Tony Purcell (Texas State Networks, Dallas, TX) said the blizzard in the Texas Panhandle had a major effect. “Movement of cotton and cattle to market came to a standstill. Fences were knocked down and a lot of cattle were loose and unaccounted for. At one point, about 20 head were tying up traffic on the main loop in Lubbock,” Tony said. There was not much in the way of death loss reported, but that may change as ranchers are able to get into the pastures,” he added. “The Dallas area basically experienced all four seasons in a four-day period. On December 25, it was 73 degrees and sunny. On December 26, it was 81 degrees with a massive tornado outbreak.

Ron Hayes (Radio Oklahoma Network, Oklahoma City, OK) reports, “Oklahoma has always been a land of weather extremes, and the end of 2015 proved that to be true.  The winter storm that some weather watchers were calling Goliath brought a variety of weather into Oklahoma—from snow drifts several feet tall to flood waters that broke records that were set in 1950.” In Central and Western Oklahoma, the ice and snow caused power outages for more than 150,000 homes (many served by Rural Electric Coops).

Mike Dain (First Oklahoma Ag, Voice of Southwest Agriculture and Yancey Ag Network, Oklahoma City, OK) traveled to Fort Knox, KY, where his son-in-law is Command Sergeant Major of Army Cadet Command (ROTC).  On his return, he reports that it rained all the way from Kentucky to Tennessee then across Arkansas and into Oklahoma. “Goliath (storm) dropped immense amounts of rain in Arkansas and in the eastern half of Oklahoma. Flooding was big concern because of 6-12 inches of rain while blizzard conditions, an ice storm, and winter storm conditions covered western Oklahoma and down into Texas.

Ag News Director Lorrie Boyer (KSIR Radio, Fort Morgan, CO) was awarded the 2015 Communications Excellence Award by the Colorado Association of Conservation Districts (CACD). The award was presented for her work in helping to educate people about what the CACD does and how they work with landowners and agriculture operators to advance soil health and enhance natural habitat. Also, she helped CACD with promoting meetings, events and letting people know about resources that they have available.

NAFB releases new industry research highlighting farmers and ranchers farm radio usage. Research was conducted in three waves this year, Wave 1 – February/March, Wave 2 – May/June and Wave 3 September/October. Research findings show farm radio listening is consistent among producers throughout all three waves, and the more days per week a farmer listens, the more minutes per day they listen. In addition to the phone call survey, we also recruited respondents to participate in a mobile diary research, provided daily photos of how they listen to farm radio.

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