Airing on the Side of Agriculture

Mike Dain (First Oklahoma Ag Network/Voice of Southwest Agriculture/Yancey Ag Network, Oklahoma City, OK) received the honorary Oklahoma Cattlewoman of the Year Award July 22.

“Agriculture and small town America have always been a huge part of my life,” said Kimberly Nuelle (KMZU/KRLI, Higginsville, MO). “I grew up in Alma, MO, a small town with a population of under 400 people. My dad farms corn and soybeans and has cattle. 

NAFB Allied Industry Council member, Christine Tew, who is Director of Communications and Public Relations at the Missouri Soybean Association, was recognized as one of “30 Women Changing Politics” by The Missouri Times in its June 9, 2016, print edition.

New Associate Director of Farm Programming for Radio Oklahoma Network (RON, Oklahoma City, OK) is Carson Horn. He will assist in covering local and national agricultural news for the network’s statewide broadcast and extensive Internet and social media outlets. Carson joins the network from his previous position as Director of Communications for the Arkansas Cattlemen’s Association.

The annual Brownfield Ag News summer meeting was held July 12–14 in Jefferson City, MO. Cyndi Young-Puyear (Brownfield Ag News, Jefferson City, MO) reports, “Each year, the Brownfield team of farm broadcasters (all Broadcast Council members of NAFB) come together for a few days of team building, re-tooling and fellowship. This year we welcomed two new team members:  Andrew Flinn, Ohio Brownfield Anchor/Reporter and Larry Lee, Wisconsin Brownfield Anchor/Reporter.

Terry Loomis is both General Manager of KQLX AM/FM and Farm Director. Mick Kjar is Farm Director and Host of Farm Talk. Terry said, “In November 1984, KQLX AM-890 hit the air in Lisbon, ND. In April 1986, KQLX FM 106.1 went on the air. Ag News 890 was dedicated to the farming community with local agriculture news, as well as being one of the first affiliates of the American Ag Network.

Don Lerch, Lifetime Broadcast Council-Emeritus member, who resides in Juno Beach, FL, tops the NAFB list of longtime members at 70 years. At 97 years young, he recalled his early farm broadcasting years in a phone call on June 1. He began his farm broadcasting career on June 9, 1941, at KDKA (Pittsburgh, PA), a Westinghouse-owned station and part of the NBC Red Network. He had just graduated from Penn State University with a degree in agronomy. 

Lane Nordlund is the Associate Ag Director at the Northern Ag Network based in Billings, MT. The network provides 22 different daily radio shows on 60 radio stations and two HD TV programs on 12 TV stations. Lane is the sixth generation of his family to raise cattle on their ranch on the Ft. Belknap Indian Reservation as well as off the reservation near Dodson, MT.