Montana Ag Live: 25 years and counting
2019 Fallby Jodie DeLay
MSU Extension External Relations Coordinator
"I’ve got hoppers in my wheat, and my corn is not too sweet.
Taters lying on the ground, and my hay is turning brown.
I’ve planted and I’ve watered, I’ve done everything I oughta,
Montana Ag Live where are you?”
Set to a lively country tune, these words will open the Fall 2019 season of Montana Ag Live, a regular call-in information program presented by MontanaPBS in association with Montana State University Extension.
The brainchild of Jack Riesselman, MSU professor emeritus and former MSU Extension plant pathologist, who had participated in a similar show in Nebraska (Backyard Farmer, University of Nebraska-Lincoln https://byf.unl.edu/), Montana Ag Live first took to the air in May 1994 with a grant from the old U.S. West Corporation.
Eighteen episodes are filmed live annually, 10 in spring and eight in fall. Three phone operators answer calls from viewers, often dozens per show, and screen them for several factors. A wide range of topics are included, though they generally have an agriculture theme. Whether the viewer is involved in large-scale production agriculture; cares for a garden, lawn, flower beds, and/or trees; recreates in Montana’s vast outdoor playground; or even just eats, there is likely to be something of interest to anyone. Ultimately, the content depends on call-in viewers. To increase the odds of a question being selected, consider current issues and whether the topic has broad appeal. Questions that seem politically-motivated are often omitted, as are any that appear to promote a specific product or service. Once the operators have approved questions, they deliver them to the moderator, who distributes them among a panel of experts.
The panel regularly includes faculty from MSU Extension, as well as the College of Agriculture and Ag Experiment Station. Guests to the panel include various farmers and ranchers, representatives from the Montana Department of Agriculture and/or commodity groups and other industry experts.
During spring of 2019, for the first time, the whole season focused primarily on a theme. Guest panelists were selected based on their work in entrepreneurship and expanding ag products from base commodities to value-added products. Each fall, one show features a single topic. In 2018 it was Montana’s seed potato industry, from planting through harvest and marketing. This coming season, an episode will feature the pulse crop industry in Montana … think peas and lentils, which are fast becoming both a popular source of alternative nutrition and are important in nitrogen fixation and land management.
Don Mathre, who was the Plant Pathology department head in 1995, and is also a professor emeritus, recalls Riesselman calling him to be on a panel for a new public television show. He agreed and has been involved in the show since, as a phone operator, panelist and occasional moderator. Asked how the program has remained relevant and successful for 25 years, Mathre replied, “Jack has kept it informal. Everyone can relate to it and a lot of laughter goes on.”
Another part of the genius of the show was inviting Hayden Ferguson to be the original moderator. Ferguson graduated from MSU in 1950 and became a nationally renowned scholar. He was named a fellow of the American Society of Agronomy and Soil Science Society of America, as well as outstanding teacher in the College of Agriculture for numerous years. In 2013 he was inducted into the Bobcat Hall of Fame for his exceptional support of student athletes, and also received the College of Agriculture’s Outstanding Alumni Achievement Award. In 2015 a newlyrenovated lab in Leon Johnson Hall was rededicated in his honor and is now named the Hayden Ferguson Soils Teaching Laboratory.
With all the success in research, extension and teaching, Ferguson's wife Marlene noted with a twinkle in her eye that his most recognized role may be as the moderator of Montana Ag Live, which he continued to do long after retirement and throughout his 80s. “We’ll be on an elevator, and someone will recognize him. They recognize his voice, even if they don’t see him!”
Ferguson takes pride in the show, mostly because it has proven to be an effective way of delivering timely, accurate information to the agriculture and non-ag community. “The average public television viewer may not think to ask a question about water or mushrooms,” he said, “but the response can be very helpful for the broader community.”
Ferguson’s self-deprecating, quirky, downhome way of speaking is endearing and for many viewers was a big part of their tuning in. For his part, Ferguson is very modest. “Jack (Riesselman) has been the major mover. He shook this thing based on his experience in Nebraska and has kept it going. For most of the time, my job was to pick up a piece of paper and read a question. Though I suppose I have a certain breadth of knowledge, and my ability to distribute the questions to the right people probably was helpful.”
“I’m more surprised,” he said, “that I was involved to the degree I was, and in spite of my involvement, it has lasted so long.”
Though at age 90 Ferguson has officially retired, Riesselman and Mathre continue to be a part of the show and there are many seasoned and new contributors. They encourage everyone to call in with ag and horticulture-related questions. Because the show format is less formal with a moderated panel, it is also not so technical that viewers need a science background to learn something new.
To view episodes of Montana Ag Live, visit montanapbs.org, where every episode since 2003 is archived. Reruns are broadcast most Sunday mornings at 11 a.m. on MontanaPBS. The fall series begins Sunday, Sept. 8, 2019 at 6 p.m. Have your questions ready!
For the current season, production underwriters for Montana Ag Live are the Montana Department of Agriculture, MSU Extension, the MSU Ag Experiment Stations of the College of Agriculture, the Montana Wheat and Barley Committee, the Montana Bankers Association, Cashman Nursery and Landscaping, the Gallatin Gardeners Club, and the Rocky Mountain Certified Crop Adviser Program. For information on becoming a production underwriter, please contact the station toll free at (866) 832-0829.