Rick Shields (WKZO, Kalamazoo, MI) said, “I've spent all of my adult life talking -- on the air and in the classroom for several years. A couple of years back I decided it was time to spend more time listening. I got hooked on travel early in life and had visited all the lower 48 states by the time I had finished high school. Then, in an ‘ah-ha’ moment I decided to combine the two and have since spent as much time as possible traveling and listening to people off-shore who in most cases aren't experiencing any urban-rural disconnect. No doubt about it. Travel to a new culture is the best education you can get as long as you really listen upon arrival. And, certainly you bring back what's been at least partially absorbed.”  

In the photo, Rick Shields is shown during a 2015 stay with a family in Cambodia. About this visit he said, “No town-country disconnect here.  Anytime I think I'm having a bad day, I consider their recollections about family members who managed to survive the Khmer Rouge regime as well as those who didn't while having more ordinance dropped on their nation (which is the size of Maryland) than was used to strike Nazi Germany in WWII. The world goes on.”  About his travels, he explains, “It's difficult to say how much of the new-you goes into news stories, interviews or on-air banter. Some of it does. I'm Midwest Communication's Farm Service Director for five stations in Southwest Michigan. I've lived in Kalamazoo for more than 16 years and work out of WKZO AM/FM. This is a prime location to watch town and country interaction. It seems to be becoming a more positive one in recent years through programs in our schools like Ag in the Classroom, through efforts of organizations like Farm Bureau, and through the interest of everyday people with a growing curiosity about where their food comes from. I hope they keep listening and learning and traveling seeking some answers.” In addition to work in Michigan, Rick does a call-in several times a week to Bill Zortman's It's Your Agri-Business program on the company's station KELO (Sioux Falls, SD). Rick has been an NAFB member for 35 years. Prior to that, he did news and various on-air programming. He started doing farm radio when there was an opening at KFKA (Greeley, CO).  From there, he worked at Great Falls, MT, and also in west Texas as a farm broadcaster. About his career in broadcasting, Rick said, “I love the job because it focuses on the people, the listeners, and what they need to know to have a better day.”