Baker Completes Summer Internship With Council

U.S. Grains Council (USGC) summer intern Patrick Baker closed out his time at the organization’s Washington, D.C., headquarters on Aug. 6.

Working with the Council’s global strategies team, Baker focused this summer on projects supporting the organization’s operations in the Middle East, Africa and South Asia.

Among other projects, he created a feed price database to compare prices across countries in the Middle East and Africa, that allows Council employees to log prices and analyze data to identify potential barriers and inefficiencies in the trade that could restrict exports of U.S. commodities. The database also looked at internal barriers in each country that limited livestock sector development and posed the question about what the Council can do to address these constraints with the support of the local industry.

“Patrick took a project that had been sitting on the shelf for a couple of months and really helped us consolidate and analyze the information in a useful format. He also helped us analyze the impact of the COVID pandemic or other crisis on the feed industry in a couple of key countries,” said Kurt Shultz, director of global strategies.

Baker, a political science and global studies double major at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln, was sponsored as an intern with the support of the Nebraska Corn Board.

He will return to the University of Nebraska-Lincoln this fall to complete his undergraduate studies, after which he plans to work in public policy or trade before pursuing either a master’s or law degree.

“I am incredibly grateful for the staff at the U.S. Grains Council for making it a priority for me to feel like a welcome member of the team,” Baker said. “The global strategies team welcomed me on day one and ensured that I was an included member of the team on all meetings, webinars, and other Council functions.“

Thank you for your contributions to the Council this summer, Patrick!