Acceptance Testing, Agricultural Management, Agronomy, Blackberry, Botany, Business Strategy, Communication Skills, Corrective Action, Data Analysis, Data Collection, Driver's License, English Language, Farming, Field Trials, Flow Meter, Identify Issues, Injections, Interpersonal Skills, Leadership, Mentoring, Microsoft Office, Multilingual, Nonprofit, Problem Solving Skills, Production Systems, Pumps, Quality of Life, Realtime Operating System, Spanish Language, Strategic Planning, Systems Administration/Management, Time Tracking
Internship Summary:
The Agronomy internship performs a wide range of activities in a real-time production environment. The Intern is assigned mentors who provide active learning experiences and achievement objectives. Work is performed outside of classroom schedules unless the internship has been approved to occur during school hours.
Intern Contributions and Key Responsibilities
Objective 1: Coordinate DU tests for Wholly Owned Ranches:
- Notify stakeholders - Irrigation lead, Ranch Manager, Agronomy Manager
- Labor Planning - Request support as needed
- Materials and equipment setup - request and organize ahead of time (flow meter, pressure gauges, catch cans, etc.)
Objective 2: Lead in - field DU tests:
- Field Selection - choose a representative block while avoiding abnormal zones unless identifying a problem
- Irrigation system review - Confirm system type such as drip, single double line, emitter spacing, flow rate, etc.) and gather system specs (filters, pump capacity, pressure regulators, etc.)
- Field Layout & sampling design - ensure proper placement to conduct a valid DU
- Scheduling time - Run the test under normal operating conditions
Objective 3: Create ranch-level DU reports and deliver results with mentor support:
- Data collection and calculations - record, calculate and interpret
- Diagnose issues - if DU is low, identify causes (pressure variation, plugging, design, etc.)
- Reporting - summarize in a report, DU value, pressure profile, diagnosis observations
- Recommended actions - with support of mentor(s), report DU actionable improvements to production as needed (flush lines, acid injections, adjust pressures, etc.)
- Follow-up - re-test after corrective actions and track DU over time (seasonally)
KNOWLEDGE, SKILLS AND ABILITIES:
- Willingness to learn and apply classroom knowledge in a real-time environment
- Bilingual - English and Spanish preferred
- Strong communication
- Problem Solver
- Interpersonal skills
- Adaptability
- Strong data analysis
- Proficiency with Microsoft Office software
- Valid California Driver's License
EDUCATION AND EXPERIENCE:
- Currently enrolled in an accredited college/university, pursuing a Bachelor's or Master's
degree in Agronomy, Plant Science, Ag. Business, Agriculture Systems Management
No working experience required
Pay scale: $20-23.50
Reiter Affiliated Companies (RAC)
Reiter Affiliated Companies (RAC) is the largest fresh multi-berry producer in the world, growing Driscoll's proprietary varieties of strawberries, raspberries, blueberries, and blackberries year-round in the United States, Canada, Baja California, Central Mexico, Portugal, Morocco, Canada and Peru.
We are relentless in our pursuit to bring the highest quality berries that "delight" consumers around the world -from our farms to their families. This starts with our company values of Honesty, Fairness and Respect which not only line the corridors of every office, they are principles that are alive, guiding and leading our business decisions and strategic direction. We place the highest priority and focus on our people, developing their professional growth, and investing in the fulfillment of their personal career journey. These fundamentals have allowed us to achieve an industry leadership position, helping us to adopt health and wellness programs, open primary health clinics for our employees, and partner with local non-profit organizations to improve the quality of life for our farm working families. We hope to continue the Reiter Family legacy of farming through the pursuit of our mission and by living our values.
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Reiter Affiliated Companies, LLC
With a family legacy of farming, Reiter Affiliated Companies (RAC) is proud to be the largest fresh, multi-berry producer in the world and the leading supplier of fresh strawberries, raspberries, blueberries and blackberries in all of North America. The Reiter family began farming in the San Francisco Bay Peninsula and by the turn of the century had migrated south into Watsonville and the Santa Clara Valley where Joseph “Ed” Reiter and R.O “Dick” Driscoll began growing their own Sweetbriar strawberries variety. After World War II, they farmed under their respective companies of Reiter and Driscoll’s and began marketing strawberries under the Driscoll Strawberry Associates label with other family and associated suppliers.
Throughout the early years, Ed’s son Joseph chartered new agricultural territories up until the late 1970’s when Garland and Miles Reiter, grandsons of Ed Reiter, began working in the family business, developing operations and planting new varieties in California. The brother’s continued to not only preserve their family legacy of farming but grew the company to be one of the nation’s leaders in the agricultural industry. Since that time, the brothers have dramatically increased the Reiter Affiliated Companies (RAC) investment, farming and pioneering new plant varieties, developing new geographies and offering new commodities to consumers. With this innovative approach to farming and agriculture, RAC’s business has doubled every five years over the past twenty five, supported by a strategy of sustained growth. Newly formed partnerships and unique grower empowered revenue share programs drove business development geographically in the early 1990’s to RAC’s broad footprint of today.
At the heart of the success of this multi-generational farming company, has been the ownership’s fervent belief in their fundamental values and guiding principles. Honesty, Fairness and Respect are framed along the corridors of every RAC office, from the smallest ranch operation in remote locations to their corporate offices in Oxnard. These values have been integrated into every aspect of the company, defining a clear path for integrity to flow throughout the organization. From the humble fields by which their family legacy was born, to the people that represent the Reiter Affiliated Companies today, the successful partnership of two cousins led to a family legacy of farming spanning more than a century long, with geographies that exist today throughout the United States, Mexico, Europe and Northern Africa.
10,000 employees or more
Agriculture/Forestry/Fishing