Behind the Scenes

Update

I was asked to provide an overview/update of Brownfield Ag News for a recent edition of AgriMarketing magazine.   AgriMarketing features farm broadcaster updates from time to time, and I was honored to be asked to contribute.  It is always a pleasure for me to talk about the broadcast team and the product.  

My comments (below) appeared in the October AgriMarketing magazine along with those written by other farm broadcasters from across the country.

My name is Cyndi Young. My title is Farm Director/General Manager, but my role is a sort of “guardian of the product” for Brownfield Ag News.

That product includes Brownfield Ag News and Waitt Agribusiness radio networks, Brownfieldagnews.com and “Agriculture Today,” a free daily e-mail newsletter providing readers with a snapshot of what is happening in agriculture. We provide news, markets, weather, event coverage and feature and commentary programming relevant to those who live and work on farms and in rural communities in the United States, and to those with an interest in U.S. food and fiber production. We have contractual partnerships with more than 300 affiliate radio stations in Illinois, Iowa, Indiana, Missouri, Wisconsin, Nebraska and South Dakota that carry our programming.

We have 1,100 followers on Twitter and a respectable following on the Brownfield blog.

A team of nine agricultural journalists, all Broadcast Council members of the National Association of Farm Broadcasting, along with an ag meteorologist, Washington D.C. policy analyst and two market analysts are solely responsible for the creation of Brownfield Ag News products.

Many of the members of the Brownfield Ag News team were those I learned from when I became a farm broadcaster 25 years ago. Tom Steever, Ken Anderson, Dave Russell, Jerry Passer, and Bob Meyer have been in the business of telling the stories of agriculture for a long time. Julie Harker was a news and health reporter for more than 2 decades before joining the Brownfield team. Andrew McCrea has been a part of the team for many years and the novice, John Perkins, has been honing his skills as a commodity market reporter for 13 years. There is a level of mutual respect within this crew that is truly amazing and a level of journalistic integrity that is second to none. We are all friends and everyone knows to check their ego at the door.

A few of the issues in agriculture that we are watching closely and reporting on regularly include the anti-animal agriculture movement and its threat to the future of livestock production in this country; the movement toward ‘eating locally’ and ‘eating naturally/organically’ versus conventional food production and consumption; climate change and cap & trade; and over-regulation in agriculture.

The future of corn ethanol and soy biodiesel is another item of significant news value to our audience. Upcoming decisions by EPA on RFS-2 (indirect land use) and the ethanol blend wall will be huge in determining whether the renewable fuels industry continues to grow. What does this mean to corn and soybean farmers, livestock producers, and rural communities?

In closing, we understand the importance of and partnerships – from the radio stations that air our programs to the clients who include Brownfield in their advertising and public relations campaigns to the final consumer of the product. Those relationships are at the heart of what we do and we are grateful for them.

I would be amiss if I failed to mention that Kari McKinney, promotions coordinator and Mike Cady, affiliate relations manager, are very important to the success of this team and our product.