Name: Ben Steffes
Hometown: Cadott
Major: Animal science with a management/meat animal emphasis
Position: Reproductive specialist with ABS Global
Having grown up on a hobby farm in Chippewa County where his family raised a variety of animals, Ben Steffes is motivated to help farmers stay in business.
Ben, a University of Wisconsin-River Falls senior from Cadott majoring in animal science with a management/meat animal emphasis, will do just that in his job as a reproductive specialist with ABS Global. He will begin his new job after graduating on May 4.
Doing that job involves using genetics to optimize traits such as helping cows produce more milk or creating animals that are more resistant to disease.
“I want to help farmers become more efficient, help them with their bottom line,” Ben said. “I want what I do to help more farmers be able to stay in business and make a living as dairy farmers.”
Ben’s path to his job started with a visit to a career and internship fair at UWRF. One of his friends had completed an internship with ABS Global, so Ben stopped by the company’s booth at the fair to talk to company representatives and learn about internship opportunities.
He later connected with a regional sales manager with the company and landed an internship. He said he was one of only 25 to garner an internship among several hundred applicants. Ben spent his internship last summer working throughout Wisconsin. He visited more than 150 dairy farms and worked with different ABS employees, learning from each situation.
“I got to see how a lot of people did a lot of different things,” Ben said, “and I learned something from each of them.
Ben performed well during his internship, so well in fact that ABS offered him a job in January, four months before his scheduled graduation date. In fact, Ben had four job offers to choose from. After picking ABS, he said he felt a sense of relief and excitement about his new opportunity.
“I had a good experience with this company during my internship,” he said, noting he will work in central Wisconsin in his new job. “Through that, I found out that I really do like doing this work.”
Ben chose to attend UWRF because of the university’s strong agricultural programs. He said he received a top-level education and is thankful for the highly qualified faculty who taught him.
“Our animal science program is really top tier,” he said, noting UWRF consistently measures well against the best Division I university agriculture programs in the country. “I know my professors personally, and they are able to give us more individual attention and work with us more closely than would happen at those larger schools. That is to our advantage.”
When Ben ponders his future, he thinks about progressing into sales and management. For now, though, he is grateful for the opportunity to work with farmers and help them improve the genetics of their herds.
“I love to be outside and work out and about,” he said. “Talking to farmers and helping them is something I am really excited about.”