Airing on the Side of Agriculture

“I retired from the San Angelo Standard-Times and Abilene Reporter-News as agriculture editor emeritus in June 2018 and from Voice of Southwest Agriculture Radio Network in 2010.” On his 76th birthday in August, Jerry Lackey (Emeritus NAFB Member, San Angelo, Texas) agreed to “help out” at Livestock Weekly, a national newspaper known as the Wall Street Journal of the ranching industry. He is still there, working as “acting editor,” following several retirements.

“It has been an exciting ending to 2018 for the KASM Farm Department (Albany, Minnesota),” reports Joe Gill. In November, Joe received the Agriculture Communicator of the Year Award by the Minnesota Farm Bureau Foundation. According to the Minnesota Farm Bureau website, this award is presented because an important mission of Farm Bureau is to inform the public about its policy positions and to tell agriculture’s story.

Illinois Governor-Elect J.B. Pritzker and Lieutenant Governor-Elect Juliana Stratton announced the formation and members of the transition’s Growing Our Agricultural Economy Committee. The committee is the fifth of several working groups of the Illinois transition made up of subject-matter experts who will advise and guide the incoming Pritzker-Stratton administration. The Growing Our Agricultural Economy Committee will be chaired by former USDA Rural Development State Director Colleen Callahan and Former State Senator John Sullivan, and consist of 22 members. “Agriculture accounts for one in 17 jobs in Illinois, and J.B. and I are committed to supporting farmers across our state,” said Lieutenant Governor-Elect Stratton. “This committee will focus on policies that help our agriculture and rural communities thrive — from investing in farm to market infrastructure and expanding access to capital for family farmers to defending agricultural education and growing rural areas in downstate Illinois.” 

Besides his recent induction into the 2018 NAFB Hall of Fame, Don Wick (Red River Farm Network, Grand Forks, ND) also received the Minnesota Farmers Union Ag Communicator of the Year Award.  Both awards were presented at the NAFB 2018 Convention

“In December of 2017 after 43 years of being on the radio, I suddenly found myself wondering whether my broadcast career was over,” said Mike Adams (Adams on Agriculture, Jacksonville, IL). Among the many emails and phone calls Mike received, there was one in particular that caught him by surprise. “Lance Knudson with the American Ag Network called to see what my plans were for the future. I told him I really wasn't sure, and we agreed to talk again after the holidays. Little did I know that phone call was the door opening to the next stage of my career. When we talked again in January, Lance explained he wanted to start a syndicated radio show based on news content and using the contacts and experiences I had gained over the years. It seemed too good to be true. A few days later I talked again with Lance and Mark Swendsen about different ideas and possibilities. The more we talked the more interested I became, and we soon reached an agreement.”

Bob Larson (Ag Information Network of the West, Walla Walla, WA) found his niche working for the student-run college radio station, KBVR 88.7 FM, as a news reporter and eventually news director.  Back in the ‘80s, he graduated from Oregon State University (OSU) with a degree in technical journalism. During his time at OSU, he also wrote for the school paper, The Daily Barometer. “After graduation, I moved to Seattle looking for a career in media or public relations, working for a few different organizations, but I eventually found my way back to radio with a job at KOMO in 1995. I started as a talk show board-op and producer, but I found myself back on the news side when the station went from a talk format to a 24-7 news source a couple of years later. In 2006, as things seemed to happen in radio, there was some reorganization at KOMO, and I found myself lured to News-Talk 710 KIRO. About a year later, the iconic KIRO AM station moved to the FM side at 97.3. Over the years in radio news, I’ve enjoyed assignments as a general news reporter, anchor, and editor.”

Scott Woodson (Farm Broadcaster, EAB Ag Network, Jonesboro, AR) said, “To be honest, I have a much more substantial history in music radio than I do in farm broadcasting.” He grew up in a farming community in north central Arkansas. His father was a construction worker, who retired in the tiny town of Newark, AR.  “We had moved there to finish up construction of a coal burning power plant and loved the area so much, my dad decided to retire early so I could go to high school in one place.”  Scott explained, “We moved so many times in the early years of my life. For instance, I went to five different schools in the fifth grade alone.”  Because of the coal burning plant in the county, Newark Schools received quite a bit of tax funding and started many new programs including a radio and television department. “My first year of high school, I developed asthma and had to quit participating in sports. I had to fill that hour of my day, so I decided to try out radio and television to see if I liked it. It was amazing! I won several state awards in radio during my high school years and decided to study radio programming at the University of Arkansas in 1987.” 

About his career, John Herath (Farm Journal News Director, South Bend, IN) said, “Nearly all of my career circles back to an unplanned internship at a local radio station. Since then, I’ve been fortunate to be surrounded by a lot of very smart people who have been gracious and patient enough to let me learn from them.” It was at that station, WLDS in Jacksonville, IL, where John first worked with Mike Adams, then the station’s farm director. John worked full-time in the station’s news department through his college years. Mike Perrine was the farm director at the cross-town rival. After graduation, John did a brief stint as news director at WIHN (Bloomington, IL) before moving to WFMB/WCVS (Springfield, IL) where he co-hosted a morning political talk show and served as backup to legendary farm broadcaster Peggy Kaye. “Peggy not only taught me how to read a markets screen, but she also shared her tenacious news sense and how to relate on a personal level to the radio audience.

Bill Baker (American Cattle News/Dairy Radio Now, Bend, OR) knew he wanted to be a radio broadcaster early in life. When he was 10 years old, he built a make-shift radio station in his bedroom and broadcast to an audience of one, his dog Moses. Later in high school, he heard about a classmate working a weekend shift at a real radio station. He tagged along and spent time recording his voice in the production room and leaving it for the boss to listen. “The station manager told me I didn’t have much of a voice, but I could read. That was enough encouragement for me,” he recalled. “I filled out my FCC license and was hired as a part-time board operator.”

“It’s been an honor to work at KMA (Shenandoah, IA) all these years,” said Dean Adkins. “It is still a family-owned radio station that’s been going strong since 1925, serving southwest Iowa, southeast Nebraska, northwest Missouri, and northwest Kansas. I’ve had the opportunity to ‘wear many hats’ while working at KMA.” These days, Dean hosts a morning talk show and a buy-sell-trade program while also serving as Ag Services Director. “I also enjoy helping out in the sports department with some wrestling and football reporting.” As Ag Services Director, one of his main passions besides relaying basic market information and general ag news is to get out to the people in his listening area.