Northwestern Student Gains Exposure, Education Through Seaboard Foods Annual Winternship

February 22, 2022

Northwestern Oklahoma State University freshman agriculture business major Reese Grigsby of Ashland, Kansas, recently completed an internship with Seaboard Foods in Guymon.

Twenty-two students from 16 different universities explored Seaboard Foods’ integrated business to learn about careers in agriculture during the annual Winternship. The Winternship provides an opportunity for students to explore the inner workings of a connected pork production company, network with subject matter experts, better define career paths and gain exposure and education about how pork is produced.

This opportunity was not one that Grigsby originally planned to apply for explaining that she had never known anything but the beef industry growing up on a ranch that is a cow/calf and stocker operation.

“I had never been around pigs,” Grigsby said. “I attended the career and internship fair in the fall and stopped to talk with their (Seaboard Foods) recruiters. I was so interested in the opportunity after just a brief conversation that I set up an interview later that day.” 

Candidates are specially selected based on goals, academic achievements, interests and their presence and influence. Seaboard Foods said every person they talk to at a career fair during college recruiting is a potential Wintern. The pool is more than 200 students from many different colleges across the country. The Winternship is extremely popular and receiving a placement is an honor.

Alaina Sill, recruiting and talent acquisition manager at Seaboard Foods, said Grigsby was a wonderful addition to their Winternship this year.

“She was eager to learn and was very engaged all week,” Sill said. “As the first student from Northwestern Oklahoma State University to join our Winternship, she represented her school very well and enhanced our overall program with her presence.” 

Seaboard Foods’ Winternship started in 2010, and since its beginnings, 235 students have experienced this unique educational opportunity. Students complement their formal education with a real-life look at the pork industry through tours and presentations, connect with professionals and subject matter experts, and better define their career goals through a real-life look at career paths.

“This was a great opportunity and experience,” Grigsby said. “I was very thankful to attend the winternship for Seaboard Foods this year. It was a packed week getting to see all the aspects of a pork company from touring the farms and feed mills to witnessing firsthand how pork is processed. It was a great way to network and make connections in the industry.”

With future generations having less exposure to agriculture, farming, and rural life than those before them, experiential opportunities like the Seaboard Foods’ Winternship are more important than ever before.

“If I could give any advice to other Northwestern students interested in agriculture, it would be to experience different parts of the industry,” Grigsby said. “Even if you do not plan to go into that specific part, experiencing as much as possible is only going to make you that much more knowledgeable about the agriculture industry as a whole.” 

Due to Seaboard Foods’ unique integrated business, the Winternship can highlight many different sectors, all at one company. Students learn about all of the company’s departments that help produce high-quality pork, from operations of farms, feed mills, and a pork processing plant, to transportation, environmental resource management, food safety, supply chain, finance, human resources, marketing, sales, and more.

“We started the Winternship to provide a very transparent look at how pork is produced and the many opportunities our sector of agriculture has to offer,” says Craig Maloney, senior director of operational support at Seaboard Foods. “As an industry, we have a responsibility to expose young people to what we do, getting them excited about how the pork they eat is produced and showing them that we are innovative, business savvy, and have many great opportunities for fulfilling careers.”

For more information about Seaboard Foods, visit https://www.seaboardfoods.com/.

For more information about Northwestern’s agriculture department, contact Dr. Dean Scarbrough, agriculture department chair and professor of agriculture, at dascarbrough@nwosu.edu or call (580) 327-8487. Additional information about Northwestern’s agriculture department may be found at https://www.nwosu.edu/school-of-professional-studies/agriculture.

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CONTACT FOR RELEASE
Erin Davis, University Relations Specialist
eedavis@nwosu.edu 580-327-8480