Cultivating the Future
May 13, 2025
Kelly Els
Sales & Marketing Manager, CCA
What is the Key agronomy internship program?
Our agronomy internships typically span 12 weeks during the growing season and offer interns the opportunity to work alongside experienced agronomists, operations staff and farmers. Interns gain practical skills in crop production, pest management, crop scouting and data collection. Our program also includes exposure to cutting-edge agricultural technologies like precision farming tools, GIS mapping and drone usage.
Key learning areas:
Why the Key agronomy internship matters
Our agronomy internship program provides more than just field experience—it’s an important piece of serving our customers at the highest level. Our interns help make our agronomists more efficient and supply them with timely and accurate information, so they can make the right recommendation at the right time. This is all working toward the goal of being the most efficient with customers’ crop inputs while maximizing yield.
What’s next after the internship is completed?
Most of our interns return to college to finish their education. Some of our interns will return for a second internship to build up what they learned the previous year or try a different experience with our agronomy team or even another Key department. Others have explored different internship opportunities within agriculture to expand their learning experiences. Upon college graduation, we’ve had many interns return to Key Cooperative to work as a Sales Agronomist or a different position within Key. These internships give the intern and Key a shared work experience, which allows both parties to see if full-time employment is a good fit. Currently, 13 members of our agronomy sales team (or 76 percent) completed Key internships. This is a testament to how a successful internship program can lead to a successful agronomy team.
A Key Cooperative agronomy internship plants the seeds of knowledge and experience that will help shape the future of agriculture. For students and graduates seeking a meaningful internship, our program offers a chance to get their hands dirty while making a real impact on agriculture’s present and future.
Sales & Marketing Manager, CCA
Key Cooperative agronomy internship program nurtures the next generation of ag experts
What is the Key agronomy internship program?
Our agronomy internships typically span 12 weeks during the growing season and offer interns the opportunity to work alongside experienced agronomists, operations staff and farmers. Interns gain practical skills in crop production, pest management, crop scouting and data collection. Our program also includes exposure to cutting-edge agricultural technologies like precision farming tools, GIS mapping and drone usage.
Key learning areas:
- Crop scouting: Interns learn to assess plant health, spot nutrient deficiencies, identify pests and assess overall crop appearance.
- Soil and tissue sampling: Participants collect samples used to determine nutrient content and fertilization strategies.
- Field trials and research: Interns collect data in field trials to test crop varieties, herbicides or fertilizers. This data is then used to determine crop input strategies for the next growing season.
- Retail agronomy operations: Interns learn firsthand the process of getting products from their location to the field.
Why the Key agronomy internship matters
Our agronomy internship program provides more than just field experience—it’s an important piece of serving our customers at the highest level. Our interns help make our agronomists more efficient and supply them with timely and accurate information, so they can make the right recommendation at the right time. This is all working toward the goal of being the most efficient with customers’ crop inputs while maximizing yield.
What’s next after the internship is completed?
Most of our interns return to college to finish their education. Some of our interns will return for a second internship to build up what they learned the previous year or try a different experience with our agronomy team or even another Key department. Others have explored different internship opportunities within agriculture to expand their learning experiences. Upon college graduation, we’ve had many interns return to Key Cooperative to work as a Sales Agronomist or a different position within Key. These internships give the intern and Key a shared work experience, which allows both parties to see if full-time employment is a good fit. Currently, 13 members of our agronomy sales team (or 76 percent) completed Key internships. This is a testament to how a successful internship program can lead to a successful agronomy team.
A Key Cooperative agronomy internship plants the seeds of knowledge and experience that will help shape the future of agriculture. For students and graduates seeking a meaningful internship, our program offers a chance to get their hands dirty while making a real impact on agriculture’s present and future.