Airing on the Side of Agriculture

March 6 marked Pam Fretwell’s last day at Farm Journal as she is now retired and will be doing some contract work for Farm Journal and others through her own company Fretwell Communications. Pam never thought she would be involved in agriculture. Growing up in a suburb of Kansas City, she was the daughter of a jeweler and entrepreneur, and although her mother and father both came from rural roots, agriculture was probably the last thing she thought about growing up.

Hoosier Ag Today, Indiana’s premier agricultural radio network, and Farm World, one of the oldest and largest weekly farm newspapers in the Eastern Corn Belt, have jointly purchased the Indiana-Illinois Farm and Outdoor Power Equipment Show from Richard Sherman, who has operated the show the past 39 years. The show will be held December 11 – 13, 2018, at the Indiana State Fairgrounds.

A group of NAFB broadcasters, management and affiliated industry will be leaving for China on June 21 and returning on July 4. Leader of the tour will be John Block, former U.S. Secretary of Agriculture who will be accompanied by his wife.  Tom Cassidy, NAFB President, and Tom Brand, NAFB Executive Director, will handle logistics along the way.  Currently, 10NAFB broadcasters are working to gain visas for reporting in China.   

​Dave Williams (Pennsylvania Farm Country Radio Network, Honesdale, PA) reports, “Winter brought record low temperatures along with high winds exceeding 60 miles per hour and heavy wet snowfalls. All this added together toppled many trees making for large power outages throughout the northeast as well as the state.” Pennsylvania implemented a state of emergency throughout Dave’s area. “In our area there was a dairy barn fire that started from thawing frozen water pipes for their cattle, and around 100 milk cows perished in the fire which was devastating for the family.” But in January at the Pennsylvania Farm Show, Dave’s county received good news in the form of a new certified FFA chapter for the first time in more than 40 years.

To watch the weather on a national news outlet, one would think that the Northeast suffered a terrible winter. But Tom Cassidy (Ag Radio Network, Inc., Barneveld, NY), who has lived in the Northeast for nearly 50 years, thinks that it was as typical as could be. Big snows early, an early thaw that left communities under water, a bitter cold snap, a few big snows and an unusually long, drawn out maple season has characterized the winter of 2018 for Tom.

“When I was in sixth grade, I told a friend that I wanted to someday be on the radio,” said Mike Adams (Adams on Agriculture).  “Of course, back then my concept of radio was music and ball games.  I didn’t even know there were farm broadcasters on the radio.  Also, I didn’t know that working on a farm would be the best education and career preparation I could get.”

Greg Martin (WJBC, Bloomington, IL) said, “It has been an interesting road that has led me from Kansas to Illinois back to Kansas to Washington State and finally back to Illinois. Such is the life of a radio personality.”  He explained, “In a way it’s a full circle for me since my first program director job was in Bloomington, IL, some 32 years ago for WIHN 96FM.

On March 28, Iowa Agribusiness Radio Network announced an addition to its team of farm broadcasters.  Dustin Hoffmann will serve as the network’s Broadcast Services Supervisor and Farm Broadcaster starting on April 2. Dustin comes to the network from Redwood Falls, MN, where he served as Farm Director for KLGR.

For the first time in eight years, Prairie Farmer has named an Honorary Master Farmer.  They chose Max Armstrong (WGN, Chicago, IL, and Penton Agriculture, Aurora, IL). 

The Thomas Fire that burned through Ventura County last December became the largest fire in California’s history, and it led to some major agricultural losses, reports Patrick Cavanaugh (California Ag Today, Clovis, CA). “There were 6,603 acres of avocados, 1,800 acres of lemons, and another 540 acres of oranges, as well as another dozen crops that were affected,” said Henry Gonzales, the Agricultural Commissioner of Ventura County.