NAFB Blog

Sarah Anne Heinrich began work February 23 as new Farm and Ranch Director at KFGO (Fargo-Moorhead, ND).  “I can’t tell you how excited I am that Sarah has decided to accept this position,” said Joel Heitkamp, KFGO Director of Operations, when making the announcement. “Since KFGO first signed on in 1948, farm and agri-business reporting has been a huge priority for us.  Farmers and others in agriculture trust us to bring them this vital information daily. That’s why we take it very seriously.” For the past seven years, Sarah served as News Farm Broadcaster and Noon Show Anchor at KXMB-TV in Bismarck, ND. 

As the 64th Legislative Session in Montana entered its third day, the one thing no one had to worry about was lunch. Legislators were provided a free lunch by Montana’s major agriculture organizations, including the Montana Department of Agriculture, Farm Bureau, Farmers Union, Stockgrowers and Grain Growers.

Denny Banister voiced his final radio market report at the end of 2014. He joined Missouri Farm Bureau in 1976 as a communications specialist producing daily radio news stories and farm market reports. Denny has been called the “voice of Missouri Farm Bureau.” Born and raised in St. Louis, he experienced farm work in his childhood with his grandfather in Kansas.

Cassie Olson is a senior at the University of Minnesota Twin Cities. She is studying agricultural education with emphasis in leadership and communication and minors in animal science and mass communications. The daughter of Leonard and Jan Olson, she was born and raised on a dairy farm in Black River Falls, WI. When her family sold the dairy about a decade ago, she became active in FFA, which helped her stay involved with the dairy industry and agriculture. 

Leann Fox, senior agriculture communications at Utah State University, is serving as a public policy intern with the National Cattlemen’s Beef Association. She attended the NAFB convention in Kansas City and decided to become a student member. We met her in Kansas City and invited her to contact us when she began her assignment. Christine Quinn and I hosted her for dinner at the National Press Club in Washington. She applied and was selected for the National Cattlemen’s Beef Association’s public policy internship. She has been in Washington, DC for almost a month now and has been doing research on the policy side of NCBA. In early February, she will attend the NCBA national convention in San Antonio. How did she find out about the NAFB? “My mentor, Dr. Kelsey Hall (Utah State University), has really been a guide for me on my professional path. She emailed me about the NAFB convention, and I knew I couldn’t pass that opportunity up.