Austin Fisher's Internship

Austin and his younger brother working on the back of a harvester.

October 12, 2018

This past summer, Austin Fisher had the unique opportunity to complete an internship at his own family’s company. An Annapolis resident, Fisher is a turfgrass management student at the Institute of Applied Agriculture who completed his required internship at American Turf in Davidsonville MD. American Turf is a landscape design firm and sod farm that Fisher’s family has owned and operated for years.

Going into the turf and sod industry was always a goal for Fisher. At American Turf, he shadowed the managers, processed work orders, and performed hands-on labor. He spent a lot of time in the field working with heavy machinery and tractors that are necessary in sod production. Fisher’s favorite tasks were shadowing the managers and supervisors of the company, where he ultimately wants to end up.

However, his summer was not easy. Part way through the summer, the company became understaffed, forcing him to pick up a lot of the slack. Without his help, the company would have had an even higher demand for work. Despite this, Fisher still enjoyed the job. Fisher really enjoyed how he “…got to learn about problem solving. Because every site is different, each had its own set of challenges.” Fisher gained a lot of valuable work experience as well. He learned about operating equipment, and improved his teamwork skills.

Although the internship proved to be a lot of hard work, Fisher is glad he did it. He said that “It was a gainful experience that taught me a lot about how businesses are managed in the landscape and turf industry.” In the future, Fisher wants to own and operate his own sod company one day. This internship gave him further insight into how that company is run, and he is excited to carry through with it in the future.