IL Corn recognizes the importance of nurturing young talent, so it provides educational and leadership opportunities whenever possible. Every summer, IL Corn offers internship programs. This summer the team was joined by two undergraduate seniors, Grace May and Shelby Barnhart. Here are highlights from their most valued moments and projects throughout their summer at IL Corn.  

Grace May, a rising senior at the University of Illinois majoring in Agriculture and Consumer Economics with a concentration in Public Policy and Law, was the legislative intern for the summer. Throughout her time, she was given several projects ranging from scheduling meetings to presentations to travelling across the nation for conferences. Her highlighted projects were:  

Washington D.C. 

• One of Grace’s major tasks during her internship was to help plan and attend ICGA’s trip to Washington D.C. and NCGA’s Corn Congress. She coordinated 17 meetings with all of Illinois’s congressional offices and Senator Durbin’s office for ICGA and ICMB Directors as well as IL FFA State Officers and Section Presidents to advocate for corn priorities.  

Ethanol  

• Promoting ethanol is a huge priority for IL Corn, and Grace was able to learn about ethanol, as well as other corn-powered fuels such as Sustainable Aviation Fuel, on a new level this summer. Grace had the opportunity to visit Marquis Energy in Hennepin, IL to learn more about ethanol on a technical level and was also able to join and listen to discussions about policies that promote ethanol and, in turn, promote corn farmers.  

Farm Bill 

• A new Farm Bill is way overdue, and IL Corn is working hard to make sure that the policies included in the bill are helpful, not harmful, to farmers. Grace had the chance this summer to learn more about the farm bill this summer, diving deep into IL Corn’s priorities for the bill.  

Working alongside Grace this summer was our Marketing and Communications Intern, Shelby Barnhart. Shelby is an upcoming senior at Illinois State University majoring in International Business and Political Science. Her main focus was on marketing projects for IL Corn, where she was able to enhance several skills from digital design to public speaking. Her favorite moments from the summer were:  

Ag In the Classroom  

• This summer, one of Shelby’s main projects was spreading the education of agriculture across the state. She travelled across Illinois giving presentations to teacher institutes sharing the importance of what Illinois farmers do. Through these presentations she was able to practice her public speaking, while educating herself and others about agriculture and its importance. 

The Chicago White Sox 5k Race 

• IL Corn sponsored a 5k race at Guaranteed Rate Field in June this summer. For this race a handful of staff and farmers, went to  the Chicago White Sox to participate in the event. Sponsorship, collaborations, and events were new territory to her. At this event she was able to see a new side of marketing where she could talk to participants, explain IL Corn, and encourage individuals to donate old running shoes.  

Learning from Experts 

• Whether it was working on enhancing her skills with digital flyers, or listening to her colleagues discuss Farm Bill, Ethanol, or Locks and Dams, Shelby is excited that she got to learn from experts at IL Corn. This internship expanded her knowledge on her own topics of interest as well as important issues of current events.