What an Intern Can Learn

From cattle to compost, with cross-country farm visits along the way, the Kerr Center’s 2013 student interns did a little bit of everything.

Kate Atchley, Erin Jenkins, and Jonathan Pollnow filled the intern roster for the summer.  All three are plant and soil science majors – Atchley as a transfer from Eastern Oklahoma State College to Tarleton State in Texas, and Jenkins and Pollnow at OSU.

In addition to helping with daily chores and ongoing projects, each intern undertook an individual project during the summer.  Pollnow and Atchley, in the horticulture program, worked on biochar and composting, respectively.  Jenkins delved into the costs associated with baling hay on the farm versus buying it in.  Findings from these projects are summarized below, and detailed in reports available free online.

The horticulture interns also hit the road to visit other operations, getting a feel for a wider range of production and marketing practices.  On a single day in June, the interns visited both Greenleaf Nursery in Tahlequah (the nation’s 3rd largest nursery, with over 600 acres and hundreds of employees), and Three Springs Farm, a 20-acre certified organic market farm run solely by its two owners.

Another June trip took the interns to Custar Farms in Okemah – another small produce farm, but with conventional rather than organic management, and marketing through an on-farm store rather than at a farmers’ market.

The last trip of the interns’ summer agricultural odyssey took them to Baker Creek Heirloom Seed Company in Mansfield, Missouri.  The overnight visit fell during one of the company’s monthly Heritage Day Festivals, and included a visit and tour of the grounds by founder/owner Jere Gettle.

Kate Atchley

“There was not a day I didn’t work hard growing up,” says Kate Atchley.  That work ethic, instilled on her family’s dairy farm in Blanket, Texas, as well as in FFA projects, prepared her well for the schedule of a Kerr Center intern.

“At the Kerr Center, I thought there was a lot to learn,” she says, “and my professors at Eastern explained to me that it is a very good opportunity. ”

Her experience lived up to those expectations.  “I learned so much more than I expected; every day was a new experience.”

“George Kuepper has taught so many things on organic gardening,” she says. “I am so grateful to have worked as an intern under him.”

Switching gears from her livestock-oriented upbringing, Atchley spent her summer on the Cannon Horticulture Project.  In addition to pitching in with the daily chores there, she developed her own project, working out recipes for quick-turnaround or “hot” compost using materials available on the Kerr ranch.

In the composting study, Atchley says, “I have found unique ways to put everyday farm wastes to use.“

“I believe there should never be a waste of natural resources.”

Erin Jenkins

Like Atchley, Erin Jenkins had plenty of farm experience growing up – tending the stock on her family’s hog farm near Henryetta, participating in all manner of FFA events, and working as an assistant at her father’s veterinary hospital.

Unlike Atchley, Jenkins stuck with what she knew for her internship, working in the Kerr Center’s livestock program.  But it turned out that there was much more to what she knew than she thought.

“I think my favorite skill I’ve learned as an intern would have been learning how to drive the tractor,” she says.  “I’ve lived on a farm my whole life, yet I had never driven a tractor. Now I love it!”

Other lessons were more fundamental.

“My father usually bales his own hay bales for his cattle. That’s how I thought it was always done,” Jenkins says.  “When Will Lathrop told me that his goal is to go the entire year without having to use hay bales, I thought that was crazy.”

“But after doing a study of the true cost of hay and practicing grazing management, I now understand his point,” she continues. “There’s much more to the cost of hay besides the equipment and labor. What I’ve learned this summer is that it’s cheaper to buy bales of hay than it is to harvest them.”

Jenkins wrote a report, available free on the Kerr Center website, comparing the costs and returns of haying and grazing.

“Now that I’ve learned more about the soil we walk on, I’ve become more cautious about how we treat it,” she says.

Jonathan Pollnow

Jon Pollnow came into the internship program from an environmental science/natural resources background, with agricultural experience limited to employment in a wheat breeding program and some gardening.

Of his five-month exposure to market-scale organic farming in the Kerr Center’s horticulture program, he relates, “I learned a lot of practical skills that couldn’t really be taught in the classroom.”

“The experience has definitely sharpened skills I took from the classroom, while giving me new tools and new ways to think about things,” Pollnow says.  “Cover crop management, composting, vermiculture, enhanced scientific experimental and statistical skills, are just some of the skills I picked up.”

“I suspected, but did not anticipate, how much thought and homework is involved with running a successful farm, organically or not. You have to study your crops from seedling to maturity, and get to know how different things like water flow, solar radiance, and even wind activity work on a field.”

“You have to be flexible, and you have to have the willingness to learn and consider alternatives.”

Pollnow was drawn to the internship by the Kerr Center’s work with biochar and composting.

“Sustainability to me means taking advantage of all the resources available, including things hitherto considered waste material,” he says.  “Composting and biochar are avenues that can make these waste materials more useful. ”

Pollnow carried out a trial making biochar from eight different feedstocks obtained from the Kerr Ranch, measuring how much each improved the organic matter content of the same sandy soil mix.  Results of the biochar feedstock trial are available in a free report from the Kerr Center website.

“Making and researching biochar, working with it extensively, was fascinating to me. It is my philosopher’s stone.  To me it isn’t some ancient technique, but cutting edge nanotechnology with huge potential for Oklahoma.”

“I became interested in sustainable ag because agriculture provides a possible sink for all sorts of inputs derived from waste materials. I am also interested in the efficient use of natural resources such as land, water and inputs – so I am interested in sustainable agriculture because it seeks to stem or limit soil erosion and use fertilizer wisely.”

“These issues directly affect a farmer’s pocketbook, but they also affect the rest of us in terms of water pollution, water depletion, and the cost of food.”

A Growth Experience

“The Kerr Center is a family, and for three months I became a part of it,” says Kate Atchley. “The people employed here are very welcoming and have made everything to easy to adapt to.”

“Before this summer, I had no idea what I wanted to do with the rest of my life,” says Erin Jenkins. “I have an interest in plants, soil, and the environment, and a degree in animal science. However, I had no clue what I could do with them. Today, I still am a little lost, but I have a better idea what I want to do; preserving our land, educating others on better land managements, and building sustainable agriculture.”

“The internship at the Kerr Center has been fascinating and every day has been worth it,” says Jon Pollnow.  “I have met a lot of amazing people through this unique organization.”

“The Kerr Center and its activities provide a great chance for people to network and share ideas and build their communities. Also, they get to take back the things they learn and teach their friends and neighbors. Who knows, someone might take away from what they learn here and pretty soon it has revolutionized how things are done over a whole region.”

The Kerr Center internship can be such a positive experience that students return for a second exposure.  At least that’s the case for Katie Kilpatrick, who pulled her first stint in summer 2012, and is currently back on the ranch for a fall hitch.

Applications for 2014 internships are being accepted through the fall.  For details, visit http://kerrcenter.com/stewardship/interns.html.