Brownfield

KIIC-FM, Albia, Iowa

Brownfield Affiliate radio station KIIC-FM in Albia, Iowa went through recent studio renovations and the results, according to Mike Cady who just visited there, are fantastic.  The station airs about 25 Brownfield programs each day and is dedicated to serving south central Iowa with ag news important to their local community and economy.  Check out their full programming listing online. 

Check out the red beacon on the tower segment (pictured) in the back corner of the KIIC studio.  You have probably seen one on top of the tall radio towers dotting the countryside. 

Tune in to KIIC at 96.7 on your FM dial. 

KJFB

Brownfield Affiliate Relations Manager Mike Cady visited our Marshalltown, Iowa affiliate radio station last week.

KJFB-AM, Marshalltown, Iowa - Marshalltown's news and info choice, keeps Marshalltown area listeners updated on ag news, airing several Brownfield reports daily.  Tune in to 1230 on your AM dial to listen to this station that has been a fixture in the community for 85 years. Now THAT is quite a committment!

Pete Shinn on the mothership

Our Omaha, Nebraska-based team member Pete Shinn is visiting the Brownfield Ag News headquarters in Jefferson City, Missouri this week.  Although we all communicate throughout the day via email and telephone, it is a treat to be together from time to time. 

The team enjoyed dinner and conversation at a local restaurant last evening.

(Pictured L-R: Tom Steever, Julie Harker, Mike Cady, Kari McKinney, Katie Allen, Cyndi Young, and Peter Shinn)

Happy Anniversary

It's been 25 years since KLMJ-FM in Hampton, Iowa went on the air.  To celebrate, during each of the next 25 weeks, KLMJ will broadcast from a different town in its coverage area. While visiting the station last week, Brownfield Affiliate Relations Manager Mike Cady learned that the broadcast road trips come to a conclusion on October 29th with a final remote broadcast from downtown Hampton. The station is also each week giving away 10 special silver dollar coins minted with the station's logo and a 25 year anniversary emblem. One lucky coin winner will win a cruise for two at the end of the promotion. Each silver coin is worth about $25.

Our affiliate radio stations offer some great promotions and opportunities for those in the communities they serve. 

Congratulations KLMJ!

KLGA, Algona, Iowa

Ag is important at KLGA-AM/FM in Algona, Iowa. Kossuth county, where KLGA is located, ranked 4th in the United States in corn production and 17th in the country for hogs. That's out of nearly 3,000 ag producing counties in the United States.  Both stations clear a heavy dose of Brownfield programming every day.

Brownfield Affiliate Relations Manager Mike Cady visited the stations while in Nebraska last week.

Listen to KLGA at 1600 on the AM dial and KLGA at 92.7 FM.

I said, "Hay, Greg?"

For much of the area served by the Brownfield Ag News Radio Network, it has indeed been a wet spring.  Farmers have had a tough time getting corn planted and in some parts of our coverage area, have yet to plant a single kernel because fields have just not dried out enough.  We never want to complain about too much precipitation because we've experienced many years when the rain stops it stops for good, as though someone turned off the tap. 

The abundant rainfall has been good for the hay crop.  I took a picture of one of our hay fields on my way down the lane this morning.  Had we listened to the local weather forecasts over Memorial Day Week-end instead of Brownfield Ag Meteorologist Greg Soulje, the hay would be cut and quite possibly ruined. 

Greg is spot on in his ag weather forecasts. 

As anyone who harvests a hay crop knows, the window of time to cut, rake and bale must not only be long enough without rain, but the conditions for drying the forage once cut are of extreme importance.  My husband and I are grateful for the expertise of Brownfield Ag News team member Greg Soulje!

As you can see by this picture, we're still waiting for a hay-friendly forecast before harvesting this lush grass hay.

Herb gardeners

Julie Harker is an herb gardener. So am I.  Apparently, there are a growing number of us in this country.  I read an article today about a "Food not Lawns" movement that is promoting growing herbs, vegetables and fruit instead of grass in your yard.  Dave Russell told me recently that he's seeing a lot of people doing just that in an area near downtown Indianapolis. 

There are many reasons for this movement, not the least of which is the rising cost of fresh produce due to high fuel and input costs.  No matter what the motivation might be, it is trendy to shop at farmer markets and chic to grow your own onions. 

Maybe I'll get bumper stickers for my car and Julie's that read, "Compost happens."  We'd really be in style then.

Photo of herbs growing in pots on Julie's deck.

Memorial Day programming

The Brownfield Ag News office will be closed on Monday May 26, 2008 in observance of the Memorial Day holiday.  However, our radio station partners will not be closing down that day and will have access to a full line-up of Brownfield programs.  (We offer pre-recorded progamming suitable for the holiday.)

For those who subscribe to the Brownfield Agriculture Today e-newsletter, the Monday version will be a "repeat" of the edition you receive later today. 

We'll get back to our regular schedule bright and early Tuesday morning.

Hawthorne Cemetery near Learfield headquarters is well decorated for the Memorial Day week-end. 

God Bless America!

Summer "vacation??"

You have seen her byline on the Brownfield website.  You might just hear her voice on Brownfield programs this summer.  Katie Allen has been working with the Brownfield Ag News staff for the past few months while she wrapped up her senior year at University of Missouri.  Now a grad with a degree in Ag Journalism, Katie will be spending more time on the job as a Brownfield reporter this summer before heading to Texas Tech for grad school.

Goodbye to a good friend

The agriculture industry lost a great friend early this morning.  Lee McCoy was a farm broadcaster for many years, so those who knew him through the National Association of Farm Broadcasting and National AgriMarketing Association claimed him as one of their own.  The beef industry felt the same way because Lee had worked in the beef industry and been a Limousin man years before the broadcast bug bit. 

Our friend Lee was ever-optimistic during his fight against cancer.  He raised more than $6,000 for cancer research last year. 

Lee was a Veteran, a husband to Aurora and proud father.  We served together on the NAFB Board of Directors for a few years and most recently, on the NAFB Foundation Board. 

A tribute to Lee is featured on AgWired and another by Gary Cooper at Southeast Ag Net.