Building the next generation of leaders is the key to any successful dealership. That leadership journey can start during a recruit’s education as an internship opportunity. More and more dealerships are offering precision farming internships to both high school and/or college students to give them a taste for what working at a dealership entails.

While the Yield Force agronomic service team was already in year 7 with Sinclair Tractor when agronomic consultant Ethan Smidt joined as the third member in 2015, the late arrival didn’t mean the service provider was well established across the eastern-Iowa landscape.

Among the more unique editorial stops I’ve made in recent months was a visit to Sinclair Tractor — an 11-store John Deere dealership across eastern Iowa — to sit down with Ethan Smidt, an agronomic consultant and member of Sinclair’s agronomic service division, Yield Force.