It Is Not Goodbye-It's I'll See Ya Soon

My last day of working at the Meade County Extension office was on August 2^nd but it has taken me about a week to figure out how I want to summarize this amazing experience that I was able to be a part of. First off I want to cap off my last two weeks of the job which consisted of our county fair and our farm field day. The last two weeks by far went by the fastest but I learned some valuable lessons during both of them.

During fair I was responsible for checking in exhibits and getting in contact with a judge for the forage and crop show. Not only did I work with this part of the exhibit I also acted as a judge for the 4-H horticulture and arts and crafts entries. Throughout the week I assisted with the livestock shows and helped out whenever it was needed. It was a great week to work with the community on a more personal level.  

On Thursday of fair we had our annual Farm Bureau Fair Breakfast which was the day the video that Aurora Laslie, the 4-H intern, and I made would be showcased. This video was about the impact and the importance that extension has in a county. The presentation of the video was great and it is actually a video that the extension office will continue to use for public relations and advertising.  Extension is an amazing resource in the community but some people are unsure of the services offered and this video did a great job of showcasing the different opportunities that extension truly provides a community with.

Below is a link to our video:

Meade County Extension

The last week of my internship was full of preparing for the farm field day which was held at a local farm. This included taking pictures, folding brochures, printing tickets, and contacting individuals for information.  Field day would also be the day that our soybean test plots would be showcased at one of the stops. In order to get ready for this I had to make sure that all information about the plots was correct including stand count, seed drop, and projected seed drop. Then I had to create signs to stick out in the field to display the information about each plot, 18 in total.

On Thursday, the day before the field day we went out to the farm and set up tables for lunch, hung banners, signs, and drove the antique tractor drivers through the course so they knew which paths to take the wagons on.  I learned that preparation is key and that having all bases covered is vital when planning a day like this.

We also weighed three different round bales of hay. We did this to show the differences in the way hay looks and weighs. Our drive home point is that an animal will not care how much hay costs or weighs, but a person buying the product should be aware of what they are getting for the money they are paying. With the weight of the hay, I was the only one who knew the actual weights because it was a guessing game for the farmers.  Whoever guessed the closest to the actual weight would receive a prize.

Friday, the day of field day and my last day as an intern, was super busy but it was a great day. We had over 130 people there to learn new techniques about agriculture. We had six different stations that the tractors drove to, these included the quality of hay, bull selection, the soybean stand plots, two stops about conservation, and the last one was on fungicide use in corn. There were four specialists from the University of Kentucky that came down and helped present the information to the farmers. During the field day I was responsible for keeping the drivers on course and on time. I had a blast interacting with all kinds of different farmers, industry individuals, and even those who were not farmers but just wanted to learn. I also helped with the booth where the individuals who came to field day could guess the weight of the hay. I believe this was a good learning experience for everyone because no one was within fifty pounds of the actual weight.

                                              
                                        

This summer is one that I will never forget. I want to extend a huge thank you to Andy Mills, the ag and natural resource agent at Meade County, for teaching me so much this summer. Not only did I learn a lot from him he also taught me how to utilize resources that are made available to me. I also want to thank the individuals at the Meade County office. They truly made me feel like I was a part of the team and I cannot begin to thank them enough. Because of this experience I truly feel ready for the “real world” and I know that I will be successful because I have learned so much this summer. This internship has opened my eyes even more to the future job possibilities that are available. This truly was a summer that I will never forget.