Slice of Intern Life: September/October Update

The first month of my Communications and Outreach internship is officially complete! I’ve spent time learning about various projects that I will be contributing to throughout the year and the basic information regarding how the Nebraska Wheat Board operates.   

I had the opportunity to help the Nebraska Wheat Board during Husker Harvest Days in Grand Island.  While I was there, I staffed the booth and we had a spin wheel game that provided you with a color to choose a quiz about wheat. I spoke with a lot of students ranging from kindergarten to seniors in high school who were on field trips to learn more about Nebraska agriculture at the farm show.  Most of them were not familiar with raising wheat since they came from schools around Grand Island with more corn and soybean crops being raised.  I was able to share a lot of wheat facts with them and discuss the many uses of wheat in daily food products and the nutritional value of wheat.  I also had the opportunity to talk with farmers and promote some of the benefits of joining the Nebraska Wheat Growers Association.  It was really fun to help educate about the wheat industry. 

So far Husker Harvest Days has been the only outreach activity this fall.  While in the office I have been busy working on daily and weekly communication pieces to share in media press releases, social media, wheat board websites or other marketing channels.  I have been coordinating interviews for the Nebraska Wheat weekly radio broadcast on KRVN radio.  I also compile the weekly crop report from various sources and publish it on social media regarding how the wheat crop is progressing across the state.  

One of my daily responsibilities has been to keep our social media calendar updated and creating graphics and promotions to include on Facebook and other platforms to promote what is happening in the wheat industry.  This has taught me a lot about planning for marketing activities and to be ready for the next promotion.  Two of the posts that I enjoyed creating the most were for National Farmers Day and National Farm Safety Week.  It’s important to recognize the hard work and commitment for farmers to produce our food, fuel and fiber.  Working in agriculture can have some very high risks if proper safety procedures are not followed so encouraging farm safety prior to fall harvest is always a good reminder.    

While I have been working on the weekly crop reports, this has provided me the opportunity to work directly with the Wheat Board members across several of the districts by calling them and learning about the crop conditions in their area.  Fall is a very busy time of year for farmers with wheat drilling during September and October.  

Most of the state, including the four board members that I spoke with out in the panhandle or southwest Nebraska, have received a nice rain in the last few weeks which delayed their wheat drilling.  By now most farmers have finished drilling wheat and a majority of the crop has already sprouted due to the moisture.  Publishing the weekly crop report will provide me the opportunity to contact a different district board member each week and discuss the progress of the wheat crop through the winter and into the spring growing season.

I am looking forward to next month as several of our board members and staff will be attending various meetings and other events in the wheat industry.  This will provide me the opportunity to learn more about the outreach efforts of the wheat board both domestically and abroad.  Stay tuned for another “Slice of Intern Life!”” 

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