My Genex Employee Training Experience

My name is Callie Griffin and I am the Beef Research Support intern working under Sarah Thorson, the Beef Education Manager, this summer.  Growing up on a cow/ calf operation in Eastern Montana, I acquired a tremendous amount of interest and passion for the beef industry and agriculture.  I am majoring in Animal Science at Montana State University and hope that this internship will help guide me toward the career path that is right for me.  This summer, I am going to be working with progeny test herds to help gather information.  I am also going to be taking pictures and doing some linear scoring on beef bulls. 

I recently got the opportunity to go to Wisconsin for two weeks to attend the employee training session.  I met so many unique individuals and had an amazing time.  It was refreshing to see so many people my age with that much drive and interest in agriculture.  My knowledge was tested and I got to answer a lot of questions that they had about the beef industry – hopefully I’ll get some of them out to Montana sometime! As I’m sure you already realized, my emphasis is on beef cattle!  I had never seen so many dairy cows in my life and no one believed me when I said that I had never set foot on a dairy.  Needless to say, I learned a lot during the first few days of the training class.  The advancements that have been made in dairy genetics are to be admired.  I can’t help but look forward to the advancements that will be made in my lifetime within the dairy and beef industries. 

I enjoyed the diversity the training course had to offer.  The other trainees and I learned about everything from marketing and the goal of the company to synchronization protocols.  I feel that I left Shawano with a better overall understanding of everything Genex has to offer.  I also enjoyed the A.I. training.  My classmates had a pretty good time teasing me about my height – the stool and I became pretty close over those few days!  I guess I never realized how big some of those dairy cows are!  It was great to see everyone get so much more comfortable with their technique each day. 

I feel so fortunate to have been able to meet so many terrific people and learn so much about Genex and CRI.  I am excited to see where all of my classmates are in 10 years and will always remember my experience in Shawano.  Being back in Montana, I hope that I will be able to use some of the knowledge I gained at the training to become a successful intern!

 

The 2013 May/June Genex Cooperative, Inc. Basic Training Class

 

 

 

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Author Callie Griffin is our Beef Research Support intern this summer. She will be beginning her junior year at Montana State University in the fall and expects to graduate in the spring of 2015 with a degree in Animal Science and minor in Agricultural Business. She grew up on a ranch in Eastern Montana where her family raises Simmental/ Angus cattle and grows alfalfa and corn.