Brent Adams, owner and president of Rural Strong Media and host of the “Tractors and Troubadours” radio show and podcast, closed the purchase of the startup media company from Cape Girardeau, Missouri-based Sotera LLC on July 31, 2022.
Adams said the mission of Rural Strong Media is to provide relevant programming to industry stakeholders while simultaneously telling the story of agriculture to the rest of the community.
“With midterm elections, a presidential election cycle, a new farm bill, and increasing cost, weather, and trade pressures poised to impact American agriculture, there couldn’t be a more important time to have a seat at the table,” said Adams.
“It’s a responsibility we take seriously, and we hope we can be a source for agriculture industry stakeholders and consumers alike when they make important decisions and judgments about the state of the industry and the hard-working men and women who keep it going. This company was created with them in mind,” Adams added.
“There is a lot on the drawing board” regarding the growth and new projects, according to Adams. Rural Strong Media’s flagship projects include Adams’ “Tractors and Troubadours” weekly radio show and podcast, which focuses on agriculture industry newsmakers, hot-button ag industry issues, educational features, and traditional country music.
“We are trying to expand syndication for ‘Tractors and Troubadours’ to be broadcast over as many stations across the country as we can,” Adams stated. “Another show I want to continue to grow is ‘AgWomen Strong.’”
“AgWomen Strong” allows Rural Strong Media to highlight women doing extraordinary things in agriculture.
Including additional commodity and agronomy programming is another goal for the network.
Rural Strong Media also is looking to expand beyond podcasts and radio, and the company wants to transition into video projects.
“There has been much discussion over video projects and live-streaming recently. The mission behind the live streaming is to develop engagement amongst GenZ and Millennials,” Adams said. “It is one thing to create content and throw it out there, hoping people will engage with it. Instead, we want to encourage a dialogue.”
Rural Strong Media also has formed a content development and marketing partnership with Milwaukee, Wisconsin-based Dreamlux Media, which is currently developing agriculture-focused content for the Discovery Channel, RFD-TV, and the Sinclair Broadcast Group.
Rural Strong Media’s other projects include the “Rural Strong Live” agriculture and country music live streams, video projects, and Rural Strong Radio, a 24/7 streaming radio station playing agriculture and traditional country music programming. Rural Strong Radio also promotes other shows, such as Robby Lynn’s “Sunday’s Kind of Country,” “The Bottomline Report with Mark Oppold,” “Ag Law and Tax Report with Roger McEowen,” “Market Talk with Jesse Allen,” and “Bushels and Cents with Ray Bohacz.”
