Airing on the Side of Agriculture

For Anita Vanderwert, agriculture has never been a phase or a profession—it has been a lifelong calling shaped by family, experience and service. Raised in Missouri’s cattle community, Vanderwert grew up learning the industry from the ground up, spending her formative years alongside her parents in barns, show rings and pastures across the Midwest.

Growing up in a family deeply rooted in agriculture, Sydney Septer was introduced to the industry at an early age. Raised on an acreage in southern Iowa, she began her agricultural journey through a cow-calf operation, raising Angus cattle as part of her FFA supervised agricultural experience.

Growing up on a corn and soybean farm in central Ohio, Maci Carter was immersed in agriculture from a young age. From delivering meals to the field with her mom to riding in the cab of a tractor with her dad, agriculture was part of everyday life.

C.J. Miller
Assistant News Director
Hoosier Ag Today/Michigan Ag Today

When did you join NAFB? 
I have been an NAFB member since 2022.

Shaun Haney, founder and CEO of RealAgriculture, says farm broadcasting was never the plan.

For graduate student Natasha Hightower, agriculture has always been more than a career path—it’s the foundation of her life. Raised on a small cattle operation in Bailey, Ark., she jokes that she was “trying to pet cows at two years old while my mom freaked out.” 

For Rural Radio Network Multimedia Producer Alex Makovicka, a career in farm broadcasting wasn’t the result of a single defining moment. It was the natural extension of a life rooted in agriculture, curiosity, and community.

Makovicka grew up on a cow–calf operation in central Nebraska, where agriculture was woven into daily life. 

For Jace Green, agriculture isn’t just a major—it’s a family legacy. A senior ag business student at Western Illinois University, Green grew up in Arthur, Illinois, a town surrounded by rich farmland and a large Amish community.

“My family has farmed there for generations,” he says. “It’s always been clear to me that agriculture was where I wanted to stay.”

For more than 25 years, Steve White has used his voice and his camera to tell the story of rural America.