NAFB Blog

A series of 16 wildfires that initially began October 8, have consumed large areas of California’s wine growing regions in Yuba, Sonoma, Napa, Mendocino, Butte and Lake counties, reports Brian German (Multi-Media Journalist, AgNet Media, Inc., Fresno, CA). More than 210,000 acres have burned in total, destroying approximately 8,400 structures as of October 25, Brian said.

Tony Purcell (Texas State Networks, Dallas, TX) reports that Hurricane Harvey made landfall August 25, between Port Aransas and Port O'Connor, TX, as a Category 4 storm with winds of 130 mph. “In a four-day period, many areas received more than 40 inches of rain as the slow-moving storm meandered over east Texas causing catastrophic flooding. 

First reports of Florida crop damage from Hurricane Irma were conservatively estimated at about 50 percent crop loss, but Florida Ag Commissioner Adam Putnam stated he thinks it is more in the 80-plus percent crop loss range, reports Gary Cooper (Southeast AgNet Radio Network, Gainesville, FL). “Citrus damage was in all citrus growing areas, both east and west coast.

The Farm Progress Show comes to Illinois every other year, and this was the year for me to return to my roots,” 2002 NAFB President Colleen Callahan said. “Thanks to Max Armstrong (2017 NAFB President) for giving me the opportunity to work together on the ADM stage. It must be like riding a bike,” she said.  

Liz Brown (KOEL-AM, Oelwein, IA) was raised in northeast Iowa in a small farming town by a single mom and three older brothers. “Stepping up and doing what you should is not a suggestion, it’s the unwritten rule. That’s how my journey began,” she says.