C2—Lancaster Farming, Saturday, April 25,1981
The phone rings constantly in the office of Les Houck,
owner and farm director for Agri-broadcasting Network in
New Holland. Houck cheerfully answers and keeps up-to-date
on information which affects his daily programming of market
prices.
Broadcasting network focuses on fanners
BY SALLY BAIR
Staff Correspondent
Should you sell your hay? Is this
a good week to take those hogs to
market? Are the com paces up or
down? Perhaps you’ve had the
expenence of being asked to jot
down the latest market paces
when they are broadcast by radio
so your farm family can make
some important economic
decision.
If you have, chances are good
that you may have gotten those
prices from the Agri-broadcasting
Network located in New Holland.
Les Houck, owner and farm
director of Agri-broadcasting,
explains that his network provides
up-to-the minute market paces for
established radio stations. He
says, “We serve as farm broad
casters. stations can’t afford to
hire someone to do that program,
so we supply farm information.”
The reports from Agn
broadcastmg --e primarily pricing
because, as ouck explains, “We
feel the farmer would like to know
paces above everything else. Our
mam emphasis is on the Chicago
Broad paces, livestock prices,
cash gram paces with local paces
in southeastern Pennsylvania, the
Delmarva area and Maryland. Out
of these markets he can draw a
basis of the domestic need and the
export need for gram.”
Using the latest in technology, Houck talks up to 15 programs daily, updating and
into the microphone recording his reports on changing as needed to reflect the latest in the
cassettes which are played through the markets,
telephone for participating stations. He makes
Houck adds, “We are not a news
network, so we have no need to
report the news. We are all prices.
Some farm networks are all
editorial. But I like to know what
the prices are and I get the feeling
that farmers like to know what
prices are.”
The one exception Houck makes
to the stactly pace format is
trying to provide background
information on why paces are up
or down, “to put things m per
spective.”
He stresses that while he is
performing a service that no one
else is providing to local stations,
all the information he has is also
available to them. It is a matter, of
course, of their willingness to
prepare farm broadcasts and to
gather the information. “We can
gather for all stations, and the cost
per station is lower,” he adds.
For that matter, Houck makes it
clear that the information which he
uses is also readily available to
individual farmers. However, he
points out, “He can make the
phone calls, but he doesn’t.”
Houck feels the radio is an im
portant tool for fanners, saying,
“Radio is a companion - you take it
with you. This tune of the year
farmers can keep track of prices
as they listen to the radio in the
tractor cabs or as they grade
eggs.”
But farmers are not the only
listeners. Houck states, “Many
people not connected to farming
say they like to listen to my reports
because we move through so many
items so fast. Because of the length
of the programs we can’t take long,
drawn-out events.”
Most of the reports from Agn
broadcastmg are three minutes in
length, with a few shorter and
some longer. The reports are
carried basically at two times
during the day: early (very early)
morning and noon. He says, “Our
early morning program is a
summary of the day before - it is
old news.” About 10:30 the office
gears up for the noon reports and
then later in the afternoon ihey
record updates on those programs.
There are several basic reports
Houck makes each day, including
a dairy report, livestock, livestock
and gram, gram and stactly cash
gram. These reports are updates
throughout the day and are
regionalized to some extent so that
those being aired in the Delmarva
area, for instance, carry paces
local to that area.
Houck says, “We do about 15
different programs. We may do the
same one over and change the cash
gram paces.” Nmety percent of
the broadcasts are recorded by
Houck, with Associate Farm
Director Ken Brubaker preparing
raye Houck is chief bookkeeper, business manager and f
jack-of-all trades. Here she works at the typewriter in the J
sunny offices of Agri-broadcasting.
and reporting when he, Houck, is
unavailable. There are five em
ployees working at Agri
broadcastmg.
All reports are recorded in the
New Holland studio on cassette
tapes and sent via telephone to the
participating stations. When
Houck began with the network m
1976 there were nine stations ac-
9i (omesipad
cepting his broadcasts. That
number has risen to 39, covering
the entire state of Pennsylvania,
parts of Maryland and New Jer
sey.
Ideally, Houck likes to have just
one station in an area carry his
broadcasts and he adds, “We are
trying to hold expansion because I
feel we could be doing a better job
on some of the programming. We
always strive for better quality.”
He mentions that broadcasts are
most widely accepted in areas
where there are lots of farmers. He
contrasts conditions in the east
with those in the midwest where
whole cities revolve around the
farm.
“Here,” he states, “We’re
pushed because so many othei
things take precedence over
agriculture.”
As he sits in his Mam Street, New
Holland, office, he looks out and
comments that New Holland is an
example of a town where the
importance of agriculture can be
readily seen, with a steady stream
of cattle trucks and hay wagons
driving through the town. He notes,
however, that this is not typical for
most towns in this heavily
■populated part of the state.
Houck feels his location in New
Holland is appropriate with the
many influential markets close by.
He says, “We’re fortunate being
located here because prices here
tend to be representative both for
domestic use and export use, Most
gram prices are set off what we’re
reporting.”
It is quite evident as the con
versation goes on that Les Houck
has a very intimate knowledge and
understanding of markets, futures,
commodities and all those items
which go into the pricing of farm
products both domestically and for
export Because of this knowledge
■<os& ■"
and what some may consider an
inside track, it is not uncommon
for him to be asked for advice
about buying and selling. While he
is always willing to talk, un
derstandably he maintains that he
is very reluctant to give advice
which can affect a man’s financial
position. He explains, “What is
good for one fanner may be en-
t/lbtcs
tirely wrong for another, depen
ding upon his feed situation and
other factors. We try not to predict
- we just tell the situation and let
him make up his mind.”
How does Houck get the latest in
prices? He has a wire service
machine, Commodity News Ser
vice, Inc., which ticks off the latest
information from the Chicago
Board of Trade and national
livestock prices. He adds, “We
make calls. We call local markets
and local USDA.” He says these
places accept their calls for the
latest prices and that they
cooperate fully.
Asked if he ever gets response
from his listeners, Houck
“Some tell me they are really
dedicated listeners and record the
prices daily. It’s part of their daily
record keeping. A lot of farmers
say they have their wives record
the price for them.”
Houck is very tuned into the
business of farming, perhaps
because he grew up on a dairy
farm in Paradise and continues to
love the land. He says, “It is the
greatest feeling in the world to be
plowing and planting.” With his
love of farming, it is no surprise
that he enjoys keeping close
contacts with farmers.
He says, “I go to the local
markets to see fanners and to hear
the auctioneers work.” He also
does some public speaking, ex
plaining, “I like to talk to farm
groups about gram. I strive to get
to know farmers.”
Although Houck’s name is
recognized fairly easily in a group
of farmers, he is not instantly
recognized m person, something
which is alright with him
he enjoys the anonymity of visiting)
with fanners just for the joy of it.
Another way he likes to meet the
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