20 SOURCE | Summer 2022
New Century FS Grows its Own Talent in Tough Labor Market
“ There is not another female applicator within our company ”
Chris Grogan , GROWMARK Publications and Media Relations Manager cgrogan @ growmark . com
For Rachael McAnulty , a life working in the fields wasn ’ t necessarily destined from the start .
“ I didn ’ t grow up on a farm , but once I got involved in FFA and started showing livestock , I was hooked ,” she says .
That passion has translated into a strong start to her career , becoming an applicator after less than a year and the only female New Century FS has in that position . She started a year ago as an intern , primarily working as a crop scout at the New Century FS Melbourne , Iowa location , and her work ethic quickly impressed Location Manager Clint Hilleman .
“ She scouted a bunch of acres for us every week and did such a great job with that , working with our crop specialist , making it through all those acres within a couple days most weeks ,” says Hilleman . “ And after she was done with scouting , she didn ’ t just leave , but started helping out at the plant and with operations .”
McAnulty attributes her initial success to terrific mentors she had to get her started off on the right track .
“ Working with Ben Frahm and John Birchmier as a crop scout , they helped me out with things around the plant , running the mower and forklift and stuff ,” McAnulty adds . “ Watching all the guys work on their equipment , I found I liked working on tool bars and wanted to do more .”
By the end of the summer , McAnulty knew she wanted to continue with New Century FS . She went back to her classes at Des Moines Area Community College for the fall semester while also working part-time at the Melbourne location .
“ I guess I ’ m just really curious at heart , so I started asking to do more and got thrown in the payloader in the fertilizer shed and found that I like running equipment ,” McAnulty adds .
By the winter , McAnulty decided she wanted to come aboard full-time since she only had one online course to fulfill this past spring to graduate . Within a few months , she was running a dry floater with veteran applicator Loren Green .
“ He ’ s been doing this kind of work for almost 30 years ,” adds Hilleman . “ I knew he would be a terrific mentor for Rachael .