Ag News Daily podcast was created in late 2016 by Mike Pearson and Delaney Howell, but their story goes much further back in time. As the son of a well-known broadcaster himself, Mike had big shoes to fill after his father, Mark Pearson, passed away unexpectedly in 2012, and Mike was asked to step in as host of Iowa Public Television’s show Market to Market. “Stepping in as host of Market to Market really opened my eyes to the huge diversity in agriculture across this country,” recalls Mike. Delaney on the other hand remembers hearing Mike’s father, Mark, on the radio program The Big Show during the summertime as a child and always knew she wanted to be a voice heard ‘round the world.’ “It was a huge coincidence that we now happen to work together all these years later,” Delaney reflects. “I used to love listening to Mark on the radio, he was always such an inspiration to me even all these years later.” After being selected for an internship with Market to Market during her college years, Mike and Delaney’s paths finally crossed. For the next two years, the pair kept in contact off and on. After Delaney finished college, she came back to Iowa Public Television to work once more.
During late fall of 2016, Mike called Delaney one night with an idea, and while that idea was not what their business has become, it sparked in both a desire to find a new way to be voices for agriculture. “I decided to talk to Delaney about getting a service started because I believed it was important that we had a diversity of voices in the world of ag broadcasting as well as she was young, hardworking, and willing to take risks,” says Mike. After attending the 2016 NAFB Convention, the two sat down to discuss about what the ag industry needed. After many ideas were kicked around, and months of discussion and planning were done, Delaney concluded that the two needed to start a podcast. “I attended the 2017 Commodity Classic, my first time at the Classic, and talked to people about the ideas we had been kicking around for Ag News Daily. Rob Sharkey, fellow podcaster, was really the one who inspired the idea to just start our own podcast,” says Delaney. Ag News Daily was created as a daily agricultural news podcast to provide people in the industry with accessible, quick information wherever they were. Delaney added, “The podcast has been a work in progress but follows the basic outline of 10-15 minutes of news, followed by the commodity market closing prices, and ending with an interview with someone from the ag industry.” Mike explains, “My vision for the podcast was to make ag news even more accessible to farmers as the media landscape has continued to change.” Delaney added, “Whereas, my vision was to not only make ag news more accessible, but to connect more people with others involved in agriculture using some of the latest technology.” She continued, “And to be honest, I didn’t know how much work a daily podcast would be, but I’m glad we’ve started down this path and that I have a great partner to work with.” As the two continue to work towards their goal of becoming an international news podcast, both understand the value that traditional radio and television have played and will play into the future. “We believe radio and TV will continue to be a mainstay of ag broadcasting, but we’re excited to bring ag news to a new platform,” Mike concludes. To check out the podcast, go to Ag News Daily wherever you listen to podcasts or check them out online at www.agnewsdaily.com.
