Farm and Fiddle

From the Heartland, Margot McMillen writes: Dang! I broke my New Year's Resolution last night by forgetting to write. It was our annual "Farmers Appreciation Night" for Farm and Fiddle, the radio program that celebrates and explores rural life on KOPN 89.5 fm in Columbia MO. Broadway Brewery hosted us for the third year, and gave farmers a discount on their bill. We interviewed 10 farmers and one University Extension horticulturalist in an hour. It was great! A little stress at the beginning... the setup requires hosts and an engineer at the Brewery, then another engineer at the radio station managing the board. And as the afternoon began to roll we were missing a few required warm bodies. KOPN is an all-volunteer station, meaning everyone who works there also has a "real" job, even though keeping a free media is our first love. So, General Manager David Owens pitched in by setting everything up and running things at the Brewery and a wonderful KOPN volunteer, Steve Gallagher, who usually plays vintage jazz records, ran the board at the station. Hosts Dan Bugnitz and Hannah Hemmelgarn did the talking and I (who know all the farmers) ran around and gathered them up. My dear husband had put together a fiddle band--Howard Marshall, David Cavins and Amber Gaddy--and the music just wafted around, in and out of the conversations. I put on the headphones for a little bit and it was just lovely. I'll try to get it on the web so you can hear it. The main subject was the drought and heat of last year, but there was a bit of chatter about how much the government influences us, all of us sustainable farmers working to feed the community. Liz, a vegetable farmer in Howard County, had gotten government money to dig a well, which was a surprise to me. In my county, Callaway, all the government money had gone to the big guys. There was a lot of talk about how important the next farm bill will be. Walker Claridge is part of a crew going to Minnesota next week to work with a team that will eventually present some ideas to the federal ag committees and get our voices in. As usual, I forgot my camera, or I'd stick a picture in. Well, there ya go! You can't ever get it ALL done!