By Brian Hefty

On July 15th, SiriusXM Radio launched their first ag channel called Rural Radio.  The company that owns RFD-TV, Rural Media, is in charge of this channel.  We were honored to have them ask us to host a show every weekday, and even though it was difficult for Darren and me to carve out an hour every day, we have now been broadcasting the 1-hour Ag PhD Radio Show live every weekday at 2 p.m. Central on SiriusXM channel 80 since July 15th.

Here’s what we do on the show each day:

  1. We take a current topic of interest as the main focus for that day.  For example, it could be soil testing, corn harvest, wheat seed treatments, soybean aphids, or any other agronomic topic.  We don’t spend much time on farm news, grain markets, or the weather, since those are all things out of the control of farmers.  Ag PhD Radio talks about how to raise better crops through better agronomic practices.
  2. Once we have our main topic, Darren and I will talk about that a little bit, giving some tips and answering some commonly asked questions about the topic.
  3. During each show we have what we call the “Back 40” segment, where we visit with farmers, agronomists, and other industry people primarily about our main topic for the day and what’s happening in their areas.  We try to talk to people in 5 to 6 different states each day during this time.
  4. We take YOUR phone calls, e-mails, and Twitter questions.  The Ag PhD Radio phone line is 605-529-6000.  The e-mail is radio@agphd.com, and our Twitter accounts are @brianhefty and @darrenhefty.  Since we do the show live each day, you can get an immediate response to any question you have, or you can just offer up some comments on either our main topic or anything else of interest to you on your farm.  For many years, Darren and I would spend a portion of our day answering questions and visiting about cropping plans with farmers and agronomists anyway, so now we just get to do that live on the radio.
  5. During each show there is a “Pest of the Day.”  This could be a weed, an insect, a disease, or any other “pest” that could cause a problem for you.  We try to then publish this information for your reference later on at agphd.com and on our “Field Guide” app for smartphones and iPads.

If you don’t have SiriusXM, we are expecting to have a promotion soon where you can get a radio at a discounted price.  If you had SiriusXM but let your subscription expire, I have talked to many people who have gotten deals like $25 for 6 months.  Just call SiriusXM, and they will likely give you a good offer.

Rural Radio channel 80 is the first and only ag channel on SiriusXM, and I really like it because it is all ag, all the time.  I have found most regular radio stations mix in music and non-ag programming along with a little bit of farm stuff, so personally, I like listening to this station better than anything on regular radio.

If you have been listening to our daily radio updates over the years on regular radio, we will continue to do that, but we also hope you tune in each weekday at 2 p.m. Central to channel 80 on SiriusXM for our 1-hour Ag PhD Radio Show!