NAFB Blog

For graduate student Natasha Hightower, agriculture has always been more than a career path—it’s the foundation of her life. Raised on a small cattle operation in Bailey, Ark., she jokes that she was “trying to pet cows at two years old while my mom freaked out.” 

For Rural Radio Network Multimedia Producer Alex Makovicka, a career in farm broadcasting wasn’t the result of a single defining moment. It was the natural extension of a life rooted in agriculture, curiosity, and community.

Makovicka grew up on a cow–calf operation in central Nebraska, where agriculture was woven into daily life. 

For Jace Green, agriculture isn’t just a major—it’s a family legacy. A senior ag business student at Western Illinois University, Green grew up in Arthur, Illinois, a town surrounded by rich farmland and a large Amish community.

“My family has farmed there for generations,” he says. “It’s always been clear to me that agriculture was where I wanted to stay.”

For more than 25 years, Steve White has used his voice and his camera to tell the story of rural America.

For over four decades, Jeff Nalley has been a steadfast voice for rural America. As the farm director at Cromwell Ag Radio Network and a contributing editor for Agri-Pulse, Nalley has spent 43 years serving farmers, ag businesses and rural communities across Kentucky and beyond.