J. Bryan McGarvey (Neuhoff Media, WKOA/WASK, Lafayette, IN) has received a grant from the U.S. State Department to assist in establishing Africa’s first 24-hour agricultural-focused radio station. Bryan was a mentor for the Mandela Washington Fellowship International Reciprocal Exchange Program, part of the Young African Leaders Initiative (YALI) in 2016, in conjunction with Purdue University.

Merry Christmas! Wow, where has 2016 gone! It seems just like yesterday I was getting ready to head to Orlando for the American Farm Bureau Convention in January! The NAFB staff has been very busy since wrapping up convention. The staff has been working on the 2017 budget, preparing for a new supplemental research project and of course 2017 Washington Watch and Convention

​AgNet West farm news director Sabrina Hill was born just a few hours from the North Pole. North Pole, Alaska, that is. While she may be purely Californian now, every Christmas she channels some of her snowy beginnings, dons red velvet and white fur, and turns into Mrs. Claus.

“After almost 37 years with John Deere, I decided to take retirement and move to the next chapter in my life,” said Barry Nelson. “I consider myself very blessed and very fortunate to have had a great career with a great company. I also have had the tremendous opportunity to make great friends outside of Deere, in the industry, the media, and with farmers and ranchers throughout the U.S. and Canada.”

Orion Samuelson and his wife, Gloria, rode in the local parade as Grand Marshal on the final day of the festival. On New Year’s Day 2017, Orion will be alongside the Rose Parade route to co-host with Pam Minick RFD-TV’s live coverage of the parade on January 1.