JOHNSTON, IOWA (May 22, 2023) – AgVenture, Inc. is pleased to welcome Madelyn DeJong to the marketing team for an internship focused on product management, agronomy, and marketing.

“We’re eager for Madelyn to bring fresh perspectives and innovative ideas to our team that she’s learned in her education and past work experiences,” said AgVenture Product Manager Jeff Shaner, who will be the key leader for Madelyn this summer. “We would love for her to be able to say that she really learned a lot with us that can be useful to her throughout her career.  I also hope she will be able to honestly state all along the way that she is thoroughly enjoying her time here.

“We interviewed so many great candidates for our intern position again this year and we are so glad Madelyn chose to partner with us. We are all looking forward to her AgVenture summer with our team and network of seed companies.”

DeJong’s hometown is Montezuma, IA, where her father is a local agronomist for Key Co-op and her mom is a paraeducator for Montezuma’s preschool. She also helps manage the family pumpkin farm, DeJong Pumpkins, where they grow a variety of pumpkins, gourds, and ornamental corn.

A 2020 graduate of Montezuma High School, Madelyn was involved in her school’s FFA chapter. She was also an active member of the school’s vocal, speech and drama programs, and participated in basketball, track and cross country.

DeJong recently completed her junior year at Iowa State University in Ames, where she is majoring in Agronomy and Seed Science, with a minor in Ag Business. While in college, she works for the university as a Researchers Assistant in Weed Science. Last summer, she interned for Ag Leader Technology in Ames where she studied emergence trials and reviewed planter information. She spent the summer of 2021 interning for Key Cooperative in Grinnell, IA, as a sales agronomist intern. She is also involved on campus in the Sigma Alpha sorority as the Alumni Chair and participates in Agronomy Club and Crops Team. After graduation from Iowa State, she hopes to work in the seed industry in a role that has a variety of responsibilities.

“I was interested in AgVenture because I enjoy the marketing and sales aspects of agronomy and this position fits my interests,” said DeJong. “I am looking forward to being able to learn more about the sales and marketing side of AgVenture.”

“I am excited to work with Madelyn from a marketing communications perspective this summer,” said AgVenture Marketing Communications Manager Bethany Kroeze. “She has promoted her family pumpkin business on social media in the past, so I look forward to the content she can contribute from the field, especially with her solid agronomic education and experience. I hope that she will gain confidence as an agronomic expert by creating and posting content to the AgVenture social media platforms over the next few months.”

When she has free time, DeJong enjoys reading, gardening, and watching her boyfriend compete in tractor pull competitions.