Kelly Bliss grew up on her family’s farm in Huntingdon County, PA where they raise Jersey cattle, Angus cattle, and some breeding sheep. The 4-H and FFA programs she participated in allowed Kelly to become further involved in the dairy industry through showing which led to her joining the Huntingdon County Dairy Promotion team. Her roots on the farm developed her love for agriculture. “I’m grateful for that,” Kelly shared.
With a love for problem-solving, conservation and sustainable agriculture, Kelly Bliss is in her sophomore year at Cornell University studying biological engineering. Her desire to gain farm-level experience that was different than her home farm led her to an on-farm internship with Wellwyn Farm and God’s Country Creamery in Ulysses, PA for the summer.
“I wanted a farm experience that was different from my home farm,” said Kelly. “I wanted to see what else was out there since I’m hoping to stay connected to agriculture and the [dairy] industry in my career.”
Throughout the summer, Kelly gained different perspectives and new experiences through her internship on a farm that operates with rotational grazing. God’s Country Creamery milks about 20 head of cows with 45 youngstock. They farm or graze approximately 600 acres.
Kelly’s main responsibilities over the summer were to help with chores by bringing in cows and feeding the youngstock. She had to make sure the heifers got fed in the correct pens and the calves were given their milk properly. During the on-farm internship, students are also encouraged to complete a research project that benefits the operation. Kelly spent her spare time creating a data sheet on Excel for the operation to use for more permanent reproduction record tracking.
The highlight of Kelly’s internship was running a delivery route for the creamery every Wednesday – an experience that took all day as she traveled many miles across the county and built connections with customers in the community.
“I love the customer relations and seeing the full-circle experience,” she added. “I helped out with the cows but then got to see the product get to a customer.
If she could say anything to someone debating whether to do this internship, it would be the following lesson:
“Make sure you are willing to learn about a new operation but also willing to learn about yourself,” she shared. “[This internship] gave me more motivation to be an ag engineer. It has motivated me to stay in agriculture and pursue my career for sure.”
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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.