Linnea Stephens
junior
agricultural communication

Hello! My name is Linnea Stephens, and I am a current third year student at The Ohio State University majoring in Agricultural Communication with a minor in International Economic Development. This past summer of 2018 I worked with Beck’s Hybrids as the Ohio Sales Intern. The territory that I worked within was Northern, Ohio and some parts of Lower, Michigan.

Stephens at Beck’s Hybrids Headquarters located in Atlanta, Indiana

Prior to this summer internship with Beck’s Hybrids, my only experience within the seed industry was with my internship with Nutrien Ag as their undergraduate research intern the summer before. After talking to one of the District Sales Manager I was assigned to work with this summer, we decided the sooner I could start my internship the better it would be for the sales team in Ohio. Therefore, I traveled to Atlanta, Indiana for early safety training and onboarding, and started two weeks early as an intern.

Tasks and projects that I completed this summer ranged daily. From planting field plots, scouting, cold calling on potential customers, maintaining expense reports, transferring seed, and leading customers in private Practical Farm Research Tours, it made my summer go extremely fast. Every day I woke up not knowing exactly what I would be doing each day, and that is what I loved that about my internship this summer with Beck’s.

Traveling to Beck’s Hybrids headquarters in Atlanta, Indiana for formal training allowed me to meet college students across the Mid-West. Representing The Ohio State University among other college students gave me a opportunity to share how classes here on campus have prepared me to become a young professional in the Ag based industry.

Leading and organizing private Practical Farm Research tours this summer at the London, Ohio location was one of most rewarding experiences I had this summer. With a total of 3 tours, 54 attendees, and over 27,000 acres accounted for the tours were deemed a success by the Ohio sales team.

Being chosen as one of 23 interns this summer for a seed company is truly a humbling experience.  Therefore, this summer I was not only a representative of Beck’s Hybrids, but a Buckeye as well. Many individuals think that sales internships are only about how much you can sell within a three-month period, and I can now say that sigma is not true.

Traveling the state of Ohio and connecting to farmers via cold calls and sales events is the most best professional growth experiences I have ever had, and you cannot put a price tag on that.

One of the three PFR tours Stephens organized and led in to London, Ohio

PFR tour conducted by Stephens