Working to help educate FVTC students about ag careers

New London - CHS Larsen Cooperative is proud to support Fox Valley Technical College (FVTC) as they work together to help educate the next generation in ag. For over 20 years they have had a strong working relationship with the tech school’s Ag department. This week CHS employees helped give hands on experiences to students that are interested in going into the Ag industry.

On Wednesday, March 15,41 students from the Appleton campus came out to the Readfield grain location to tour the facility and learn how the cooperative works to help farmers market their grain.

Nick Schneider, instructor at FVTC, Cash Crop Management and Agricultural Marketing, said students were eager to see firsthand the way grain moves through the elevator. These students learned more about the co-op’s marketing tools, the pathway of grain at the elevator, how to determine basis, and common destinations of where grain is shipped to, from their terminal.

“It is nice to have CHS Larsen Cooperative as one of our ongoing partners,” said Randy Tenpas, FVTC Agricultural Department Chair. “I have been working with Steve LaChey, CHS Larsen Co-op Grain Manager, for over 20 years and truly appreciate his tours, as well as the other learning opportunities provided by the co-op.”

Tenpas, has been bringing students to Readfield for many years and believes that having experts in the field on hand can help reinforce the value of grain merchandising and commodity marketing.

"Most of these students will go into agribusiness whether it be on the product, supply, services, or the commodity merchandising; so, these tours show students what opportunities may be available to them after graduation," Tenpas said.

Also this week, the FVTC Clintonville Regional Center helped organize a day for 84 8th grade students and five teachers from Clintonville Middle school to visit several area businesses and to learn about different career opportunities.

The Douglas Behnke Farm hosted one of these tours and invited the CHS Larsen Co-op agronomy department to participate in one of the career stations. Alex Yost, Seth Warner and Anne Moore, CHS employees, all shared with these students what they do for the co-op.

CHS Larsen Cooperative is a proud advocate of the agricultural industry and is happy to promote careers and opportunities at the co-op.

"These tour opportunities came at a perfect time to help celebrate National Ag Day on March 21, 2017," company officials said.

CHS Larsen Cooperative, a full-service ag retailer, is part of CHS Inc., a leading energy, grains and foods global agribusiness owned by farmers, ranchers and cooperatives across the United States. Diversified in energy, grains and foods, CHS is committed to helping its customers, farmer-owners and other stakeholders grow their businesses through its domestic and global operations.