Jon
Mays
'19,
a
senior
sustainability
major,
turned
a
summer
internship
into
a
full-time
job
offer
with
one
of
New
York
state's
largest
organic
farms.
Mays,
who
is
also
completing
minors
in
marketing
and
international
business,
spent
the
summer
of
2018
in
an
agronomy
internship
with
Kreher
Family
Farms
studying
soil
and
crop
production.
His
key
responsibilities
were
conducting
soil
tests,
crop
scouting,
moisture
testing
and
collecting
plant
tissue
samples.
Rooted
in
Family
Situated
less
than
15
minutes
away
from
Mays'
home,
Kreher
Family
Farms
was
started
in
1924,
with
only
18
acres
and
54
chickens.
Today,
the
farm
is
still
family
owned
by
the
third
and
fourth
generation
and
one
of
the
largest
egg
farms
in
upstate
New
York.
The
farm
also
grows
organic
corn,
soybeans,
wheat
for
chicken
feed,
green
beans
and
peas
for
Wegmans,
and
beets
for
Love
Beets.
Learning
the
Ins
and
Outs
While
working
for
Kreher
Family
Farms,
Mays
was
trained
in
both
field
and
management
work.
In
the
field,
he
was
able
to
learn
and
conduct
irrigation
planning
and
layout.
He
also
gained
experience
in
tractor
work,
for
example,
running
combine
mowers
and
many
tillage
implements.
During
his
time
in
the
office,
Mays
worked
side
by
side
with
other
agronomists,
farm
crop
managers,
strategic
planners,
and
the
CEO
and
CFO
of
the
farm
who
gave
him
the
opportunity
to
help
plan
future
crops
and
work
on
capital
expenditure
for
2019.
Mays
states,
"Overall
this
internship
was
incredible.
I
got
to
put
my
foot
in
the
door
of
a
multimillion-dollar
company
that's
only
12
minutes
from
my
house
and
learn
an
immense
amount."
Opportunity
of
a
lifetime
Upon
graduation,
Mays
has
accepted
a
full-time
position
with
Kreher
Family
Farms
and
is
eager
to
return
home
to
continue
his
work
with
them
in
his
new
title,
crop
manager
of
organic
beets.
Mays
credits
his
education
at
BW
for
his
success.
"I
feel
that
not
only
as
a
student
but
also
as
a
person,
BW
has
helped
to
make
me
well
rounded.
Because
you
take
a
wide
variety
of
courses,
not
just
the
ones
that
directly
apply
to
your
major,
you
have
to
be
open
minded
and
adaptive
to
change.
The
buffet
of
courses
I've
taken
has
given
me
the
ability
to
learn
quickly
and
excel
in
everything."
Next
month,
Mays
will
be
presenting
his
internship
experience
to
Dr.
David
Krueger's
Green
Business
class,
offering
what
Krueger
calls
a
perfect
window
into
food
systems
and
"the
ways
big
agriculture
can
adapt
to
more
sustainable
farming
methods."
