Wisconsin Ag Connection - Jahnke Set to Pass the Gavel as National President of NAFB

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Jahnke Set to Pass the Gavel as National President of NAFB
Wisconsin Ag Connection - 11/06/2009

Being a farm radio broadcaster means long hours and lots of travel--but for Pam Jahnke, that's an understatement. The Oconto County native, who serves as farm director of WTDY/Q106 Radio and Mid-West Family Broadcasting in Madison, will be concluding her duties as president of the National Association of Farm Broadcasters next week in Kansas City. She tells Wisconsin Ag Connection that the organization is made up of about 150 broadcasters, as well as many others who work in the industry.

"The organization provides tools for anyone in the profession, whether it be salespeople, managers, the agencies we work with, etc.," Jahnke said. "My job during the past year was to guide all the executive board meetings and travel on behalf of the group to commodity meetings, livestock groups, and farm policy forums."

Though having a job like that for 12 months was a lot of fun, fulfilling those duties were not always an easy task. Jahnke said she had some sort of obligation just about every week of the year.

"I used to be a frequent flyer, but since serving as NAFB president, I've become upgraded to 'Silver Elite Status' because of all the traveling I do."

Meanwhile, Pam notes that the industry she's in is stable. Even with the on-going trend of larger farms handling more of the production while the total number of farms continues to decrease, she says the demand for farm radio programs has been on the rise. But one thing that has changed over the years is the 'target audience.'

"When I first began in this business, we were mainly talking to the farmers on the other side of the radio," she said. "Now days, our programs are geared to both producers and consumers. The people who eat our food everyday want to be more aware of the issues. So as a broadcaster, I have to maintain a balance of keeping the program interesting for farmers (without insulting their intelligence), while explaining the issues to consumers in layman's terms."

Jahnke graduated from the University of Wisconsin-River Falls in 1988 with majors in broadcast journalism and broad area agriculture. She also started the campus's first-ever radio farm report and received the top national scholarship from the NAFB at that time.

After college, Pam worked in the Eau Claire market before being named farm director at a Madison radio station. In 1996, she joined WTDY and soon started a syndicated farm program called the 'Wisconsin Farm Report,' which is heard on 13 radio stations across the state. She also does daily agricultural news and market broadcasts for a local Madison television station.

Pam has been named 'Friend of Agriculture' by the Wisconsin Department of Agriculture for her assistance in raising awareness of the Harvest of Hope program. She has also been honored as 'Agri Marketing Person Of The Year' by the Badger chapter of the National Agrimarketing Association, and accepted special commendation from the Wisconsin State Senate after she was named 'Farm Broadcaster of the Year' for the western United States by the National Association of Farm Broadcasters in 2003.

Jahnke is the first NAFB president from Wisconsin. She will hand over the duties to Greg Akagi of Topeka, Kansas, who was named president-elect of the organization last year.