make it home? Any weekend work?

There are no typical days in my job, but most days I start around 7 a.m. and can get finished anywhere from 5-10 p.m. I make a list each day, and those things need to get done. Sometimes things do not go as expected and can take a little longer. My job is immensely rewarding, and I enjoy helping farmers each and every day.

Are there things that you wish you had known about your career path/current job before pursuing or accepting your current position?

My instructors prepared me well for the field, but I do think it is important to realize how many hours you will be fitting in. I have no set time off every day, and I realize that could be difficult for many.

What advice would you give to a college student interested in pursuing a career in your field?

I would tell college students to take internships and even take internships that are outside of your comfort zone. As a freshman, I thought I wanted to be a veterinarian, but after taking a crop scouting internship, I fell in love with this sector of agriculture. When I stepped outside of my comfort zone and took on an internship in a field I did not think I wanted to pursue, I was able to find what I truly enjoyed.

Lucas Haag

Job Description

My job title is Northwest Area Agronomist. I provide leadership for extension agronomy efforts in the 26 county area I’m in charge of in northwest and north-central Kansas. I work with producers, industry people and of course our local agents in being proactive in educating about current issues we see in crop production. One of the unique things about my job is I’m in a 100% extension appointment but with that I do a fair bit of applied research because we need that research in order to have something to talk about. Predominately my work is in corn, wheat, sorghum and emerging crops in the northwest area, such as field peas.

Education/Major

Precision agriculture is what I’m most passionate about. My undergraduate degree is from K-State from the College of Agriculture and I majored in Agricultural Technology Management (ATM). They don’t offer a graduate degree in ATM so following the field of precision ag the next step for me was to get a Masters degree in agronomy. After working in research for several years I decided to go back to campus and complete my Ph. D in agronomy with an emphasis in crop ecology from Kansas State University as well.

Most beneficial class

I think there was three classes I really find beneficial.

Intro to Ag Economics because having an understanding of what drives producers to grow a certain crop and knowing how microeconomics plays a role in how producers make decisions is important.
From the machinery side of things BAE 350, which was overall machinery systems design class. That was really good from a technical stand point.
Probably the other one was a natural resource economics class in the ag economics department. With water being the huge issue it is in Western Kansas, putting economics to the conservation or planned management of a shared natural resource is a very beneficial skill to have.

Class they wish they would have taken

I was able to sneak through grad school without taking biochemistry and I wish I would have actually taken that. We do a lot in terms of understanding plant water stress or heat stress, I have training in the physiology but it would be helpful to have a better understanding of the biochemistry involved.

Career Path

Throughout pursuing my undergrad, I helped pay for school by selling seed corn. Then I worked as a graduate research assistant during graduate school and worked for three years full time at the Tribune research station as the assistant scientist after getting my Master’s degree. I was managing trials and running field research on both dryland and irrigated cropland. And then as I was finishing my Ph.D. I applied for this job, interviewed and got it. I’m also still very involved in my family’s farming and ranching operation.

Piece of advice for college students

My piece of advice for college students would be don’t be afraid to take some coursework that’s a little bit outside of what you’re wanting or what your normal interests are. What I’ve learned is there’s other things you can learn from other industries or other segments of the ag industry. There’s always things we can learn, bring it them and apply it to our daily operations. I think there’s value in stretching the boundaries and taking some classes outside of our comfort zone. Also, get involved in clubs. I was active in the ATM club and the Rodeo club, both were great experiences that also forged lifelong friendships.

Kim Kohls

Education/Major

K-State, Masters- soybean inoculants – plant physiology
College of the Ozarks- Undergrad- general ag w/emphasis in agronomy and horticulture

Most beneficial class

All of my agronomy classes helped to get the broad knowledge- which has been very helpful in extension. Crop Physiology was important to me in learning how a plant responds and grows- It was my favorite class and definitely helps with what I do now. It has helped me to diagnose a problem in a field like yellowing or insect disease pressure.

Class they wish you would have taken

Doing some more within soils – I would like to have a better understanding. It can make or break what’s going on in the field. Biology- a few more plant or botany classes would have been good as well.

Career Path

Growing up on a farm I’ve always had a love for plants. That really directed my college courses and now career. My background on the farm gave me confidence to go into agriculture- I saw a lot of opportunities in agronomy.

I was a 4-Her so I have been around extension all my life. I didn’t see the crop side as much when I was young- but through my graduate work at K-State it gave me the whole picture of extension. I loved the teaching aspect- so those experiences added up to the interest in extension. Service for the community and strong focus on education is what ultimately drew me to that job.

Piece of advice for college students

Take advantage of as many opportunities are presented to you that peak an interest. Doing an internship is REALLY beneficial. Job shadow- if you want to ride along a field tours or see what I do- many people are okay with that. Don’t be afraid to ask- the answer isn’t always no. Get as many experiences as you can. Make goals early- Find what interests you and then explore what career options are within that interest. It’s never too early to start exploring what’s out there for careers

For those looking at careers in extension, for many it’s not always lifetime career, if you want to get a strong base in a lot of different things, extension is a great way to get a base knowledge. So many opportunities presented for continuing education. This will assist me moving forward even if it’s not in extension.

Cammie Vaupel

Education/Major

Agronomy at Kansas State University; Consulting and Production Specialty, Minor in Agricultural Economics

Job Overview and Title

Agronomist, Great Bend Coop

I started in this position immediately after college and have been here for 11 years. In general, I am responsible for working directly with customers to scout all crops and to assist with sale of fertilizer and chemical products. The Coop contracts with customers to have a set number of acres scouted and we work each week to make sure we are visually inspecting those acres during the growing season. I also assist producers in filling out and navigating NRCS paper work for various support programs.

Most Beneficial Class

I use what I learned in the courses related to crop growth and development every day. When scouting acres, I need to be able to quickly recognize key parts of the plant and know if it looks correct and healthy.

My Weed and Seed Identification class was also important. It gave me a solid base for beginning to apply what I learned in the classroom out in the field where you really start to understand agronomy. The more experience I have, the more I am able to recognize issues and their cause with confidence. I am appreciative of the network of support I have with other agronomists at the Coop who have really helped me develop my skills. I also refer back to books and other resources from college.

What classes do you wish you would have taken?

Precision agriculture continues to grow. I did take some classes in this area related to irrigation technology, but it is the way of the future and KSU offers many more classes in this specialty now.

I switched my major fairly early from Elementary Education to Agronomy. After a brief stint working in an after-school program, I realized I didn’t want to do that all day, every day. My agronomy position is a good fit, because I still really enjoy education, but farmers are my “students”. The single purpose of my social media presence is to relay information to help growers. So, communication classes are important too.

I was really glad that I decided to obtain a minor in Agricultural Economics. It has helped me better understand the marketing side of the crop industry.

Career Path

My internship during college involved working as a consulting agronomist. I enjoyed that, but I wasn’t sure that was exactly where I fit. Previously I had worked as temporary scale help for a coop during several summers. Through that experience, I gained a strong mentor. He really believed in the cooperative business model. Because of that I started looking that direction and went to work for the cooperative where I had experience and then moved to my current employer.

One great place to search for openings is agcareers.com, my current position was posted there. I also knew I wanted to stay in Kansas because I grew up near Dodge City. Great Bend is a nice half way point between home and Manhattan.

What does an average day look like for you?

Summer and winter are very different. In the summer, I leave home as early as I can to beat the heat. Scouting begins a little after sun up and then writing and delivering customer reports happens in the afternoon. I usually plan out my week so I can coordinate my travel in one area for the same day. I use a four-wheeler a great deal and my pickup is often my office for a big part of the summer. At the end of the day, I am in the office turning in work orders.

I like that I can work independently. Anyone with this job has to be self-motivated because you have responsibility for getting things done without any direct supervision. I work some on weekends, but usually just in the office for half a day at most to catch up on paperwork. I almost never scout on the weekend and never work on Sundays.

During the winter, I’m in the office more and that is when we do our educational programs for growers, help them with farm plans, set schedules, and assist with pre-pay on chemicals. I also attend lots of meetings. Sometimes to keep current and learn some new things and often to meet with vendor reps. Winter is when I have time for a few days off.

What do you wish you would have known?

I did not grow up on a farm and that would have been helpful, but it isn’t an issue. As I noted above, I really wish I had more precision agriculture knowledge. With agronomy, there is always going to be a new challenge. You have to be continuously learning. There will not be the same year twice so you have to be ready to solve new problems. That can be frustrating, but it is also interesting.

Advice for College Students

My first recommendation would be do as many internships as you can with several companies.

Secondly, build your network. While you are in school, get involved in clubs and meet people in other majors. I was active in Agronomy Club and it is really great how people across the state and the Midwest that were involved in that club still stay in touch. College is about getting out and doing some new things with new people.

Finally, don’t be afraid to ask questions, keep learning, be willing to put the work in to find the answer to the question.

Commodities and Trade

Kyle Adams

Job Description:

Commodity marketing manager

Most beneficial class:

Commodities trading class- The set up of the class was really neat, we could purchase up to 3 shares, put in money, and make a recommendation to buy or sell. It gave me real life experience that you don’t always get.

Class they wish they would have taken:

Accounting – detailed advanced accounting classes are helpful in the business world as you are dealing with fiscal year end and other financial statements.

Career Path:

I grew up with my dad as a coop manager, and when I was younger worked for a dairy farmer with crop land. After taking a trading class & some other experiences I was drawn in to look at commodity marketing. I had an Internship with FCC now is FC Stone, they are a commodity brokerage company that works with coop and private elevators and I did a lot with hedging. My internship led to full time position.

FCC- 9 months

Leroy Coop Grain Division Manager 1.5 years

Cargill- Topeka- 6 years

Lyons- Kansas Coop 9 years

Piece of advice for college students:

Network and really get to know your classmates. It’s easy to go to class- but you will be surprised when you go to meetings down the road at how many of those same people you went to college with. If you network now you are setting yourself up to be successful in your career path.

Take a little while to figure out what you enjoy and what you’re good at.

Bill Holbrook

Education/Major

BS Agricultural Economics, MBA Finance

Most beneficial class

Trading in Commodity Futures

Class you wish you would have taken

Foreign Language

Career Path

Market analyst for Farmland Industries working with all business units (fertilizer, petroleum, feed, grain).

Piece of advice for college students

Pursue opportunities to learn about as many business aspects as possible, beyond your job description. Also, seek out mentors with the industry you are working.

Equipment

John Teeter

Job Description

I am Director of Operations and Branch Coordinator of the Ulysses location. My day to day job consists of many different layers. I work on new product development and work with each location’s branch manager to make sure that they are taken care of. I’m there for them to answer any questions they may have about their employees, equipment, jobs, service and any other need they have. I also go and visit customers to see what we can do to help them and better serve them as a business.

Education/Major

My Bachelor of Arts degree was in pastoral studies with leadership development and then my Master of Arts degrees in Christian studies with leadership development.

Most beneficial class

I would say the most beneficial class I took was on ethics in leadership and the philosophy of leadership behind the ethics. It has helped me to look at the whole picture of the business and realize how ethical leadership impacts ethical business. If you have people who are ethical in business you’ll have good relationships with customers and most importantly employees, because they are your number one asset. Customers may be “always right,” but if you don’t also take care of your employees then you can’t properly take care of your customers. And that’s just doing ethical business whether it’s in the irrigation world or your personal life at home.

Class they wish they would have taken

Classes that pertain to human resource development would probably be very helpful. In this job, you’re dealing with people, laws and paychecks. Some businesses are lucky to have a person or even a whole staff devoted to human resources but the average small business like ours you’re left to learn that yourself. I wish I had taken more classes to help me out with some of those layers of the business.

Career Path

Teeter Irrigation Inc. started in 1977 and this year 2017 we are celebrating our 40th year in business. I was born into this business and have spent more than 20 years working in different sectors of the business. I have learned literally every facet of it over that time, and I am still learning today. I did take a 10 years of my life to work as a pastor in several small rural churches. This was a rewarding and enlightening time in my life. Through my seminary education during those years, I recognized that I could do more good outside the church walls to help people reach their full potential. I now “in my current job” get the opportunity to help over 4,000 customers, 100 employees, and many others by making an impact. I am blessed!

Piece of advice for college students

Finish college now, don’t wait until later on in life to finish. If you aren’t going to finish now, take the time to think about it long and hard before you go back so when you do go back you can give it all you’ve got. Don’t just go through the motions of school, don’t make it just another piece of paper to go on your wall. Get as much knowledge there while you can, because knowledge is what helps grow our country, lives and impacts our families.

Ethanol

Derek Peine

Job Description

I’m the CEO of Western Plains Energy, LLC (ethanol production facility) in Oakley, Kansas. My role includes responsibility over the entire operation including areas such as production, sales, grain procurement, safety, and financials. In the end, everything falls underneath my responsibility.

Education/Major

I went to Kansas State University and majored in Chemical Engineering.

Most beneficial class

I would say math and science courses. While I don’t have a particular class, having a solid understanding of science and engineering helps me understand the production side, helps me with troubleshooting problems, and provides me with a solid basis for investigating new technologies and potential projects.

Class they wish they would have taken

I wish I would have taken more business classes. I have thought many times over the years that I should go back and get a Master’s in Business Administration. Unfortunately, I have just haven’t ever dedicated the time to do it.

Career Path

I graduated from K-State in 1997 and spent eight or nine years at Cargill managing different unit operations. During those years I learned how to manage people, how to manage specific unit operations, how to improve efficiency of those unit operations and how to look at a project with business sense. Then I worked in the ethanol industry for the next three to four years focused on the startup of a new ethanol company and on the engineering and construction side of building new ethanol plants. I found the opportunity to participate in starting a brand new company as very rewarding. There were so many things to learn and figure out, but it was also a very rewarding experience to get to be a part of setting a culture of a new company. After that, I went into some consulting roles within the engineering and project development side of the ethanol and broader renewable energy industry. In 2012, I was given the opportunity to move to Australia and work in an ethanol plant there. It was an incredible experience for which I will always be grateful. In 2013, I came back to the United States and started working for Western Plains Energy.

Piece of advice for college students

Get involved in outside activities and work really hard to get internships. Don’t be afraid to contact many different companies and ask for internships even if they aren’t advertising. Come with more than just a resume, reach out and promote yourself with an idea of how your skills can benefit that specific company and their needs. And don’t focus on one specific career path, be open on how your skills, experiences, and passions can provide value to various industries and career paths. Particular to the ethanol industry, we offer a huge opportunity to be involved in agriculture many different ways.

Cassie Schneider

Major

KSU Feed Science & Management (Biofuels Option); Currently pursuing a Masters of Agribusiness through the KSU MAB Program

Job Overview

Scientist, Technical Service Biofuel at Novozymes North America, Inc.

The company I work for has many divisions, the biofuels area is a smaller segment historically, but is rapidly growing. My role as Field Scientist is to promote products and to be technical support to ethanol plants in my territory, even if they use competitive products. I am able to help trouble shoot issues and make recommendations about processes and procedures. I might see something related to mechanics or even plant culture and offer suggestions for improvement. Fermentation is my specialty area and I might make recommendations related to dosing of ingredients or various settings.

Most Beneficial Class

It is hard to pick just one! I was fortunate enough to be able to use my degree and job experiences all along my career path thus far. Overall, picking a degree in the College of Agriculture at KSU helps with any Ag career path you take. They do set you up from the beginning with an Ag Science 101 class to line out what all careers are out there and to expose students to possibilities that they don’t realize exist. I didn’t realize at the time it would be that helpful, but they have really enhanced it into a great class over the years. I actually get to go back and speak once a year in the fall semester to advocate for the ethanol industry and show undergrads that there are options in biofuels that they may have not yet considered.

What class do you wish you had taken?

I attended Hutchinson Community College before transferring to KSU and was able to get the majority of my science and math classes out of the way there, which was a great idea. I do wish I would have taken some agriculture classes there, but I didn’t realize I would be switching majors to something more agriculture science based until I got to KSU. At KSU, I wished I would have taken more Ag Economics classes. I had the general ag econ class I had to take for my major and actually disliked it at the time. I have since had the same teacher for an Ag Econ class in graduate school and really enjoyed him as a teacher this time around. I’m enjoying all the other Ag Econ classes I have had while working on my master’s degree and hope to use them more in my career someday.

Career Path

I previously worked for Kansas Ethanol, LLC and Novozymes was one of their vendors. Kansas Ethanol, LLC has used Novozymes products and was one of the first plants to use their new yeast product. Because I worked with them as a vendor, they were in my network and I was comfortable with their culture and had a good impression of them as a company. That made it attractive to consider a job offer from them.

Having almost 5 years’ experience already in the ethanol industry at the plant level and being back in school to get my master’s was a huge advantage for my current role at Novozymes. I have found there are huge opportunities in the industry for those who have plant level experience. Having knowledge of just the daily ins and outs of ethanol production and the background of the fermentation process have helped in my everyday work for my current job.

What does an average day look like for you?

I have a unique situation in that I actually have a home office and then travel as well. Therefore, I kind of set my own hours while I am at home. Then I travel as needed to accommodate my customers and company trips. I usually start work around 7 am as that is what I did prior. My office work tends to be more data analysis, reports, and communication to customers. And the normal email, phone calls, check in with managers, those sorts of things. Having a home office has pros and cons. I need to stay organized and not get distracted from non-work things. It also allows me flexibility which is nice. I do miss being a part of a functioning management group and just bouncing ideas off others in the office that I can’t do without making a phone call.

Travel days normally are based around what times customers and colleagues can meet or around what time processes are operating at a plant if we are visiting for a product trial. My company sells enzymes and yeast to the ethanol industry, so it is very common for me to travel to a plant to help with a trial that we are doing with a product there.

Most often, I work with our Biofuels Technical Team. In this role, I support ethanol plants in our KS and MO territory to learn their processes, understand their challenges, and deliver products and services from Novozymes wide portfolio. This includes enzymes, both alpha amylase and gluco amylase and as of 2018, we have also successfully entered the yeast market. Even with travel at times, we normally only work a Monday through Friday work week. I have only had to travel on a Sunday once and that was just to make it to a plant first thing Monday morning. Weekend work very rarely happens and is not encouraged.

Career Path

In this industry, we are always growing and consistently learning. I wish I knew more about plant mechanics and more of the details of what plant and production managers deal with on a daily basis. I know the basic fundamentals and enough of the language to be dangerous, but I have more to learn there in my opinion. I think having a better understanding of running a plant would help for my current role and some of the goals I am working on for the future. Understanding the workings at the plant level is very important for any vendor in the industry because every plant runs in a different way. They might have diverse technologies and having knowledge from many different plants could be very useful.

Advice for College Students

Like I mentioned before, I do get to speak and advocate to college students about my career path occasionally, so I really have a list built up.

The ethanol/biofuels industry is constantly changing and evolving, so I think there will always be a need for employees and managers in this type of work.

I encourage knowing as much as you can about the industry prior to being employed, but don’t be afraid to go in with little to no knowledge. Even some of the most knowledgeable and highly accomplished individuals in the industry are still learning new things every day.

I am one of those people who initially didn’t like change, but on the plant level and even at a vendor level, situations change a lot in the industry. Everything at an ethanol plant, inputs and products coming out are based on markets and as we know sometimes margins and markets are good and sometimes, bad, but we can only impact what happens in-between. Consistency and improving what happens in the process is in the control of the plant and the employees. You need to focus on the types of things you do have control over and do the best you can there. Innovation is embraced quite often in the industry as well and it has been very neat to be a part of some monumental newer technologies.

There are many opportunities for those with different degrees in this type of industry. I have worked with people with many different backgrounds. You have sciences, animal feed and nutrition, sales and commodity/distillers marketing, the business side, basic agriculture and commodity backgrounds, and many others.

Even though many plants were built very similar and by the same company, all plants run differently. They use various ingredients, have different technologies, have different business models and items that are important to them, I have even seen company cultures with night and day differences across numerous plants. There are single owner plants, there are investor owned plants, there are fleet plants that are part of an entity that owns multiple plants in the industry. There are plants constantly being built, expanding, and shutting down just based on what is going on in the market.

It is exciting to be a part of such a diverse industry that is always changing and improving pathways to move forward!

Finance and Risk Management