New NAFB member Kyle Hill (KRES, Moberly, MO) was named 2015 Ag Communicator of the Year by the Missouri Department of Agriculture this past December. “I'd like to believe that my willingness to learn on the fly and persistence in having our farm families' stories told has been of benefit for our listeners. To wit, my regular visits with extension agents, state agriculture officials, and commodity groups culminated this past December when I was named recipient of the award.” How did he get into farm broadcasting? “I initially didn't have designs to go into farm broadcasting. I grew up in suburban Kansas City and attended a high school with a graduating class of 493. (Our school's FFA chapter had lapsed a decade prior.) However, some of my fondest childhood memories involved trips east to the family farm, where Paul Harvey's Weekend Magazine aired as we approached the exit leading to it. On several weekends we'd help my great-grandparents with their day-to-day operations.” Kyle had initially enrolled in Truman State University in Kirksville, MO, to become a high school journalism teacher, but the radio bug bit him about halfway through, and he started focusing primarily on broadcasting.
“At Truman I was news director of college radio station KTRM and also wrote for the campus weekly newspaper, specializing in covering campus and state politics. While most of my peers were focused on campus issues, my family connections around the surrounding region led me to write about some of the surrounding communities,” Kyle said. His first radio job was in Northwest Arkansas at news/farm/talk radio station KURM. “Despite the rapid urbanization of the region, my first real taste of farm radio was here, as I covered meetings in far-flung corners of the listening area and visited with farm families. This was actually the first of two stints I had in Northwest Arkansas.” In between those stints, Kyle had the opportunity to spend some time in southeast England's Kent, a county nicknamed the Garden of England. “I returned to Missouri in June 2013 when an opening occurred at KRES, and the following April, I was named farm director. Away from the farm mic, he’s heavily involved in Missouri's scholar bowl circuit. He’s assisted his brother's efforts to improve the circuit in the state, organizing tournaments and encouraging area teams to increase their participation. “As northeast Missouri has a strong history of quiz bowl, I've had the chance to host a weekly show during the winter highlighting area programs and conference tournaments.” Kyle looks forward to expanding his talents as a farm broadcaster as a member of the NAFB.
