This fall I had the opportunity to
work for Topflight Grain Coop as an operations intern during harvest season.
Topflight has nineteen different grain elevator sites across Central Illinois
and I primarily worked at their location in Cisco, Illinois. During my time
there, I was able to learn a great deal of information about grain elevators
and the agriculture industry, in general.
On a daily basis, I could be found
on-site at Cisco or at any of the neighboring coop sites. In Cisco, my main
responsibilities were to unload grain trucks for grain storage and assist in
the process of loading grain for shipment. I was also responsible for various
housekeeping tasks and measuring the storage depth of our grain bins. At our
neighboring coop sites, I generally helped out with various grain storage
tasks, such as pulling tarps over grain stored in unconstrained piles on the
ground. Our two methods for grain shipment were trains and semi-trailer trucks.
At the beginning of my internship, the traffic passing through our scale house
was rather slow, but in just a few short weeks, harvest really kicked off. At
the peak, we were unloading grain trucks non-stop from 7 in the morning until 7
at night. We were very busy!
My internship with the Topflight
Grain Cooperative provided me a wealth of knowledge about the agriculture
industry and it was an experience I will never forget. Coming into the
position, I had never truly worked in the ag industry, so I brought limited
knowledge with me on day one. In just a week’s time, I was able to learn all
about grain, grain storage & shipment, grain elevators, and the many
different components of an ag cooperative. In the weeks following, I was
fortunate to interact with a variety of the areas I had been trained on, such
as grain shipment and storage. Throughout my internship, I helped load several trains
and I helped to load and unload hundreds of different grain trucks. Along the
way, I was fortunate to meet a handful of farmers and grain truck drivers,
which showed me just how friendly and laid back the ag industry can be.
The internship experience I had with
Topflight Grain Cooperative prepared me for a career in the ag industry and it
is something I will never forget. From the long hours to the numerous
relationships I built, I developed a better understanding of just
how much hard work goes into farming and I am very grateful for the experience.
