Haylie Shipp recently rejoined the world of farm broadcasting when she accepted a position with Western Ag Network in Billings, Montana. Working from home in Glasgow, Montana, Shipp does on-air content including market reports. Her reason for coming home is all very simple: farm broadcasting is where her roots are.
“I started in 2006 with Northern Ag Network, and I worked with them for around a decade,” Shipp said. “I was in college at the timeI started for them, getting my degree in mass communications. I was born and raised on a ranch, so I have the agricultural background, and I always knew that I loved journalism.”
She had a decision to make in college, and it was between agricultural journalism or vet school. For her, it was about open opportunities.
“I had contacted a couple of entities that were in Billings to see if anyone had an internship opportunity,” she said. “Northern Ag Network did, and they brought me in as an intern. I was able to start doing some evergreen stories and eventually got into doing some of the more hard-hitting news stories.”
After graduating from college with her bachelor’s degree, Shipp transitioned into a full-time role at Northern Ag Network. She started working with the small team to produce daily stories along with some other new projects.
“At the time, we didn’t have a website presence, so we started working as a team to develop that,” Shipp said. “That evolved into social media too.”
During her time at Northern Ag Network, Shipp traveled the four-state area the network covered. She attended events like grower meetings and connected with her audience on a personal level.
“I did a lot of general networking,” Shipp added. “I was brand new to the industry of farm broadcasting, but I have a background in cattle. I understood a lot of that information and knew those grower groups fairly well, but I was also getting into different areas of agriculture that I had no idea about nor did I know the players in them.”
Shipp felt a call to come back home to Glasgow, so she took a hiatus from farm broadcasting to accept a position at her local radio station, KLTZ/Mix-93. She started out as a sales associate with some broadcasting responsibilities.
“Eventually, I got back into the farm broadcasting, and I now serve as the assistant manager/sales manager,” Shipp said. “I’ve expanded my clientele base so that I now represent more than 200 advertisers. I’ve also expanded my on-air stints to add a three-time weekly talk show that focuses on local issues.”
Her time in NAFB impacted her career in radio broadcasting, even when she was not directly involved in farm broadcasting. In 2010, Shipp was awarded the Horizon Award from NAFB, and it was a great honor for her.
“It was the same year that Jeff Nalley was named Farm Broadcaster of the Year,” Shipp said. “I think realizing that I could share the stage with that level of a broadcaster was a very humbling experience.”
