Internships in Agriculture

During the summer of 2018 Nolo Consulting, LLC organized and implemented a successful professional internship program, the Hispanic Talent Development and Recruitment Program. The program was an agreement between Nolo Consulting and the United States Department of Education – Natural Resources Conservation Service (USDA-NRCS). The internship aimed to establish working and long-lasting opportunities to recruit and attract talented individuals from Hispanic-serving institutions, particularly Puerto Rico. Based on the program’s extraordinary success the internship agreement will be extended and our main commitment is to expand the pool of talented bilingual professionals that will help satisfy USDA’s mission to reach all farmers across the nation, including minorities, beginning farmers, and underserved farming communities.

One of the significant challenges of USDA leaders and agencies in the Southeast region is how to increase the pool of qualified and skilled bilingual agricultural professionals to outreach, educate and support the growth of Hispanic farmers. The NRCS, with nearly 3,000 offices in communities nationwide provide local job opportunities in every U.S. state and Puerto Rico. The internship opportunities with NRCS for bilingual interns are for both, indoor and outdoor work, and supports many of the students’ diverse career goals. Bilingual interns are assigned to conservationists and work hand-in-hand with producers, landowners, and partners to implement, review or recommend voluntary conservation practices that work for all agricultural operations and the environment. There are many careers in conservation and the summer internship invites students with a variety of majors, including but not limited to: soil science, general field crops, engineering, biology, farm management, and animal sciences. The qualifications include knowledge in farm operations, familiarity with conservation practices, minimum of 15 semester hours in subjects such as soil sciences or a related agricultural or natural resource discipline including agronomy, forestry, agricultural education, or agricultural engineering.