Intern Spotlight - Lacey Schmidt
Jun 30, 2024
Get to know Lacey Schmidt! She’s from Deshler, NE, and is this summer’s grain origination & operations intern out of Plymouth, NE.
Lacey will be attending West Texas A&M studying Agribusiness with a focus on Grain Merchandising and Origination.
Why did you choose to intern with Farmers Cooperative and why did you choose grain origination & operations?
I chose Farmers Cooperative to get a different cooperative perspective and see how cooperatives operate on the eastern side of Nebraska. I chose grain because grain is so diverse in what you can do with it. On the operations side, it’s also really cool to see how the elevator works.
What has been the best part of your internship so far?
I love going around to different locations to see how each location works. Within the locations that Randy is in charge of, there are so many different varieties. So far, I have visited Jansen and Plymouth, which are both shuttle loaders, and Daykin and Reynolds, which have corn, beans, and wheat. I’m excited to get on top of a train car, as well as just getting out and talking to farmers about the markets.
Day-to-day activities in your role:
Trucks will line up in the mornings, the first thing I’ll do is weigh and probe trucks. Then, I’ll come in and talk to Randy about the markets for the day. After that, we visit locations and help out where need be. My project is learning about all the different contracts that Farmers Cooperative has to offer.
Post-graduation Plans:
I’ll graduate in May of 2026 and plan on getting my Series 3, which is a brokerage license that would allow me to trade on the Chicago Board of Trade.
Fun Fact:
I went to state for two years in track & field, running the 800m, 1600m, and 4x400.