Intern Spotlight - Maddie Sonnenfeld

Jul 07, 2024


Get to know Maddie Sonnenfeld! She’s from Axtell, NE, and is this summer’s feed sales intern out of Beatrice, NE.

Maddie is a senior at the University of Nebraska - Lincoln, majoring in Animal Science.

Why did you choose to intern with Farmers Cooperative and why did you choose feed sales?
I grew in agriculture; my family has a cow-calf herd and a row crop operation. I work in Ruminant Nutrition at UNL, so this feed sales internship allows me to apply what I’ve been learning in a real-life setting. Because Farmers Cooperative partners with Purina, and we feed Purina products at home, it made sense to work with the company.

What has been the best part of your internship so far?
I’ve really enjoyed visiting with producers and learning about their operations.

Day-to-day activities in your role:
As part of my market analysis project, I’ve been driving around to producers to see what their operation is like and what they feed to their livestock. I am also working on a trial with Purina that involves feeding different minerals to four pastures of cattle and tracking flies to see what minerals reduce flies. I also have 14 pastures that I grass sample monthly to see what the Total Digestible Nutrients are in each sample.

Post-graduation Plans:
I’ll graduate in May of 2025, and would like to go on to get my Master’s and PhD to become a nutritionist. If I decide not to, I’d like to continue in sales.

Fun Fact:
My favorite snack is pickles.

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