10 Ways Iowa Corn Changed My Life

Every day graduation is one step closer. As my last semester races by, I think of all the people that have changed my life over these four years. That list is long, but the men and women at Iowa Corn are certainly near the top. Here are some of the best memories we've made together.

There's just something about that Hilton Magic! All Iowa State
students should experience the thrill of a CyHawk game!

1. CyHawk Series - You're not getting the full Iowa State student experience if you skip the CyHawk games. Whether it's standing in the deafening student section at Hilton or handing out 8,000 t-shirts at Jack Trice, Iowa Corn has touched every corner of my student experience. The Iowa v. Iowa State rivalry is fun in itself, but seeing my favorite farmers and reminders of all their hard work at the games is the cherry on top. Plus, who's day isn't a little better after a high five from Captain Corn?

Meeting Marco Andretti was one of the biggest highlights of the
Ethanol Powered Weekend, but there were so many cool parts!

2. Ethanol Powered Weekend - I never have been much of a racing fan, so if you told high school me that one of my college highlights would be a whole weekend at the Iowa Speedway I would have laughed in your face. Well, college senior me is here to say it's true! Being that close to such fast cars, fueled by ethanol from corn produced on farms of the fans that surrounded me was really neat. Between meeting farmers and munching on sweet corn I learned all kinds of cool facts. Did you know, today over 95% of all fuel sold in the U.S. is blended with 10% ethanol?! To top it off I got to ride in the pace car, meet Marco Andretti and tour the pits! (We’ll save the story where I spill a whole cooler of butter patties in the middle of an intersection for another blog post.)

I've had such a good time serving as an officer of ISU Corn Growers with
these ladies.

3. Network - Iowa Corn has given me an incredible network that I'll keep in touch with for years to come. Because of them, I know people who are passionate about agriculture, just like me, across the country. I've had the opportunity to work next to some of the most passionate agvocates (like Carrie and Janelle) while at Iowa Corn. Everyone in the organization inspires me with their work ethic and dedication to Iowa's farmers.

Meeting these Iowa bloggers at #AgChat Conference was truly
life changing! I can't wait to see where this blog takes me after all
 their advice.

4. ISU Corn Growers - For the last four years, when I wasn't in class, chances are I was at a club activity. Iowa State University Corn Growers Association (ISUCGA) has given me a chance to grow my friendships and leadership skills. With my fellow members, I've put on large events, cleaned up the local highway and traveled around the state. Serving as this group's secretary challenged me to grow creatively and as a teammate. Together, we made many memories that will last a lifetime.

Pump promotions with Iowa Corn were such a fun way to travel the state
and talk to people about ethanol.

5. Ag Chat Conference - If you follow my social media, you know I traveled to Nashville in November for an AgEI trip and #AgChat conference. The conference inspired me and was the last push of motivation I needed to tackle re-branding this blog. In just two days, my photography and writing improved. So many ladies generously shared their advice with me. It was also awesome to meet bloggers I've admired for years in real life. None of this would have been possible without Iowa Corn's generous sponsorship. Extra shout out to my new friend Alicia at Pork Diaries for driving me all the way back to Iowa!

During my internship I went on some really neat farm tours with foreign
teams. It was awesome to see them learn about American agriculture.

6. Internship - For many college students, internships are the highlight of their college career. I'm no exception. The summer after my sophomore year I had the privilege of spending three months as the Market Development intern in Iowa Corn's office. In that short time I experienced so much! More importantly than mastering Excel or learning how to ship thousands of t-shirts, I began to understand the global impact Iowa corn farmers make. By attending the Governor's Livestock Charity Steer Show, Ethanol Powered Weekend and hosting foreign teams I learned how important corn is to the livestock, fuel and export industries. There's no way I could remember all the facts and figures I heard that summer, but I will admit www.iowacorn.org has been cited as a source for more than one of my course papers. 

Last year our ISUCGA group went on an industry tour to Pioneer in
Johnston, Iowa. I learned so much!

7. Twitter Takeover - Anyone who knows me, even just a little, knows I'm passionate about sharing the stories of agriculture, especially on social media. That's why I was so giddy when Iowa Corn asked me to take over their Twitter account for a day last semester. It was so much fun to share how the organization and ag community have impacted my life with all their followers.

8. Wardrobe - This is one of those unintended benefits of involvement with Iowa Corn. I lost track of how many Iowa Corn shirts I've collected a long time ago, but I'm confident I could get through a week or two without repeating a one.

9. Farmland - Last spring, ISUCGA pulled off a wonderful Farmland Screening and Panel event. That night, guests watched the documentary Farmland, and had the opportunity to ask questions of six local Iowa farmers. Organizing this event is one of my biggest accomplishments of the last four years, but it wouldn't have been possible without the support of Iowa Corn. They lent us Captain Corn and the 8 foot farmers, plus donated cups (made from corn) so everyone could enjoy popcorn and drinks with the movie. The experience just wouldn't have been complete without popcorn!! 

10. Industry Visits - The Market Development internship and ISUCGA opened doors to visit many ag businesses. I've learned more about livestock and seed corn production thanks to Iowa Corn related trips. You can read more of what I learned at a cattle feedlot, dairy days, egg facility and Pioneer in their individual blog posts.

It's safe to say college wouldn't have been the same without Iowa Corn. I'm so thankful they've been part of my agricultural journey so far, and I can't wait to see where the future leads. To learn more about their organization and how it can change your life go to www.iowacorn.org. To keep up with all they're doing with farmers and college students like me around the state follow them on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram. Thanks for reading!

Monday Night Movie Night, 3rd Edition!

It's been a while since I've posted a Monday Night Movie Night, but I ran across a few videos I want to share with you this past week. 

At Farm Progress Show last week the Beck's Hybrids Why I Farm campaign greeted me as I approached the gates. Here's another one of my favorites from them. As always, let me highly recommend their Youtube channel for more heart warming videos.

I hope you've had a chance to read about my experience at the Iowa Corn Indy 300 this past July. (If not you can catch up here.) Even if you're not a big race fan, check out this short clip from Indy Car of some of the highlights. Notice how incredibly fast the cars are going... even though the video doesn't really do it justice. I've said it a bunch already, but I am so thankful to see the performance of ethanol powered racing, and so many other things through my Market Development Internship with Iowa Corn. 

The GMO/organic discussion is all over the news, social media, and editorials today and has been a hot topic for several years. Last year I was fortunate enough to attend the Food Dialogues Event at Iowa State University. Even though this isn't a short clip, let me encourage you to watch and learn the science behind the debate. Katie Olthoff and Wayne Humphreys, who've been featured in my blog before are on the panel. 

Hope you've enjoyed these videos and learned something new! As always, I'd love to hear about any new clips you find! Thanks for reading!

Ethanol Powered Weekend

It's hard to believe the biggest project of my internship with Iowa Corn is over and the summer is half gone! This past weekend I was blessed to work with an amazing group of people from our office, Iowa Speedway, and several other organizations to pull off an exciting weekend showcasing the power of ethanol. There was a lot of behind the scenes preparation and promotion before the event and it was great to learn from so many experts as we got ready. I will never think of a sporting event the same!

As soon as my internship started, I spent a lot of time organizing spreadsheets and making phone calls to make sure we got all 3,000 of our VIP guests the right tickets and t-shirts. There were afternoons where the rows and columns seemed like a tangled yarn ball, but I had some great conversations with our patient grower members as I worked to sort out the mess. During the whole process I learned tons about customer service, order fulfillment, and office efficiency. Last weekend, it was rewarding to look at the sea of blue shirts across the speedway and know I was involved in each person's experience at least once.

This year we sent out over 3,000 t-shirts. I loved the design and will wear mine proudly.

Before the big weekend, we partnered with Kum & Go and held four pump promotions. I had fun creating radio scripts and working with stations to get the word out. At each promotion, E85 was $0.85/gallon for 2 hours! For this round of promotions I was lucky enough to attend two of the events and talk to several first time E85 customers. It was so fun telling people about the difference they can make in the environment, Iowa's economy, and their own pocketbook by filling up with higher blends of ethanol. For more information about E85 check out Iowa Corn's Ethanol page. On top of getting a great deal, customers got the opportunity to win tickets to the race weekend and take a lap around the block in a street legal Indy car!

I had a great time working with several members of the Iowa Corn staff in a more relaxed setting.

The two-seater Indy car was a blast!

I was so excited when I found out our final promotion of the week was with Casey's General Store. Unfortunately, at Iowa Corn we don't work with them very often because they don't sell higher blends of ethanol. This makes me so sad because growing up in Columbus Junction, Casey's was the only chain store we had for 20 miles most of my life. I have so many fond memories of running with dad to pick up a Friday night pizza after a busy week, coming home to a special treat of Casey's doughnuts, or stopping for a sprinkle sugar cookie just about every day of open campus my senior year. Anyway, there will always be a special place in my small-town-loving-heart for Casey's and it was so fun to get to work with them for once. For our promotion, we handed out $5 off ethanol coupons and visited with customers about the upcoming race. Marco Andretti made an appearance and there were lots of fans that came out to get his autograph. It was a perfect sunny summer afternoon and I enjoyed conversation with folks from NASCAR, Iowa Speedway, and Dekalb. To top off a perfect afternoon, the manager treated us to pizza! Mmmm!

Marco Andretti and I at the Pleasant Hills Casey's pump promotion!!

Thursday night, all our promotions were over and signcades, napkins, t-shirts, first aid-kits, zip ties, banners, sharpies, cups, ponchos and anything else you could imagine we might need to host 3,000 people in our VIP tent were stacked neatly waiting for their ride to the speedway. I was so nervous/excited/anxious/afraid I would snooze through my alarm, I could barely sleep! 

Sure enough, Friday rolled around and it was game time. By 8am the DFMs and and I had all their Jeeps packed, last minute errands had been run, and I was on my way to pick up 9,000 pats of butter (a blog post for another day!). Eventually, I arrived in Newton and joined my team hanging banners and hauling totes to set up in the tent. Meanwhile, we all had a close eye on the radar as the clouds grew and humidity thickened. By afternoon, it was time to relax and enjoy the American Ethanol 200. Since we weren't the sponsors of this race we watched from the suite and devoured a delicious meal. Special guests Bill Northey and Rusty Wallace joined us. I enjoyed their perspective on the race and comments about Iowa Corn's sponsorship.

 Bill Northey and Rusty Wallace

Even though I'm not a huge race fan I had a great time meeting up with friends and family. The chance to get familiar with the grounds made me feel much better about the next day. Since I had credentials, I could go about anywhere and got to see the action from a variety of angles. We were blessed the rain held off and the clouds broke for a beautiful night of racing under the lights.

I got to sit and watch about 10 laps of the race in the grandstands. It was amazing to be so close!

With all that was going on, Friday flew! By the end of the night, it felt so good to crash in our hotel! Saturday morning I woke up before my alarm eager to get to the track. (Anyone who knows me well could tell you this is quite a feat!) The morning was pretty relaxed and I was itching to get to work. I was the first staff to make it to the tent and rushed off to get my golf cart so I could begin checking things off my to do list. 

Before too long, it was time to set up the mechanics forum. I'm not mechanically inclined at all, and most of what the speaker said was over my head, but it was really interesting to hear about all the adjustments the teams make to the cars. It still amazes me all those engines run on fuel grown right here in Iowa! An engineer from Indy Car came and spoke to the group about all the precautions they take to control the g-forces the drivers experience. I learned that a few mistakes in adjustments and a driver can actually go so fast on such a short track they lose their orientation!

Later, with various groups, I got to see the whole infield. The media center had all kinds of drivers, crew members, and new casters buzzing around. The tech pad, where each car is inspected to make sure it meets regulations, was impressive too. Weaving my golf cart around elaborate haulers and RVs to get to the garages was neat. There was so much going on!

Mid afternoon it was time to set up our sweet corn display. We had 7,000 ears of corn, 15,000 napkins, and 9,000 servings of butter, salt and pepper to give away to race fans. Man! It was a lot! Several farmers and ag students were there distributing the corn and talking to visitors about the difference between sweet corn and field corn.

This was part of the message our farmers shared with our guests. Source: Iowa Corn Food & Fuel Infographic

Lots of guests, and our staff enjoyed the sweet corn feed!

I didn't get to stick around the sweet corn long! Off to the infield for pre-race! During pre-race I stayed with the presidents of ICGA and ICPB to make sure they got to the right place and held their belongings for pictures. We walked out on the track, which is steeper than you would think, and met track president Jimmy Small, Lt. Governor Kim Reynolds, and others. After lots of introductions and a few short welcome speeches it was time to tell the drivers to "start your ethanol powered engines" and wave the green flag. Bob and Roger, our presidents, had those responsibilities. After their jobs were complete, Bob and I hopped in the pace car for a few laps around the track. That just might have been the highlight of my night!

 Pace car selfie!

Once the race was started, I could finally relax for a few laps. I grabbed some left over sweet corn and made my way to the tent to catch up with friends. It was great to sit down for a bit, but not for long! With 50 laps to go, we made our way to victory lane to prepare for all the pictures, interviews, and trophy presentations. Being in the infield as the cars whirred past was exhilarating! As the race drew to a close and things got intense, you could hear the shouting and cheering coming from the pits. I couldn't see much of the actual race, but it was an exciting finish with some last minute passes made for the lead.  

Congratulations to Ryan-Hunter Ray!

All in all, it was a great weekend and I learned more than I ever could have imagined! I'm so grateful for my internship and all the people who patiently worked with me to contribute to such a huge event. Thanks to all my friends and family that came out to the track to support us! I can't wait to see what the 9th Iowa Corn Indy 300 will be like! Thanks for reading!