New radio station aimed to help farmers and ranchers hits the airwaves in eastern Idaho
Published at | Updated at
IDAHO FALLS — A new radio station is now on the air in eastern Idaho, focusing on farmers and classic country music.
Farm Country 1260 AM went live at the end of last month, according to Riverbend Media Group General Manager Kevin O’Rorke. The station had previous formats over the years, but had been off the air for about 12 months.
“We made the decision fairly recently to relaunch the radio station in a kind of different format than its history,” O’Rorke told EastIdahoNews.com.
O’Rorke said that while the station will play classic country music, such as Brooks & Dunn, Hank Williams Jr., Johnny Cash and others, it will also focus on agricultural news.
Riverbend Media Group is an affiliate of the Western Ag Network. It focuses on agriculture with the goal of helping inform farmers and ranchers about markets and news important to them.
Between 5 a.m. and noon, there will be daily ag reports, and in the afternoons, there will be rodeo reports from around the region.
Among other things, the reports will include interviews with farmers and stories from universities that focus on new methods or technologies. O’Rorke said two of the reports will focus specifically on the market to help listeners understand prices for different items.
“Our goal is not just to entertain with the music, but really to educate and give farmers and ranchers as much information or access to people who have that information that can help them run a more profitable operation,” O’Rorke said.
Coverage-wise, O’Rorke said the radio signal should reach from Pocatello to Rexburg, but listeners have picked it up as far away as American Falls.
While the station is still growing, O’Rorke said he envisions the community being more involved and highlighting local voices in the farm and rancher communities.
“One of the things you’ll see us do is things like farmer spotlights,” O’Rorke said. “We want to talk to local farmers and ranchers about not only their heritage and their history and their operation, but what their challenges are, what things they’re proud of. It’s all about having quality localism and connection with the local market.”