Emily’s Produce, a family-owned and operated farm stand located in Cambridge, MD is owned and operated by seventh-generation farmer Paul Jackson and his wife Kelly Jackson. This business revolves around serving the local community with produce, and baked goods and serving an agritourism experience for all customers. Paul Jackson is also the founder of Jackson Generation Farms, a row crop farming operation producing corn, wheat, and soybeans. Over the summer I interned for both operations, and I was given the opportunity to learn many skills to help my journey in the agriculture field.
Some of my favorite jobs during my internship included operating a combine during the summer wheat harvest as well as planting and spraying over 500 acres of soybeans. I started my internship at Jackson Generation Farms planting soybeans. Every morning I would fuel up the tractor, fill up the planter with seed, and head out to where I would be working for the day. To some, this could be a boring job, all repetition, and seems like you’re sitting around all day. But for me, this job really shows the fruit of your labor and how much goes into the process of planting.
Once the soybeans are up to a suitable height, they must be sprayed with herbicide and insecticide to keep away unwanted pests. This job was relatively new to me as this was my first year doing it. There is definitely a learning curve to this job, especially the equipment. I was put in a Case sprayer with 120-foot sprayer booms. It took a long time to get used to this, as you could guess, 120 feet is a lot of area and hard to handle at times.
Once the summer days continued into July and August, it was time to prepare the combine for wheat harvest. It is crucial to harvest the crop at the right time and at the right moisture level. The job must be done at the right time, under no circumstances. With how rewarding this internship felt, it really opened my eyes to the gambling and risk that comes with this career. A farmer is all dependent on Mother Nature and can be let down lots of times. My internship at Jackson Generation Farms was a great experience for me and was a summer I will always remember. With all the skills I have learned over the summer, I am very excited to continue my journey in the field of agriculture.
