Plan Your Summer Agribusiness Internship

For college students, a summer internship helps prepare them for whatever comes next. They could find their dream job or learn that what sounded perfect isn’t actually a good fit. The goal of an internship program is to give students the opportunity to develop actionable skills they can bring to their future career.

Hayden Fettig carefully chose his summer internship, and that made all the difference in his career trajectory.

Fettig grew up in Woodland, California, just outside Sacramento. Agriculture wasn’t part of his home life growing up. But as a high school junior, he spent a day riding with a friend’s dad who worked as a tomato seed salesman, and he felt pulled toward learning more about agriculture.

On the salesman’s recommendation, Fettig chose to study ag business at California Polytechnic State University (Cal Poly). When Cal Poly’s Agribusiness Management Club hosted a career fair the fall of his freshman year, he researched the visiting companies and identified who he wanted to meet.

“Syngenta has a location in my hometown of Woodland, so the company was at the top of my list,” Fettig says. “At the career fair, I went to their booth, introduced myself and talked with the representative for two hours.”

Fettig was invited to an interview and was offered an opportunity in the internship program at Syngenta as a vegetable seed production intern. The work he did that summer confirmed that this was the industry for him.

Plot Your Internship Timeline

Kaci Rice, emerging talent program manager for Syngenta, explains that companies like Syngenta start recruiting in the fall semester for internships that start at the end of the school year.

“Our team prepares Syngenta employees to attend college career fairs and conduct on-site interviews the next day,” she says. “Students should think of these as two-way interviews, asking if the opportunity sounds like a good fit for them, just as our team wants to learn if they are a good fit for Syngenta.”

Students could get immediate internship offers from Syngenta, as it’s the company’s goal to have 80% of its interns signed by December. While spots for specific internships can be competitive, Rice believes the Syngenta internship program has a place for everyone.

“We have roles in digital and AI, marketing, production, robotics and automation, research, sales, and more,” she says.

Syngenta accepts college students from freshmen through seniors, students working on master’s and doctorate degrees, and students transferring from junior colleges to four-year institutions into its internship program.

“We require interns to be current students,” Rice says. “Appealing candidates are willing to learn, good communicators, honest, fun, involved on campus and interested in agriculture, even if they don’t know much about the industry.”

The company recruits interns at universities with strong agriculture programs, those with programs in three or more areas needed in the company, and others identified by current team members. In addition, Syngenta attends events held by Agriculture Future of America (AFA) and MANNRS, an organization for minority students in agriculture and natural resources.

“With our Crop Protection headquarters in Greensboro, we also participate in the North Carolina Governor’s Historically Black Colleges and Universities (HBCU) Internship Program,” Rice says. “We grew from two interns to eight in just one year due to that program.”

Prepare for the Internship Experience

Securing an internship is just the first step. Rice’s team focuses on all aspects of internships, so that participants get the most out of their experiences.

“We aim to be responsive so that students want to work with us,” she says. “Internship surveys reveal that students want opportunities for personal and professional growth, as well as a place to belong. We encourage managers to be in touch with interns before they start, and we continue to build our program so interns feel welcome.”

At Syngenta, that now includes voluntary onboarding that starts in January. Interns can join monthly sessions to help them learn about Syngenta, hear from leadership and get to know each other.

“We want them to feel a part of the team before they start,” Rice explains.

Fettig valued these sessions. He presented to new interns about his Syngenta internship experience during an onboarding session leading up to his second summer internship with the company, again in vegetable seed production.

When the interns start in mid-May, company leadership invites them to attend optional virtual professional development sessions each week, covering topics like time management, personal branding and AI in agriculture. In July, they can participate in mock interviews and a resume review in preparation for the internal job fair held in August.

Syngenta works to ensure all internships provide value to the company and enhance the intern’s professional development. “All interns truly contribute to the company,” Rice says. “Every manager requesting interns has a project for them to work on, beyond daily tasks.”

Fettig learned a lot from his first internship project, where he studied seed drying times to improve germination. His second summer internship project compared the costs and benefits of directly sowing vegetable seeds to transplanting.

“It was a complex project,” he says. “I looked at the financials, agronomics, logistics and more, and concluded that direct sowing made sense. I’m very proud of that work.”

During that internship, he also represented Syngenta at the AFA Crop Science Institute in Sacramento. “That was the best networking event I’ve ever been to,” he says. “I’m still in touch with people I met.”

Life After the Internship

Agribusiness companies compete for interns, so opportunities for students abound. Rice and her team created a competitive internship program at Syngenta. In 2025, the Early Talent Program at Syngenta earned a spot on Vault’s Top 150 Internship Programs, which was tabulated from a survey of interns. In addition, Syngenta was recognized among top internships in three categories: Compensation & Benefits, People of Color, and Sales, Marketing & Communications.

“We are incredibly proud of this recognition,” Rice says. “But word of mouth speaks volumes. We want our interns to have a good experience — and tell their friends about it.”

For Fettig, his internship results are personal.

He is now a full-time Syngenta employee as a seed production agronomist for small-seeded vegetables and cucurbits at Syngenta Seeds in Woodland. During the summer of 2026, he will work with two Cal Poly students interning with his team.

“I tell my friends to look for internships where they think they will have fun and feel appreciated,” he says. “Find a great support system. That’s what Syngenta internships did for me. I felt comfortable asking anyone any question. And since I’ve joined Syngenta full time, I can truly say there’s something special here.”

Rice encourages potential interns to learn from others, get involved on campus, and learn to effectively communicate their skills and experiences to hiring managers. For those interested in Syngenta internships, apply online or at on-campus career fairs in the fall. She also recommends following @Syngenta on LinkedIn, as well as @SyngentaLife and @SyngentaUS on Instagram.