Airing on the Side of Agriculture

Many people consider their dogs as their best friends. But for some people like Lisa Adams, dogs are an athletic teammate, as well. Adams, who is an NAFB Allied Industry Member (Kansas City, MO), shows herding dogs on the competitive agility show circuit. Competitive canine agility is something Adams stumbled across five years ago when trying to find an exercise outlet for her white Australian cattle dog, Tess.

Cyndi Young-Puyear (Brownfield Ag News, Jefferson City, MO) was among a group of seven U.S. journalists who made the trip to Monheim, Germany, for the Future of Farming Dialogue 2018 event with Bayer Crop Science. Farmers, influencers, and journalists from more than 35 countries met in September 2018 for Bayer’s farming dialogue. “The much-anticipated merger of Monsanto into Bayer Crop Science began four weeks prior to this global thought leadership event, so there were many questions about the direction of the new company. During the opening session, Bayer leaders outlined the vision for the future and reaffirmed a commitment to innovation, sustainability and digital transformation,” Young-Puryear said. During an interview later in the day, she asked Bayer Crop Science President Liam Condon what has him “buzzed up.”

Everett Griner,at 92 years young, is turning off his Southeast AgNet microphone to officially retire, reports Gary Cooper, right, (founder and president of AgNet Media, Inc., Gainesville, FL). Everett plans to spend more time with his wife at their farm home in Moultrie, GA. “There are so many things about Everett that I learned to appreciate and respect since he joined the Southeast AgNet farm broadcast team in the late 1980s.

Jim Ross Lightfoot (NAFB Emeritus Member, White Oak, TX) asks and answers his own question, “What do old farm broadcasters do when they’ve read their last market report and filed their last story? Reminisce!  Yes, we oldtimers do a lot of that.”  Jim says he was very fortunate to have started his career in farm broadcasting with an excellent broadcaster by the name of Jack Gowing. “Jack was a great mentor, and he taught me many things that I still use today. In those days the major livestock yards were operating in places like Omaha and Chicago. Between the American Royal Stock Show in Kansas City, Denver Stock Show, Chicago Stock Show and others, we had plenty to do

The Red River Farm Network organizes a series of forums each year for the Big Iron Farm Show in West Fargo, ND. The topics addressed this year included the market outlook, land values, weather and farm succession planning.

Kim Miller (KZEN, Columbus, NE) grew up in west-central Missouri and attended the University of Central Missouri in Warrensburg. After graduating college in 2015, she took a job at a local radio station. “My dream was to become an on-air personality. One thing led to another, and soon I found myself as the Farm Director at that station.” After being there for a few years, Kim and her husband were looking for better opportunities and thinking about leaving the small town where they both had grown up.

What does a farm broadcaster do when not on the air or working on a story? Some have hobbies, travel, spend time on the farm or maybe they have another job. Dave Schumacher (KTRS, St. Louis, MO) is one who has the other job.  “In my days before radio some 40 years ago while working as a commission man at the National Stockyard, I was fascinated with the auctioneer selling the cattle.  I had to learn how to do that.”

NAFB members who know Jerry Harrington (Honorary Member, Iowa City, IA) as the former marketing public relations professional from DuPont Pioneer have enjoyed his help in pulling from the rich source of agronomic and research experts in Pioneer to offer interviews to farm broadcasters. Since retiring from Pioneer in 2014, Harrington has turned to his first love and become a full-time historian – specializing in Iowa political history.

Brownfield Ag News anchor/reporter Ken Anderson received the American Coalition for Ethanol’s (ACE) 2018 Media Excellence Award at the group’s recent annual conference in Minneapolis. Presenting the award, ACE Communications Director Katie Fletcher said Anderson “epitomizes objective news reporting, and covers the policy, markets, events and issues that the ethanol and agricultural industries need to know.” 

Leif Bakken (Northern Ag Network, Billings, MT) is a new farm broadcaster and NAFB member who grew up on a small cow and wheat operation north of Lemmon, SD, where they also raised sheep until recently. His parents, DeJon and Jeri Lynn Bakken, currently run around 120 head of cattle and grow wheat. From a very young age, Leif was involved in agriculture especially in 4-H and FFA. He showed chickens, sheep, and steers almost every year of his 4-H career. “In North Dakota 4-H, there was a communication arts program where I started doing public speaking, demonstrations, and a broadcasting event. That’s when I was starting to realize this might be what I wanted to do.