Chariton Valley Beef Youth Livestock Internship
Joe Sellers, livestock field specialist
Situation
South-central Iowa youth with livestock projects often have limited resources
available to them when looking for production information or education about
the livestock industries. In the past ten years, Sellers and local staff have
increased the real-world opportunities for livestock members with more emphasis
on local carcass contests, county ultrasound contests, and the regional advanced
cattle feeder project. This has created an increased workload. In addition,
college students from the region studying agriculture struggle to find challenging
internships for summer employment. Over the past four years an internship program
started by Sellers has addressed these issues.
Response
The Chariton Valley Beef youth livestock internship has allowed the local extension
programs to offer valuable experience to four incoming seniors from Iowa State
University and Northwest Missouri State. Partnering with the McNay farm, a well
rounded work experience has included work on beef and sheep projects at the
farm, managing records, making farm visits to 25-30 youth involved in the regional
advanced feeder program, assisting Sellers with county carcass and ultrasound
contests, and working with local staff on special educational events for youth
livestock members.
The internship allowed for more in-depth contacts with youth involved in production-oriented
livestock projects. Sellers and the intern make many contacts in 10 counties
in south-central Iowa relating to quality assurance, value-added marketing,
and other production topics. Participants pay fees for carcass data collected
at local meat processors and for record keeping costs for the feeder project
that contribute to Sellers' revenue generation.
To this point the extension portion of the internship has been totally funded
by grant dollars through Chariton Valley Beef, Iowa State University, and other
sources. Starting in 2004, more of the costs will be covered by local stakeholders.
Impact
The projects aided by this internship have flourished over the past four years.
Numbers in the regional advanced feeder and youth carcass shows have grown.
Emphasizing business skills with monthly feed record submissions has greatly
improved the feeder program and would not be possible without the intern's work.
College students from Marion, Lucas and Wayne Counties found valuable work experience
near their homes. Interns trained in this program to date have all entered into
the livestock industry or education careers. Three of the four interns received
college credit for their efforts in this program. At this point the goals and
mechanics of this internship have not fit very well into the Life in Iowa guidelines,
but that avenue will continue to be examined in the future.
Page last updated:
July 8, 2006
Page maintained by Linda Schultz, lschultz@iastate.edu
