View from the Cab: A day in my life
As farmers, we are constantly being asked what we do. I get this question from time to time – not just pertaining to the farming side of things, but also in my media profession.
I am glad to provide answers so I thought I’d share a day in my shoes. I am typically awake by 4:30 a.m. to turn on the coffee pot, eat breakfast and turn on the radio for some background noise. This is all done before heading downstairs to the basement studio for the live show, “A Central Illinois Morning” from 5:06-6 a.m. which is heard locally on radio station WGCY 106.3 FM and from the online stream at www.centralillinoisfarmnetwork.com.
This show includes news, sports, weather, ag news, markets and various interviews aired throughout the week. The trick is finding all of the material for the show. This includes hours of preparation days in advance. I am back upstairs to the main computer by 6 a.m. to upload the show as an on-demand playback feature on the CIFN website. Updating the CIFN social media sites is another chore each morning. These jobs are pretty much wrapped-up by 6:30 a.m. which is when I usually leave for the field during planting and harvest season.
My recorded shows are typically produced late in the afternoon for the following morning. This includes “Central Illinois Today,” the three-minute feature heard on a number of radio stations with the latest ag headlines. You’d be surprised how long it takes to record and create a short segment such as this. The “Rural Report” and “Soybean Minute” episodes are usually recorded the weekend before for the entire week ahead.
If it’s summer, I am out covering a farm meeting, county fair or local festival during the day and in the winter, you can usually find me at a conference or indoor farm show. I somehow find time to do advertising sales, write this very column and create online and on-air news stories as well. Then, there are the occasional night meetings to cover before heading to bed and starting all over again the next morning.
I’ve been asked many times and yes, this is my full-time job. I farm and have my own business. If you have any further questions about farm life or what I do, please don’t hesitate to ask.
(The View from the Cab is powered each week by Petersen Motors in Fairbury)
