We cannot believe there are only two more weeks of our 2022 All West Summer Internship! Learn more about our 2022 All West Summer Interns here and read on to learn what our interns, John Alamo and Billy Marchy, have experienced with the All West Family this month.

 2022 All West Summer Intern, John Alamo:

I can’t believe I only have two weeks left of this internship. This summer has been flying by! I want to start by saying thank you to everyone who I have rode along with and had the opportunity to learn from this summer. It’s been an absolute blast!

After my second week, I started my third week riding along with A.I. Technician Rudi Sevilla. I was able to learn different heat detection signs, as well as the optimal time to breed heifers with sexed and conventional semen. Billy and I then traveled to Petaluma to ride along with Sales Representative Carly Olufs. There, we had the opportunity to go to a dairy and learn how to do linear evaluations on cows to put them in the mating program. In addition, we were able to gain experience using the mating program and exporting the matings to Dairy Comp. Next, we were able to be Manager of Communications, Mackenzie Yerian, for a day, when we went to the Stanislaus County Fair to take photos during Dairy Showmanship.

We traveled to Washington for our fourth week of work. We started off the week at the Burlington office where we took an office tour and then headed to Sunnyside in Eastern Washington. The next day, I was able to ride along with Dairy Program Specialist Randy Van Wieringen. Randy and I went to a dairy where I learned how to direct mate cows at an exceptional dairy. The dairy we went to decided each cow’s voluntary wait period based on the cow’s body condition score, which I found very interesting. Then, I had the opportunity to ride along with Sales Representative Kit Watson. We went on a sales route stopping at multiple dairies to fill up their tanks and drop off semen. Along the way, we discussed different traits and indexes to look at that are more valuable than others and how it’s important to not select bulls based on one individual trait. For our last day in Washington, Billy and I spent the morning with Sales Representative Kelby Stadt. We went to a dairy that was one of the first dairies to install CowManager in the United States. It was really neat to see a dairy have success with using the program for so long. We had the chance to use the program in the afternoon to see how a normal cow’s graph looked compared to one that was in heat. 

Throughout the summer, Billy and I went to several dairies picking out Select Sires daughters to professionally picture. For our fifth week, we were able to see our work pay off, as Billy and I helped Select Sires Inc. prepare and professionally picture cows for marketing purposes.

I can’t believe this internship is almost over. I am very thankful to have had the opportunity to learn from all the different members of the All West Family. I am excited to see what the last two weeks have in store for me!

2022 All West Summer Intern, Billy Marchy:

These past weeks have kept us busy and excited! I was able to ride along with Technician Luis Alvarado to learn about A.I. and how to properly prepare semen before insemination. He was able to take me on his normal route to Galt, CA and visit a couple dairies. After an early morning, John and I were off to Petaluma to ride with Carly Olufs, one of the past interns of All West. We were able to learn a lot from her and talk about genetics and the passion her territory has for the industry. We were able to mate a great herd of cattle and drop off several units of semen. We were then able to come back to the valley to visit our old stomping grounds at the Stanislaus County Fairgrounds. This is where we were able to have good conversations and see the next line of some great genetics on display with the youth exhibitors.

After a jam-packed week, we were headed to the office in Burlington, Washington to enjoy some cool weather. There, we met the front office staff and learned about their daily duties in finance, management, and in-field jobs as well. On Tuesday we took a long ride to the east side of the state, where John and I rode along with Alex Werkhoven and Randy Van Wieringen. This day, we were able to check out larger dairies in the area, relief breeding, mating, and following the normal routes for nitrogen and semen fill ups. After three days of riding around, it was time to head back to the office where we were able to see what Kelby Stadt does as one of All West’s CowManager Specialists. This is an interesting tool dairy producers can use to better monitor and enhance health, A.I. performance, and other aspects including nutrition.

Last week, we were able to get right to work with Select Sires Inc.’s Marc Bolen and photographer Jenny Thomas. We were accompanied by Louie Cozzitorto and Select Sires Inc.’s own intern as well to clip, fit, and get cattle ready before they roll out in the magazines and other advertisements. This was a great week to see what genetics will be the newest face of Select Sires breeding. This has been a fast, but exciting, few weeks and we cannot wait to see what comes next!

 

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