NAFB Blog

After 17 years in radio, farm broadcaster Jody Heemstra is changing careers, returning to her home state to become Public Affairs Manager for the South Dakota Department of Agriculture (SDDA) headed by Secretary of Agriculture Lucas Lentsch. Jody worked in radio in South Dakota for more than 15 years, before joining the Red River Farm Network (Grand Forks, ND) in August 2013. "I've had the chance to work with several great broadcasters and journalists during my radio career. 

Katie Johnson, this year’s summer intern at KICD Radio in northwest Iowa, took the station by storm, reports Dan Skelton. The Iowa State University senior enthusiastically responded to a wide variety of projects and work assignments. “Specifically, Katie learned to quote market information live, on-air, in an exact two-minute time frame. She also learned to write anf edit local and farm news for broadcast within time limitations. Katie conducted interviews in various formats. She learned to quiz traders on why markets were trading the way they were. She conducted long-form interviews on a variety of topics. Perhaps her favorite activity was interviewing 4-H youth at more than eight county fairs. 

Don Molino (Louisiana Farm Bureau Agri-News Radio Network, Baton Rouge, LA) reports feral hogs have caused at least $30 million in damages to crops on Louisiana farms just in the past two years, according to a study by the Louisiana State University AgCenter. Shaun Tanger, LSU AgCenter economist, has been gathering data for more than a year from Louisiana farmers about hog activity and damage, which ranges from rooting up and eating crops to damaging farm equipment. Don adds, “Feral hogs can also spread fatal diseases to wildlife and livestock.” 

Little Ridge Dairy near Ontario, WI, hosted the 35th Vernon County June Dairy Month Breakfast on the Eirik and Cheryl Eness family farm on Saturday, June 20. The Vernon County, Wisconsin, Dairy Promotion Committee asked the Eness family to host this year's breakfast on what was, until 1963, the Samuelson dairy farm. Orion Samuelson (WGN Radio, Chicago, IL) was invited to attend and speak to the guests. Despite a light rain for the first two hours, 2,500 people showed up to see a modern dairy farm operation and enjoy a good farm breakfast, including ice cream. Orion said he was no stranger to inclement weather since there was a blizzard the day he was born that left 14 inches of snow on the ground. The doctor never made it to the farm in time for his birth and his aunt saved the day serving as a midwife. 

Issues important to rural Americans, farmers, ranchers, and senior citizens will be the sole focus in a new series of live, one-hour, primetime programs featuring presidential candidates leading up to the caucus in Iowa, and New Hampshire and South Carolina primaries. In announcing this coverage on June 17, at the National Press Club in Washington, DC, Patrick Gottsch, Founder and President of Rural Media Group, said, “Rural America’s impact on national elections is undeniable. This is a tremendous opportunity for each candidate to address issues largely ignored by urban media, yet are so important to many of the citizens voting in these primaries.” He continued, "From day one, Rural Media Group's goal has been to reconnect city with country.