You can be a news maker or a news breaker, usually not both, but on many days Ken Rahjes (KBUF, Garden City, Kansas) wears both those hats.
Since late in 2015, he has served as a member of the Kansas House of Representatives and has kept a full schedule of farm broadcasts on his AgView network. Almost four years ago, he began doing agricultural news for KBUF and other stations in the region. When Lory Williams retired from the on-air side at KBUF, Rahjes also picked up the market-reporting duties and has done those daily since December 2019 along with his other duties as a legislator and his other venture – Kansas Ag Report Television Show.
Also, Rahjes serves as chairman of the Kansas Agriculture Committee, and he believes that being a farm broadcaster gives him good insight on the impacts regional, national, and global agriculture can have on Kansas farmers and ranchers. He said many of the legislators know that if you want to find him, he will probably be in his office, especially when the markets are open, because he delivers seven commodity market reports starting with the overnights early in the day. Rahjes says there have been a few times that the legislature has waited on him if he is not on the floor because he was doing a market report.
“The markets wait for no one, and people rely on me and other farm broadcasters to give them timely and accurate information,” he said.
Rahjes also interviews industry leaders and other news makers every day to stay on top of trends and news important to the audience. He also believes in a clear separation between his elected legislative duties and his duties as a farm broadcaster. He enjoys helping educate his fellow legislators and the public on what he learns from the people he meets. He says that probably only a handful of people have made “pork sausage” and “political sausage.”
Whether breaking or making news, Rahjes believes those who produce our food, fuel, and fiber deserve reliable information and the ability to talk candidly with those who represent them.
