Becki Rhoades has been hired as director of marketing and communications for the National Association of Farm Broadcasting, effective Oct. 17.
Executive Director Tom Brand said Rhoades has worked for a decade with the Kansas Department of Commerce, where she coordinated marketing activities. The position is a new one; recent NAFB marketing was done on a contract or part-time basis.
“I know those she interacts with on the job will instantly be able to see the enthusiasm she has for agriculture,” he stated, adding that she “understands first-hand the importance of farm broadcasting.”
She worked for the Kansas Department of Commerce Rural Development Division as team leader for ag marketing, and later the Kansas Department of Wildlife, Parks and Tourism as agritourism manager.
Earlier in her career she was a communications manager at the National FFA Headquarters in Indianapolis. She worked for the Kansas Livestock Association as assistant editor for the Kansas Stockman Magazine and the KLA Newsletter.
Rhoades grew up on a farm in Northwest Missouri and was active in Future Farmers of America; she interned as a farm broadcaster in college and received a scholarship from the NAFB Foundation. She graduated from the University of Missouri with a degree in agricultural journalism.