Cultivating a Career in Agriculture

By Nya Wynn

Kaitlyn Bradley, a senior agriculture and natural resources major at the University of Delaware, found that her hands-on experiences on farms and in the livestock industry come together with economics to bridge the gap between agricultural sales and what farmers actually need. 

Throughout the past three years as an undergraduate, Bradley had no shortage of farm experience. 

As a first-year student, she worked on a Smithfield hog farm in North Carolina, learning about farrowing and breeding departments and shadowing professionals in the industry. 

“We worked alongside everyone that worked there full-time, learning all of the ins and outs of the operation,” Bradley said. “We also saw different sections of the operation every Friday, like the feed mills and veterinary services.” 

The following summer she interned with Mountaire Farms, a prominent name in Delmarva’s poultry industry. Bradley worked on the live operations side of the business shadowing flock supervisors and conducting an independent project collecting data on chicken growers. 

“The growers are the ones that actually have the chicken houses themselves, while Mountaire is the integrator — they are like the support to growers,” Bradley said. “I was collecting information from the growers to give the company an analysis of good things that the company is doing and areas where the company could improve from the growers’ perspectives.”