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Oct. 27, 2009 Association of Equipment Manufacturers (AEM) reports: Jim Evans has spent a lifetime in agriculture and ag communications, as a practitioner and professor. On January 14, at AG CONNECT Expo 2010, Jim will join a "Communications in Ag" panel to discuss some of the lessons garnered from a lifetime in ag communications, from his early days in Green Bay, WI, to his "retirement" from the University of Illinois four decades later. Jim will be joined by Radio Hall of Fame personality Orion Samuelson, whom Jim came to know in the 1950s when they both worked in Green Bay; and by Mike Yost, who, as the former Administrator of USDA's Foreign Agriculture Service (FAS), has extensive cross-cultural communication experience. Yost is also the owner-operator of Yost Farm in west-central Minnesota and a former chairman of the American Soybean Association. AG CONNECT Expo 2010 will be held Jan. 13-15, 2010 (Preview Day Jan. 12 by special admission) at the Orange County Convention Center in Orlando, FL. The "Communications in Ag" panel is one of the many education offerings at the event and will be held in the Innovations Theater on the show floor at 1:30 p.m., Jan. 14. (For more details on education at AG CONNECT, visit http://www.agconnect.com/Education.) Jim Evans and his fellow panelists will discuss why ag communications is more important now than it has ever been, and share ag communications best practices. As Evans notes, "We need ag communicators involved with all ag processes, to both keep farmers, ranchers and agribusinesses informed and to interact with and to educate consumers and the general public." "I have never seen a time of such need and potential for skilled communicators who can deal with the complexities of agriculture and the food enterprise of societies," he reports. "Through painful and costly experience, agri-marketers, producer and consumer groups, the food industry, government agencies and others are learning that the old, one-way, top-down approaches don't work. Thousands of case examples around the world testify to the urgent need for better models and methods of communicating within agriculture, and between agriculture and the societies that depend on it. Professional Ag communicators can help lead the way in that effort." As Evans keeps reminding us, "We can, and we must do better." Not everyone who teaches communications has had such a lasting and powerful influence on students, but Evans' devotion to his students and his commitment to the highest standards have been so influential across the decades that his former students are now raising funds for a new "James F. Evans Endowed Chair in Agricultural Communications" at the University of Illinois at Champaign. PANELIST BIOS Dr. James F. Evans Evans retired in 1995 after 33 years of distinguished teaching and research. Even though he "retired" 14 years ago, he continues working and advocating for professional ag communicators to be vital partners in all ag processes. Evans is an international leader in agricultural communications education, but his education in agriculture began with his parents' Iowa farming operation and continued in high school with FFA and dairy and hog projects. Soon after graduating from the agricultural journalism program at Iowa State College, he moved to Green Bay, WI, where he became associate farm director of WBAY Radio and Television and first met Orion Samuelson. Evans also served in the Air Force and worked at an agency where his Ag communications experience came to include agency work with clients such as the International Harvester Company, Murphy Feeds, PAG Hybrids and Illinois Farm Supply Company. Evans holds an MBA in Marketing from the University of Chicago and Ph.D. in Communications from the University of Illinois and has won many awards for his academic and communications achievements. Orion "Big O" Samuelson The Radio Hall of Fame calls Samuelson "the best-known agricultural broadcaster in the country." In one of the longest-running broadcasting careers, Big O has been heard on WGN in Chicago since 1960, where he has been a mainstay of news and information for Midwest farmers. Samuelson's Ag experience began on his parents' dairy farm near La Crosse, Wis. After a stint at radio school, Samuelson spent a few years broadcasting in the La Crosse area and later served as farm director of WBAY and WBAY-TV in Green Bay, where he met Jim Evans. He was later named farm service director for WGN in Chicago. From 1975 to 2005 Samuelson produced and hosted U.S. Farm Report, a weekly television program seen on 190 Midwest stations. In 2005 he initiated the syndicated television show "This Week In Agribusiness," which is seen on RFD-TV in more than 40 million Direct Broadcast Satellite and cable homes in all 50 states. Samuelson has been the recipient of countless awards and honors including the American Farm Bureau's Distinguished Service Award in 1998 and the National 4-H Alumni Award; and he is the only broadcaster in the nation to receive two Oscars in Agriculture - one each for radio and television. Orion Samuelson was inducted into the Radio Hall of Fame in 2003. Michael W. Yost Michael W. Yost is a fourth generation farmer with a Bachelor of Science degree in Agriculture Business Administration from the University of Minnesota. He's from Murdock, MN, where he farms with his family and two business partners. Yost has served agricultural interests in government and in associations. He was the Administrator of USDA's Foreign Agriculture Service (FAS) from March 9, 2006 through January 2009, and before that, he served as the Associate Administrator at USDA's Farm Service Agency (FAS), overseeing conservation, disaster assistance, farm commodities and farm loan programs. Earlier, he was a member of USDA's Biotech Advisory Board, USDA/Department of Energy Biomass Advisory Board, and served two terms on the National Biodiesel Board. From the mid-1990s to 2000, Yost was heavily involved with the American Soybean Association, where he held positions as chairman, vice-president, and president. |
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