Gavilon brings Iowa merchandising intern to Lind

Derek Brown is completing his time at Union Elevator in Lind on a summer internship program through Gavilon Grain, LLC. Gavilon took ownership of Union Elevator in 2011 and oversees all operations under the brand.

Brown is a senior at Iowa State University (ISU) and applied for a 10-week paid internship position through a college job fair. Brown was placed in Lind after being selected from a group of applicants. He arrived in Lind at the end of May and will return to Iowa in early August.

Brown has a semester to finish at ISU and upon graduation, aspires to continue a career with the Gavilon company and hopes to be considered for one of the hundreds of U.S. locations operated by Gavilon.

The environmental genetic makeup of the Lind area is only slightly different from his hometown of Mapleton, Iowa. Brown describes his home as a small farming community whose prime commodities are corn and beans, since the humidity is too high to grow grain. This experience is Brown’s first encounter with dryland wheat farming and he has the opportunity to learn about the different commodities that Union Elevator receives, stores and sells including wheat, corn and soybeans.

A major component of Brown’s internship is to learn about merchandising and the origin of grain.

“We follow the market and respond accordingly,” John Sperl, Lind general manager, said about Brown’s training. “Our focus is on buying and selling grain for the local grower.”

Brown says he enjoys learning the farming and business aspects of the industry and is anxious to learn about merchandising grain.

“I like merchandising because you get a chance to connect with the grower,” Brown said. “It’s our job to help the farmer sell at the best price.”

Under the internship program Brown’s daily routine consists of checking the grain market and posting the current prices in addition to responding to company emails and helping with daily tasks. Another aspect of the position is to test and control the moisture percentage of the grain brought to the elevator. For each truck load of grain brought to the elevator, a small sample is taken and examined for moisture and anything that could compromise the load of grain.

Gavilon has several internship programs available to third year college students with an interest in agriculture. Sperl says Brown is receiving a general overview of the merchandising position while in Lind. Other internship programs offered through the company include economic research, elevator manager, finance, human resources, information technology, terminal manager and operations.

Union Elevator received a second intern, Ian Wyfels, last week to participate in a four-week operations internship. Sperl said over the next several weeks Wyfels will be learning to run an elevator and will spend his time traveling from each of the 12 Union Elevator locations.

Gavilon’s structured internship programs provide agricultural students with unique on-the-job training. After completing one of the 10-week internships a student can expect to leave with the knowledge and skills necessary to succeed in the commodity management industry.

For more information on Gavilon Grain’s internship programs visit the website http://www.gavilon.com/careers/internship-program.