Email Us
Subscribe in Reader
Browse the Archives
Comment Policy
« October 2007 | Main | December 2007 »
The folks at Wyffels Hybrids sent Julie this neat little truck to show their appreciation. Julie interviewed Dr. Mark Risley, marketing director, during the recent Trade Talk event at the National Association of Farm Broadcasting Convention. Wyffels history is quite interesting.
Someone emailed me a link to the National Pork Producers Council website today featuring a farm broadcaster interviewing Jill Appell, a pork producer from Altona, Illinois. The unidentified farm broadcaster in the picture is none other than our very own Dave Russell. Spread the word!
For years, Keith Collins has served as Chief Economist at the U.S. Department of Agriculture. I can't tell you how many times in the past 20-plus years I've had the opportunity to interview this man whose insight and ag market forecasts served us all so well. He tells it like it is, all politics aside. Keith Collins announced this week that he will be retiring soon. Here's what American Farm Bureau Federation President Bob Stallman had to say about Keith Collins:
"Chief Economist Keith Collins served the Agriculture Department, American agriculture and the public with distinction during his tenure. Thanks to his keen insights over the years, information on key economic indicators including agricultural market forecasts, the world agricultural outlook and the economic consequences fo public policy design has beem much improved.
Keith has a genuine gift for analyzing complex market issues and coming up with a range of policy options. And yet, he has always been forthright and patient when explaining complicated topics. This was never truer than when he played a key role in developing and analyzing the administration's 2007 farm bill proposals. Perhaps of even greater importance, he always presented economic information from a non-biased point of view."
It is a busy week in midwestern agriculture. South Dakota Corn Growers and Nebraska Soybean Board are meeting early in the week. Iowa State University Integrated Crop Management Conference and Dairy Business Association conference in Madison, Wisconsin, are both going on mid-week as is an Illinois Beef Co-products meeting in Springfield. These events will keep many on the Brownfield team on the road much of the week. As for me, I'm in Indiana this week, visiting some of our great affiliate radio stations.
Although the markets are closed for Thanksgiving Day, we will air our regular network schedule on Thanksgiving Day. We work hard to be sure that our listeners have the news and information they want and need. Holiday programs give us the opportunity to cover market issues in depth, as you can only listen to the market closes from the day before so many times!
Illinois Corn Growers Association (ICGA) yesterday presented Tom Steever with the "Excellence in Broadcast Media" award. The large plaque congratulates Tom for telling the story of Illinois agriculture.
Steve Ruh, from Elburn, President of the Illinois Corn Growers Association, presented the award during the ICGA annual meeting yesterday in Bloomington.
Jerry Passer has been involved in farm broadcasting for many years. Although he did take a brief respite from radio for a few years, he came back better than ever 5 years ago when he joined the Brownfield team as Livestock Market Reporter and Iowa correspondent.
Looking back over his years in the business, Passer will tell you that his greatest accomplishment was working with young people. During his years at WMT in Cedar Rapids, Iowa, Jerry taught many young people the ropes of farm radio. During NAFB Convention last week, several of Passer's past interns gathered with him for a photo.
Pictured are Lynn Ketelsen, owner/manager of Linder Farm Network; Passer; Sherry Newell, Industry Relations and Communications Manager for Midwest Dairy; and Mike Orso with Osborn & Barr.
In yesterday's post, I talked about all of the great awards and recognitions bestowed upon Brownfield team members during the National Association of Farm Broadcasting Convention held last week in Kansas City.
Not only was Tom Steever honored for his broadcasting talent during the meeting; he was also lucky enough to have his name drawn at the John Deere exhibit at Trade Talk.
Tom is all smiles as he accepts the poker set from John Deere's Barry Nelson.
Brownfield team members have arrived home safely from the annual National Association of Farm Broadcasting Convention. It was a very successful meeting for Brownfield Ag News. Here are a few of the highlights:
Trade Talk featured 103 exhibitors. Brownfield conducted at least one interview at each exhibit.
Tom Steever represented Brownfield as the 2007 South Region Vice President. Stan Koenigsfeld was featured on a panel discussion titled "Changing Business Models." Cyndi Young serving as VP of the NAFB Foundation chaired the annual auction which brought in a record $15,432.
Special Honors and recognition were awarded to Brownfield staff. Certificates of tenure went to:
John Perkins - 5 years; Jerry Passer - 5 years (plus 32 as the emcee announced;) Andrew McCrea - 10 years; Bob Meyer - 15 years; Cyndi Young, 20 years and Derry Brownfield - 41 years (after 40 years, NAFB recognizes membership annually.)
Contributors to the NAFB News Service who have submitted outstanding work were recognized. Congratulations to Pete Shinn for receiving that honor.
NAFB broadcasters are invited to submit one newscast and one market cast that aired on a specific day in September. Five farmers from the Midwest with no ties to any particular network or radio station judge the entries.
2007 NAFB Newscast Awards were presented to 2 Brownfield broadcasters: 3rd Place went to Dave Russell and 2nd Place went to Tom Steever.
In the 2007 Market Cast Awards, Tom Steever took first place.
These awards and recognitions are not only good for us as individuals and as members of the Brownfield team. The awards are good for our listeners, the radio stations that carry Brownfield programming, and our advertisers.
We did it! Last night's annual National Association of Farm Broadcasting Foundation Auction was an enormous success. We had great items donated for both the silent and live auctions. We had many generous bidders participating in both the silent and live auctions. Total receipts for the evening were $15,432, which is a record.
So many people gave of their time and money to help make this fund-raising event a success. From Leah Guffy with Brownfield affiliate radio station WFMB in Springfield, Illinois, who made sure the items were seen by potential bidders, to Master of Ceremonies Orion Samuelson, WGN and Master Auctioneer Dave Schumacher, KTRS. Ringmen Taylor Brown, Foundation President and Olin Simms, President of the National Association of Conservation Districts (whose back is to you in this picture as he is busy taking bids) kept the bidders on the edge of their seats.
Peter Shinn's recorder broke earlier in the day and it just so happened that there was one just like it up for bid last night, so Brownfield purchased it. I personally found a couple of items I "just had to have."
It was not only a profitable evening for the Foundation, it was also a very FUN evening. If you would like to make a contribution to next year's auction, let me know.
