First reports of Florida crop damage from Hurricane Irma were conservatively estimated at about 50 percent crop loss, but Florida Ag Commissioner Adam Putnam stated he thinks it is more in the 80-plus percent crop loss range, reports Gary Cooper (Southeast AgNet Radio Network, Gainesville, FL). “Citrus damage was in all citrus growing areas, both east and west coast.

The Farm Progress Show comes to Illinois every other year, and this was the year for me to return to my roots,” 2002 NAFB President Colleen Callahan said. “Thanks to Max Armstrong (2017 NAFB President) for giving me the opportunity to work together on the ADM stage. It must be like riding a bike,” she said.  

Liz Brown (KOEL-AM, Oelwein, IA) was raised in northeast Iowa in a small farming town by a single mom and three older brothers. “Stepping up and doing what you should is not a suggestion, it’s the unwritten rule. That’s how my journey began,” she says.

Jared White (WHOW/WEZC, Clinton, IL) serves as Station Manager of WHOW and WEZC as well as farm broadcaster for the Miller Media Group radio stations in Clinton and Taylorville, IL. Jared has been in the farm broadcasting position since May 2010 and has been an NAFB member since then.

Gale Cunningham (WYXY, CHAMPAIGN, IL) mentored two NAFB Foundation 2017 student intern grant recipients, Kade Hill, left, and Bethany Boose. Kade Hill, WYXY (Champaign, IL) intern said, “It goes without saying that my decision to pursue a career in agriculture is a first for my family. Kade is from Paxton, IL, and he graduated from Paxton-Buckley-Loda High School in 2015, and is a sophomore at the University of Illinois majoring in agriculture education.