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Snow storm Jonas made national news for its inconvenience to travelers. In fact, NAFB Vice President Tom Cassidy (Ag Radio Network, Barneveld, NY) had to spend an extra day in Platte City, MO, after attending his first NAFB Board meeting. Tom reports, “The storm covered just shy of one-third the U.S. population in 26 states from Maine to Louisiana. Jonas dumped the most snow on the Mid-Atlantic, starting Friday, January 22, leaving behind 20 to 40 inches in areas not accustomed to receiving that much snow in a season, let alone two days.”
Mike Austin (WTAQ-AM/FM & WDEZ, Green Bay, WI), left, was presented the Distinguished Service to Wisconsin Agriculture Award by Jim Holte President of Wisconsin Farm Bureau (WFBF) during the organization’s 96th Annual Meeting December 6. The award is given for outstanding contributions to Wisconsin’s agricultural industry. “Mike has been covering agricultural news and events for more than 30 years both on radio and TV in the Green Bay area. He is the ‘voice of agriculture’,” said WFBF Board Member Rosie Lisowe of Chilton. “His agriculture reports and stories are heard throughout the Green Bay area, and his advocacy for the agriculture industry reaches multiple generations.
As most broadcasters, Melissa Gregory (KFEQ, St. Joseph, MO) followed a unique path to her communications career. She explained, “A couple of years after high school, I was working for an airline when I got a call from my grandmother who had a friend who worked for a small radio station in Bethany, MO. They had just lost their afternoon girl and needed someone, so I decided to put in an application even though I had no experience. Lo and behold within a couple weeks, I was interviewed and hired.” While there, Melissa did a small amount of farm broadcasting, including getting the area’s cash bids and doing the closing markets. A year later, another coincidence would happen.
Cattle losses from Goliath, the 2015 winter storm, could total more than 50,000 head across New Mexico and Texas Panhandle and South Plains, according to final estimates, reports Jerry Lackey (Agriculture Editor Emeritus for the San Angelo Standard-Times and Abilene Reporter-News and farm broadcaster emeritus for Voice of Southwest Agriculture Radio Network, San Angelo, TX. Jerry writes a regular newspaper column called Windmill Country.) “The blizzard arrived after Christmas and lingered for weeks with snow drifts as high as 14 feet in parts of eastern New Mexico and northwest Texas.
WGFA (Watseka, IL) General Manager Stacey Smith found boat transportation to be the most convenient way to get to work at the station during December flooding. Stacey said, “It's not uncommon to flood here. And unfortunately, the floods are getting more frequent and in some cases severe.” The history of Watseka is that it was founded by Native Americans and settled primarily due to the trapping industry with both the Iroquois River and Sugar Creek meeting in town. “We are also very low in elevation. Similar to a bowl. And we are in the center of it. Our county government is currently working on getting a Federal declaration for Iroquois County.