As long as he can remember, Calvin Dechow has been around cows. A rising junior at Penn State University where he studies animal science, Calvin spends a lot of his time on his grandfather’s dairy farm in Western New York. He spends most of his summers working there and showing animals. After talking to dairy industry professionals who encouraged him to broaden his skillset and gain hands-on experience on a progressive dairy farm, Calvin decided to complete an on-farm internship at Furnace Hill Holsteins in Lebanon, Pennsylvania this summer.
“I wanted to get more experience and a different idea of what a functional day [looks like] on a dairy farm. My grandfather doesn’t milk anymore, so I wanted to be on a farm that does milk, get experience breeding, and see the management side of dairy farming,” Calvin said. “I also talked to other people about finding jobs in the dairy industry. One of the biggest things they said was to get more on-farm experience.”
Calvin has a strong interest in genetics and breeding and completed the Artificial Insemination (AI) School through Premier Select Sires during his college career. With a herd size of about 220 cows, he was paired with Furnace Hill Holsteins because of their focus on breeding and genetics. Throughout the internship, Calvin has gained direct skills and firsthand experience applying some of the processes he learned in AI School. He has also developed soft skills such as confidence and independence by being trusted to get the job done.
“They do a lot of genetic work and embryo transfers at this farm. Joel, my host farmer, lets me breed and everything. He puts a lot of trust in me to do that which I’m appreciative of. This internship has been extremely valuable,” he shared.
In addition to breeding and genetic work, Calvin’s day-to-day responsibilities include managing two milking shifts in the morning and afternoon and feeding cows and calves. Learning how to balance his responsibilities, while taking initiative and making decisions, was a challenging yet rewarding part of his summer.
“There’s a lot to do every day. One week it was just me here when my host farm was at the National Holstein Convention. It took a lot of time and was a little stressful trying to manage everything by myself, but I got it done and did a good job. So I’m pretty happy about that,” Calvin added.
During the on-farm internship, students are encouraged to complete a research project that benefits the dairy operation. Calvin is focusing his research on developing a spreadsheet that calculates conception rate to expand on some of the skills he has grown in the breeding and genetics area. He also wants to outline standard operating procedures for semen handling that employees could reference when breeding cows.
While Calvin is unsure about which part of the industry he wants to work in, the on-farm internship has helped him determine that dairy and agriculture will definitely be part of his future.
“I’m going to see where this internship takes me. I’m enjoying the work, so maybe in the future I’ll go back to the family farm or I’ll go into the industry side,” he said. “I still really enjoy breeding and genetics, too. This experience has shown me a lot of things that I enjoy doing.”
The Dairy Excellence Foundation, the Professional Dairy Managers of Pennsylvania, and the Pennsylvania Dairymen’s Association provide $3,000 grants to support the on-farm internship program each summer. Learn more.