Why Dealer Education Matters to Growers | by Kelly Schultze

From the equipment they purchase to time spent in the field, growers put many resources into their operations. A grower’s investment involves much more than money. Growers have every right to expect trustworthy, skilled and knowledgeable salespeople and service technicians at their local Valley_® dealership.

At Valley University, we strive to make sure this expectation is not only met but exceeded. By providing our dealerships with the most accurate and up-to-date information on our products, we ensure that they are ready to answer any questions a grower may have. It is our goal to give all dealership sales employees the knowledge and skills needed to determine the best irrigation solution for each grower’s specific needs.

The commitment of excellence Valley makes to its customers goes beyond the point of sale, just like our commitment to support all dealership roles. In addition to product information, we provide courses to train service technicians. When service personnel are more knowledgeable about and experienced with Valley equipment, they are more efficient and accurate at the job site.

To train our dealerships’ service techs, we use interactions and simulations within our online courses. Service technicians can practice product installations and troubleshooting before ever leaving their dealership. This increases their comfort with the machines, and gives our growers peace of mind that they have the best trained service techs working on their equipment.

The Valley U team is dedicated to making online learning accessible and beneficial to our dealerships. We already know we have the best mechanized irrigation products available, so it’s our job to focus on making sure we have the best dealerships in the world to support our growers.

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Kelly Schultze E-Learning Instructional Designer Kelly joined Valley Irrigation in early 2014 as an E-Learning Instructional Designer. When she isn’t at work, she is typically creating replica costumes and props from films, comics, and television shows. Kelly also enjoys learning languages and is conversational in French and Korean. She loves to travel, and has lived abroad while studying in South Africa and South Korea.

Valley U Bringing Passion and Education to Valley Dealers | by Kelly Schultze

Continuous improvement is one of the Valmont_® cornerstone values, and it is something we at Valley_® University strive for every day. Valley University is Valley Irrigation’s go-to resource for dealership training and development.

We are constantly looking for ways to improve our courses and make them more engaging. Each team member has a passion for learning and teaching new things, and it is our goal to bring that passion to each person who uses our Valley University site. 

These days it seems like every week brings a new gadget or feature that affects our daily lives, regardless of what industry we work in or where we live. In an environment that is constantly changing, it is important to stay up-to-date not only for our personal development, but also our professional development.

Technology is making it easier than ever to improve business through more efficient operation. From our end, being able to share information with every Valley dealership employee at the same time is incredible.

We have some really great developments coming soon that will benefit our dealerships. One of these developments is the creation of more service courses. From programming panels to proper wiring techniques, we will be improving our support for the service technicians at each dealership.

Recently we’ve been adding gamification to our courses. We’ve created quiz games such as Don’t Break the Pivot, Pivot Racing and Bird’s Eye View. We have more coming soon, as well. 

If you’ve taken our courses and enjoyed the games, or if you have ideas for courses or games you’d like to see, we would love to hear about it! You can contact us at valleyuniversity@valmont.com or (402) 359-6500.

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Kelly Schultze E-Learning Instructional Designer Kelly joined Valley Irrigation in early 2014 as an E-Learning Instructional Designer. When she isn’t at work, she is typically creating replica costumes and props from films, comics, and television shows. Kelly also enjoys learning languages and is conversational in French and Korean. She loves to travel, and has lived abroad while studying in South Africa and South Korea.

Training for Valley Dealers – an Insider’s Perspective | by Michelle Stolte

Over the last month, I have attended a couple different classes offered to Valley_® dealers by Valley Irrigation.

The first class I attended was Design School, where primarily new, but also some veteran dealer personnel attend to better learn how to design center pivots, corners and linears. In this class, not only did we physically design machines on the computer, but we also learned about limitations for different kinds of equipment, so we can be assured peak performance in the field. An extensive amount of time was spent on the importance of water application and the characteristics of many different sprinklers we offer. 

Service School students are learning
Valley  tower box wiring code and schematics.

The second class I attended a few weeks later was Service School. There were approximately 100 dealership personnel in attendance at this school, some of them here on their first day of work, others who have worked for the dealership for 30-plus years. It was the eighth class our service department offered this season. 

There was a strong emphasis on safety, and then, in the Basic Level (which I, of course, attended!), we focused on wiring and troubleshooting. I gained a much greater appreciation for the work that all of our service people do day in and day out. While I have determined that I probably won’t be our service department’s first service woman, I did learn a lot, have even more respect for electricity than I did before and am glad I attended the class.

Training our dealership personnel is extremely important to Valley, and these are just two examples of the different training classes we offer. We want to make sure that our dealers are the best in the country and the world, so we invest a lot of time and effort in the different education methods we offer them.

I want to thank all of those who led the schools that I recently attended – the programs were top-notch and extremely educational.

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Michelle Stolte Global Marketing Manager Michelle has been at Valley Irrigation for more than 10 years and is finally no longer a newbie! She has spent her entire time at Valley in the Marketing Department (international and domestic) and loves every minute of it. Michelle enjoys traveling and spending time with her husband. She also likes reading, swing dancing (although she isn't really that good...), and warm weather.

Learning and Fun on Saturday Morning | by Cole Fredrick

A few months back, I got the opportunity participate in an Art (+) Smart Saturdays program at The Durham Museum. The event featured engineering and focused on Valmont_® Industries, Inc., and the products it produces. So, naturally it included Structures, Lighting and, of course, Valley_® Irrigation. 

This program was a chance for kids of all ages to come in and see what companies such as Valmont and Kiewit produce or manufacture, and also how they developed. This was a great opportunity to not only talk to kids, but also parents, about the industry, where we have been, and where we are going. I spent much of the time talking with folks about how their parents or grandparents had worked for Valley and the experiences they had.

Many people had grown up on farms and knew exactly what a center pivot was. At the same time, it was entertaining to hear from others that they thought crop circles were from aliens! (I still always describe my job like that when traveling). It was amazing to show them how we produce crops and how technology can link everything together.

We also offered some hands-on projects. I set up a BaseStation3™ module and essentially let the kids play a video game of irrigating. It is always interesting when you tell them you can water the world from an iPhone®. Plus, it is literally like a video game.

The Valmont structures team was also there, and  one of the activities they offered was a gumdrop structure build off. This was entertaining as the kids normally walked away with super sticky fingers and a parent shrugging their shoulders!

This experience helped me realize the importance of educating and especially hands-on learning. What I thought would be a boring Saturday morning turned out to be a great day of learning and visiting.

Which brings me to my last thought, since this was such a good event, make sure to visit the Omaha Children’s Museum where Valmont has an actual pivot outside and a smaller pivot inside for the kids to see! It is called Once Upon a Farm and it is sure to lead to a good time and lots of learning!

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Cole Fredrick Product Manager - Variable Rate Irrigation Cole has been with Valley Irrigation since 2011, where he manages the Valley Variable Rate Irrigation products. He was born and raised on a farm near Grand Island, NE (AKA "paradise"), and he tries to return back home as often as possible. Cole is a HUGE Husker fanatic! He stays young by enjoying all outdoor activities and almost any sport.

Valley University Wins National Recognition | by Kelly Schultze

In August, we announced that the Valley_® University team was named as a finalist in the Chief Learning Officer^® 2014 Learning in Practice awards. We are proud to announce that at the recent Chief Learning Officer Symposium, the Valley University team received an award for Global Learning. Other winners in the in our category included Western Union and the U.S. Department of State, Foreign Service Institute.

We are excited to receive industry recognition for our efforts to expand and improve the training we provide our stakeholders. And, although we are pleased, we are in no way satisfied. Going forward we will continue to create courses that will serve both our international and domestic dealership networks, as well as expand our internal employee development opportunities.

Here are some reflections from our team:

“I think back to when I was first hired and how we started with literally nothing, and I can’t help but be proud of where we’re at today. Our team has put in a lot of hard work to get to this point, and it has been rewarding to see how actively our dealers are utilizing the system. I’m extremely grateful that Chief Learning Officer magazine has recognized our efforts, and I know that the Valley U team is committed to meeting and exceeding expectations moving forward!” - Billy Grenfell, Sr. E-Learning Instructional Designer

“Building Valley University from the ground up, including the architecture, set up, and launch of a global Learning Management System has been such an exciting and rewarding experience in itself. To be able to reach and educate people all over the world with valuable content in their own language is an amazing thing and something we take a lot of pride in. It is awesome to look back two years ago and see how far we have come, and this award from Chief Learning Officer magazine reaffirms we are headed in the right direction.” – Jenna Olmer, Sr. E-Learning Instructional Designer

“The award and recognition are great for Valley Irrigation and Valmont_® Industries. I am proud to be part of an organization that has received industry-leading reviews, and we will continue to work hard so that this won’t be the last award we are recognized for. Our team is full of driven and devoted individuals that are continually pushing the limits of our learning system. Congratulations to everyone in the Valley Irrigation and Valmont family for painstakingly contributing the content and reviewing the courses with us. Let’s keep the momentum going forward.” – Dan Gage, E-Learning Instructional Designer

“Receiving this award has been exciting and encouraging. We at Valmont are definitely on the right path to enhancing the company’s training around the world, and it’s a very rewarding feeling to be involved in something that helps to develop people’s expertise and careers while improving our business results and shareholder value. I’m excited to continue working with the skilled and knowledgeable people in our organization to creatively, through cutting-edge technology and media-rich content, produce training courses and materials that will further assist our internal and external learners.” – Kelly Schultze, E-Learning Instructional Designer

“This award is a huge honor and further validation that our work has a positive effect on the lives and career development of our dealerships and our Valley Irrigation and Valmont team members.” – Tyler Bertsch, Training and Development Specialist

“This independent, industry-leading validation that we are moving the needle with global training and development is a good indicator we are doing the right things here at Valley Irrigation and Valmont Industries. Our leadership’s commitment to excellence, innovation, human talent development, and continuous improvement is further proven by the Valmont Welcome and Learning Center, a state-of-the-art $14.5 million facility serving Valmont learning and innovation. We at Valley University are pleased to serve in the continuous improvement process to which we all aspire.” – Patrick Angel, Director, Global Learning

The Valley Univeristy team, from left, Kelly Schultze, Tyler Bertsch, Billy Grenfell, Jenna Olmer, Patrick Angel, Dan Gage and recent intern Paige Jones.

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Kelly Schultze E-Learning Instructional Designer Kelly joined Valley Irrigation in early 2014 as an E-Learning Instructional Designer. When she isn’t at work, she is typically creating replica costumes and props from films, comics, and television shows. Kelly also enjoys learning languages and is conversational in French and Korean. She loves to travel, and has lived abroad while studying in South Africa and South Korea.

Come Play Under the Pivot in Omaha | by Jill Zwiener

Have you ever wanted to give your kids or grandkids the opportunity to stand right next to a life-size Valley_® center pivot? Now is your chance!

On Saturday, Aug. 16, Valmont_® is hosting the Picnic Under the Pivot at the Omaha Children’s Museum. A 45-foot Valley display center pivot will be installed on the grassy area right outside the museum.

Families are invited to stop by to enjoy food and drinks (while supplies last). We’ll be playing with large blocks, hula hoops, parachutes, and making big bubbles. There will be some giveaways, too.  The event is free to the public and will run from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m.

The Picnic Under the Pivot is the kickoff event for us and the museum as we prepare for the October opening of the Once Upon a Farm exhibit. Valmont is one of the sponsors of the exhibit, which opens Oct. 18 and will run through April 20, 2015.

The Once Upon a Farm exhibit will teach kids and their families all about the role of agriculture in their daily lives. Throughout the exhibit, guests will encounter interactive displays that incorporate irrigation (a scaled down 25-foot Valley center pivot will be on display), machinery, livestock, crops, and other natural resources needed to create the food and everyday products we find at the store and use in our homes. The exhibit will be a fun way for families to learn about the impact of agriculture in Nebraska and around the world.

If you can make it to the Picnic Under the Pivot on Aug. 16, be sure you plan to spend a little time inside the museum too. It’s filled with hands-on exhibits and activities for children of all ages. And you won’t want to miss the special exhibit that’s only going to be up for a few more weeks, Dinos: The Big Dig! 

And don’t forget to come back after Oct. 18 to see the full Once Upon a Farm exhibit.

Mark your calendars today. I hope to see you there!

Omaha Children’s Museum
500 South 20th Street
Omaha, NE 68102
www.ocm.org

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Jill Zwiener Brand Manager Jill joined the Valley Irrigation team in 2011. She loves country music, fountain soda, food, college football, and the ski slopes of Colorado. She enjoys using photography to freeze the precious bits of time with her family into pictures that she can cherish for years.

Lessons From a Farm Kid | by Jenna Olmer

Here at Valley_® my job is training. I design courses covering service, sales, parts, and everything irrigation. I have always found so much value in education and teaching others. But sometimes it's easy to get caught up in the adult learning theory, simulations, and exams that come with formal learning, and I forget where some of my most important lessons were learned – right on the farm.

I was reminded of this the other day as I looked over an essay for my 12-year-old brother. Jarrett was assigned to write stories about his life for every letter of the alphabet. As I looked through his stories, I noticed a mix of brother rivalry, family vacations, harvest, planting, spraying, and everything in between, and it reminded me how much farming is less of a "job that my dad does" and more of a family lifestyle.

One story in particular caught my attention. It reminded me of the same lessons I learned early in life and made me proud of the industry I have chosen to contribute to today. After all, it helps put food on the table.

I is for Irrigation
By Jarrett

When you are a farmer in Nebraska there is no telling what the weather is going to be like so you better have an irrigation system just in case of drought. There are many different options to irrigate including flood irrigation, drip irrigation, and spray irrigation. We use the spray irrigation method which involves a center pivot. Pivots are handy during a dry spell but they are high maintenance.

At the beginning of the season we have to grease all the zerks on the pivot, including the knuckles on each tower that have a very inconvenient cover over them. Also we have to replace the oil in the engine and fill the huge tank with gas. Next, we mow the driveways leading to the base tower of the pivots.

A couple days later we get the pivot running with water for the first time. Now we have to drive along the pipe and make sure all the sprinklers are functioning correctly. One time there were a couple sprinkler plugs that busted and water started shooting straight up in the air, we could see the water from half a mile away.

About half way through the summer we go back to re-oil the motors and touch up the mowing with a weed eater. Sometimes irrigating prevents us from going on certain trips because we can’t just make someone else irrigate for us. If we were to just leave our crops in the middle of the drought they would die and if our crops die we are done-for that is our main paycheck, gone, down the drain. I might as well plan on going hungry a couple nights out of the year because we’re going to have to cut spending big time. I hope this shows you how important irrigation is and how stressful the gamble of farming can be.

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Jarrett Jarrett is a eighth-grader and is rarely seen without a basketball or football in hand. He lives on a farm with his parents and older brother, Carson, where he helps out with the hogs, cattle, corn, and soybeans. His four sisters visit often, and he enjoys entertaining his six nieces and nephews.

Jenna Olmer Senior E-Learning Instructional Designer Jenna joined Valley in 2012. She has a passion for development through education and holds a master’s in instructional technology. She has spent time working in a variety of industries (farming, retail, food service, meat packing, broadcasting, publishing, and technology services – to name a few) and learning in a variety of countries (Mexico, China, and Spain). Now that she has settled down, she enjoys gardening, refurbishing old furniture, and spending time with her husband and new baby girl.