Over the years, U of A professor Dr. Frank Robinson witnessed students coming to the end of his animal science courses with success, enthusiasm, and good marks. Nonetheless, he repeatedly heard them express that they couldn’t see a way to go forward with their new knowledge and skills.
“My students said, this is all great, but I’ll never get a job because I have no experience,” he said. “With no experience, they felt they were not as employable and they lacked the confidence to apply for jobs.”
Robinson pondered the problem. He had to find a way to partner these inexperienced students with farmers in a way to benefit both parties and allow the students to obtain that elusive hands-on experience that is so critical for employment. He imagined a program where students were paired with agriculture professionals who would take them under their wing for three days.
“I tell students, this is not agri-tourism,” said Robinson. “This is a work-integrated learning project. You are going to get your hands and feet dirty on the internship.”
In the fall of 2016, the Agriculture, Life, Environmental Science (ALES) Mini-Internship Program (AMIP) was launched, starting with 16 participants in a small pilot program.
“Since then, it has taken off,” said Robinson. “We had 106 students placed this past November. Overall, 584 internships have taken place.”
Twice a year during the university fall and winter term reading weeks, the program matches students with an industry specific organization or farm for a visit and volunteer work. AMIP expanded from Animal Science to Food Science, Environmental Science and Crop Science in 2019, with 28 students participating in Food Science this year.
Food science hosts included breweries, meal prep companies, meat processing, ethnic food processing and Lilydale. There were less poultry farms involved this fall due to the Avian Influenza outbreak, but typically, they make up a large number of hosts for the students. Maple Leaf Foods took students this term as well as the veterinary clinics of Dr. Teryn Girard (Prairie Livestock Veterinarians) and Dr. Tom Inglis (Poultry Health Services) and the U of A Poultry Unit.
Success Stories from this term
There were five farms where the students lived with the hosts for the duration of the program. Homestay host reports were very positive, commenting on how rewarding it is to see confidence grow as students experience the working life of a farmer from sunrise to sunset. Hosts often go above and beyond, from feeding and housing the students to giving them critically valuable advice for future employment opportunities.
“One food company asked the students to bring in their resumes and then they sat down in a mock interview with each student and gave them tips on how to fix up their resume for future jobs,” said Frank. “That’s a really value-added internship when that happens.”
Students will often come back and ask to have a similar placement and, although the objective of the program is not to create jobs, some students are offered summer jobs after their mini-internship experience.
Annalise Steadman is a first year U of A student working towards a bachelor’s degree in Agriculture Business Management and the Certificate of Sustainability. She grew up in Metchosin, BC and joined 4H at age 8, learning about various poultry projects and show poultry.
“I was stoked when I heard about the mini-internship program,” she said. “The placement exceeded my expectations and I’m very, very happy I did it!”
Annalise was paired up by Robinson with host Rachelle Davidson, Technical Services Lead with Maple Leaf Foods. Maple Leaf has hosted two in-person mini-internships as well as one virtual presentation during Covid-19. (Robinson pivoted to online programming in 2021 and the fall term of 2022 with 32 different guests, culminating in a total of 96 different speakers for the three reading weeks.)
“We have structured our mini-internship the same way each time, because the very first time we had an internship with the students, it was a resounding success,” said Rachelle. “Maple Leaf has the ability to provide an entire supply chain experience.”
The internship was structured over three days and included components of the breeder operations, a hatchery, broiler farm and processing.
The breeder operations included activities such as egg picking, weighing birds, grading breeders, and interacting with the farmers themselves, allowing students to ask questions and walk through the farm layouts.
“We were weighing the birds, all different ages from four weeks old to pullets and cockerels,” said Steadman. “We were also able to do an autopsy, learning how to look for coccidiosis and, for example, understand why a particular bird died of a heart attack. Learning about that was very cool, I had never had that opportunity before.”
“It was also really neat to see how Maple Leaf staff were connecting to producers, chatting, asking what’s happening and how they can help. I really enjoyed seeing that teamwork and cooperation.”
Next, students got to spend the day at the Maple Leaf hatchery.
“We met one of the veterinarians and she gave us a tour of the hatchery – where the eggs came in, the incubators, the production line, biosecurity measures, how they do the vaccinations and how the chicks are shipped at the end,” said Steadman. “That day was super cool. We learned how they ensure that the chicks aren’t too warm or too cold when they are shipped out, the euthanizing procedure and what Maple Leaf does as a company to ensure proper animal welfare.”
Day three was a visit to the broiler farm. Students could compare the broiler farm directly to the breeder farm that they had visited previously.
“They were also exposed to catching and loading, which is a very niche part of our business,” said Rachelle. “It’s something that not a lot of people have had exposure to, so we made it a priority for the students.”
“This was actually my first time in a full-grown broiler facility,” recalled Steadman. “I had raised broilers in the past for my 4H projects but never to the scale of the thousands of birds in these houses. It was very cool to see that process from start to finish and all the things that go into it.”
Normally the students would then follow the trucks to the processing plant and watch the birds be processed from arrival until the product comes out with a tray pack at the end. Unfortunately, the students could not enter the processing plant this fall, due to a security breach. (Maple Leaf has promised them a full tour in the new year). Instead, Davidson showed them around the Maple Leaf offices and talked about procurement, the data and reporting that happens daily, and how things work on that side of the industry.
Annalise was extremely enthusiastic about her mini-internship experience and the sentiment was shared by Rachelle as well.
“I really love working with students. It’s always been something that I’ve held near and dear to my heart,” said Rachelle. “I think it’s so important for us to be harnessing the professionals of tomorrow, and one of the things this program brings is actual exposure to the wide array of jobs that exist in agriculture.”
“Providing the experience of the whole supply chain shows the integration of what our industry really is, and not just with us, but what it’s like in all of the different commodities,” she continued. “There’s nothing more that I want to do than sit down with students and talk the real talk.”
Annalise now sees a clear career path in which she can combine her business interests and love of poultry.
“Seeing a career path where I would be able to interact with farmers individually, as well as work on the technical and analytical side, providing solutions, is a real possibility,” she mused. “Being able to talk to Rachelle about her job and ask, how does one acquire a position like this, was amazing,” she continued. “She taught me some really valuable lessons.”
“What stood out to me is now knowing there is a job like that out there where you can have the best of both worlds.”
Maple Leaf typically offers two full time summer student positions in their hatchery. They also offer a summer internship where the successful candidate can get experience across hatchery field services, and project work. The jobs are posted in the careers section on the Maple Leaf website, with postings beginning in late January.
If anyone is interested in hosting students for the February or November 2023 ALES Mini Internship Program, please contact Dr. Frank Robinson at frank.robinson@ualberta.ca. He is currently looking for placements and would love to hear from any interested parties. Please see the accompanying article for more details and learn how the program benefits both interns and hosts in a deeply meaningful and potentially life-changing way. In addition, if you cannot host, but would like to financially sponsor or volunteer your time to support the AMIP, please don’t hesitate to contact Dr. Robinson. All hands are needed and appreciated!
One Response
Again a great idea from a great instructor, Frank. An idea to be followed by our Animal Sciences program in Wageningen, where we observe similar “lacking professional experience” issues among students. We are currently working on it and this is an extra stimulus. Great !