My Summer With AFIA

Written by: Guest   |   July 7, 2021

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By: Mikayla McKenna, AFIA communications intern

As July 9 suddenly sneaks up on me, my summer with the American Feed Industry Association as their 2021 summer communications intern is coming to an end. I have much to reflect and look back on. I feel like my summer had just begun, but then I blinked, and now I am saying (virtually) goodbye to the staff members here.

For those of you that don’t know who I am, I'm known as the girl with two first names. I am originally from northeast Iowa, a small town called Hudson, where I grew up on my family's corn and soybean operation. I currently go to Iowa State University (go Cyclones), where I am getting my bachelor's degree in agricultural communications and international agriculture. I am graduating in December and then plan on getting my master's degree in international agriculture. Before working with the AFIA this summer, I worked for a state-level association, the Iowa Corn Grower’s Association, as their market development intern. From my experience representing the corn industry, I had the lovely opportunity to switch gears and represent the feed industry this summer.

This summer, I completed many different projects and learned the differences between a state-level association and a national-level association. I learned how different assocations market and voice their industries from different levels. National level assocations like AFIA, have a much wider member-base located all throughout the United States (and even internationally), compared to the state level assocations where the members are only located throughout the state. Learning how the communications team at the AFIA voices, brands, and markets the feed industry was also a really interesting thing to learn about this summer.

I also got to learn about a new part of the agriculture industry – pet food and animal feed – through the many #FeedFacts and statistics I gathered for social media, infographics, the Safe Feed/Safe Food program and more.

From a communications perspective, I had the pleasure of working with AFIA’s members directly, learning how to operate a website from behind the scenes, writing marketing emails to members and so much more. My passion for international agriculture grew through getting to create multimedia content for our use in educating international audiences about U.S. feed additives and reviewing the AFIA’s proposal for Market Access Program funds.

As you can see, I have been very busy this summer working with the communications team and “hit the ground running,” as Victoria Broehm said to me. I am honored to have worked with such a great organization and “meet” (virtually) such a welcoming staff. The network and connections my time here has given me will last a lifetime, as well as everything I have learned here. To the AFIA staff, thank you for an amazing experience and for helping me become a better young professional.

If you want to chat international agriculture, #FeedFacts or the Iowa State Cyclones, email me at mik.mckenna2@gmail.com!