Summer Intern 2021 Grace

posted on Friday, September 3, 2021


Our final Iowa Select Farms intern highlight features our communications intern, Grace. She will be a junior at Drake University in the fall where she is double majoring in strategic political communication and law, politics and society with a minor in educational studies. Although it may not be obvious based on what she is studying, she has a passion for agriculture and the swine industry.

Grace holds a baby pig

“Over the course of the summer, I’ve learned so much about pigs and the industry itself,” said Grace. “From visiting sow farms, finishing barns and gilt development units where I learned about anatomy and AI to helping with events like World Pork Expo and Haul Out Hunger, my knowledge about the industry has grown exponentially and I feel much more confident advocating for our pork producers.”

There is never a dull moment on the communications team, and Grace has been involved in many different events and projects this summer.

“My responsibilities this summer have varied widely from event management and planning to writing and photography. One of my favorites was collecting content for the intern posts and presentations. That involved visiting eight different farms and photographing ten interns while they were working,” she explained. “I also wrote all the intern posts we’ve posted on social media and had a camera in my hand at almost every event we’ve done, photographing all the cool things we do through the Deb and Jeff Hansen Foundation.”

Grace poses for a professional headshot

Grace’s hard work and skill with a camera have been appreciated by others on the communications team.

“She jumped right in and hit the ground running. Grace is dependable and reliable with a high attention to detail,” said her supervisor, Jen. “We’re really enjoying having her on our team and watching the big impact she’s making to our events, programs and overall communications. She’s a fantastic photographer, too!”

Grace has enjoyed her summer at Iowa Select Farms, so much so that she’ll be staying on this fall to continue her work on the communications team. The outstanding company culture had an impact on her and motivated her to stick around.

“I can’t say thank you enough to everyone at Iowa Select Farms for making this summer such a great experience for me. I’ve been lucky to work closely with the amazing communications team, while also getting to know people in every part of the company,” she said. “Everyone has been so kind and welcoming, but I have to send a special thank you to the HR team, the managers of all the farms I’ve visited and of course the other interns.”

Thanks for following along over the summer as we’ve posted about all of our amazing interns. At Iowa Select Farms we are committed to agriculture and part of that means investing in future industry leaders through programs like this.

The communications team