Tom Brand is the new executive director of the National Association of Farm Broadcasting.
The announcement was made by NAFB President Tom Steever. Brand replaces Mark Vail, who left in February. He starts at association HQ in Platte City, Mo., on Aug. 1.
Steever said Brand “knows how to tell the story of American agriculture” and commended him for his passion for farm broadcasting.
The association isn’t getting a newbie as its new top employee. Brand was NAFB president in 2003. He grew up in Missouri on a family livestock and grain operation, and is farm director at KFEQ(AM) in St. Joseph, Mo. He began in farm broadcasting at the Brownfield Network and later was assistant farm director for KMA Radio in Shenandoah, Iowa.
He stated in the announcement that while the association serves rural America and those directly involved in production agriculture, “we also have opportunities to reach a broader audience who may not understand the role farmers and ranchers play to providing food and fiber to the world.”
