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Emery Kleven - NAFB 2005 Board President |
NAFB
The National Association of Farm Broadcasters, a professional
improvement and marketing association representing Radio and
Television Farm Broadcasters in the United States and Canada
celebrated it’s 60th anniversary in 2004.
The idea for a national association for farm broadcasters grew out of
a1943 meeting of the Institute for Education by Radio in Columbus,
Ohio but was interrupted by World War II which delayed the
formation until May 1944. Radio broadcasting of important
information to farmers started just after the invention of AM radio
and by 1922, the USDA reported that 36 stations had been approved
to broadcast USDA market reports. The first full-time farm
broadcaster was Frank Mullen with KDKA in Pittsburg Pennsylvania
in 1921 and extended his broadcasting career in 1926 to NBC to
found the first farm network program “The National Farm Service
Home Hour”. In the 1920’s numerous stations were licensed and
built to broadcast to the farm and rural areas of the country.
As an example of the desire to initiate farm broadcasting KFEQ, a
station first licensed to Oak Nebraska in 1923 was moved to St.
Joseph Missouri in 1926 with the encouragement of the St. Joseph
Grain Exchange and the St. Joseph Stockyards. KFEQ was one of the
first stations to initiate live remote daily broadcasts three times each
day from the St. Joseph Stockyards and four times each day from the
St. Joseph Grain Exchange. Farm Radio was a much more efficient
and reliable media than the telegraph or the telephone to distribute
the market information to the grain elevators and farmers in a four
state region. This instant flow of market information instantly
allowed producers to know the value of their production and to level
the playing field with the buyers and sellers of their production.
The first official name of the organization was the National
Association of Radio Farm Directors, NARFD; however in 1964 the
name was changed to simply National Association of Farm
Broadcasters “NAFB” and included both Radio and Television Farm
Broadcasters. In1986, a Farm Broadcasters Hall of Fame was
established to give recognition to Farm Broadcasters who have left a
deep and indelible mark in their decades of service to agriculture and
the profession of Farm Broadcasting. The photograph of these widely
known broadcasters are on permanent display at the National
Agricultural Center in Bonner Springs, Kansas. You can find their
names on the NAFB.com web site. Two former Farm Broadcasters are
inducted each year and given special recognition at the NAFB
Convention held each year in Kansas City.
NAFB member Farm Broadcasters are the center of agricultural
knowledge at their radio station or network and serve in a dual role in
communicating not only to farmer and ranchers but also
communicate with the general audience of consumers relating the
agricultural perspective on food and environmental issues. Farm
Broadcasters are highly visible in their communities and are uniquely
positioned to be advocates for agricultural producers. The 2004 Ag
Marketing Research report confirms that farmers of all sizes rely
heavily upon Farm Broadcasting and listen to farm broadcasts on
radio 6 days each week and average over 3.5 hours per day listening
to radio. Farm Broadcasting is immediate, personal, ,mobile and
compatible with new informational technologies such as the internet.
The need for timely, accurate and credible information for
agricultural producers and consumers has never been greater than
today. The world may be the same geographical area; however the
flow of information and news of often controversial issues travels the
globe at the speed of light . World trade, food safety and
environmental issues as well as governmental policies from around
the globe havesignificant impact on the agricultural community in
every home town. NAFB Farm Broadcasters are uniquely qualified to
present this information in a context that is clear and concise to both
producers and consumers of the our nations food supply.
The 2005 President of NAFB is EmeryKleven, Farm Director for the
Waitt Farm Network based in Omaha, Nebraska.
To learn more about the NAFB contact us at:
National Association of Farm Broadcasters
700 Branch St, Suite 8, PO Box 500
Platte City,MO 64079
816/431-4032, Fax: 816/431-4087
www.nafb.com
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