Airing on the Side of Agriculture

KWCL-FM, in Oak Grove, Louisiana, an affiliate of the Louisiana Agri-News Network (now Voice of Louisiana Agriculture Radio Network) for more than 30 years, was honored as 2019 Radio Station of the Year by the Louisiana Farm Bureau Federation.

If you have lived in the Midwest, specifically eastern Iowa, you have no doubt heard the voice of Roger King, news director, KOEL-AM (Oelwein, Iowa). King started at KOEL in 1989 and was promoted to news director in 1999. He has been reporting the news to northeast Iowans for more than 30 years.

In late July, the Red River Farm Network (RRFN) hosted a dozen representatives of the advertising agency world for its annual Know Your Farmer Tour.

A new name to watch in farm broadcasting is Kirsten Rall. She is a 2019 ag communications graduate of North Dakota State University (NDSU), who started as an intern and is now the newest full-time member of the American Ag Network team. 

The Michigan Ag Information Network (MAIN) is proud to introduce Ashley Davenport as its new in-state farm broadcaster. Beginning August 1, Davenport became the face and voice of this growing radio network. 

Tom Steever joined the Brownfield (Jefferson City, Missouri) team in August 2003 after five years with American Farm Bureau Federation (AFBF.)  On September 30, 2019, the veteran farm broadcaster is retiring from his full-time role as anchor/reporter and easing into a part-time position with Brownfield.

In this 75^th anniversary year of NAFB, we invited Jim Evans to share his reflections on the association’s early years. An emeritus faculty member in agricultural communications at the University of Illinois, Jim Evans began his professional career in farm broadcasting. He is a Meritorious Service Award recipient and an honorary member of NAFB.

Delaney Howell (Ag News Daily, Ankeny, Iowa) grew up on a row-crop and livestock farm in southeast Iowa and never really knew she wanted to pursue a career in agriculture until late middle school when she had a phenomenal FFA teacher.

Brent Adams marked a new chapter in his career in January with the launch of Fastline Fast Track, a weekly radio show and biweekly podcast featuring ag industry newsmakers, farm equipment talk, rural lifestyle features, and a country music segment recorded at the legendary Ernest Tubb Record Shop in Nashville, Tennessee.

Besides being an ag news producer, Marjorie Kulba (Farm Journal Broadcasting, South Bend, Indiana) shared she is a wife, a mom, and an amateur genealogist.