AgNet West Radio Network news headlines air on more than 30 radio stations throughout California, from Shasta to Imperial counties. As the state’s largest farm radio network service, it provides growers and other listeners with local farm news produced daily in the heart of the Central Valley near Fresno.
The network’s broadcasts include a half dozen headlines that air during morning and mid-day airtimes on all affiliate stations each weekday. Also included is a full-hour feature broadcast called AgNet News Hour, previously known as Farm City Newsday, which airs on 14 radio stations around the Central and Salinas valleys and Central Coast production regions.
AgNet West is a local division of AgNet Media, which also operates farm news networks in the deep Southeast (Florida, Georgia, and Alabama), leading states in diversified agricultural production. AgNet West Radio Network debuted on the air with 12 affiliate stations in 2012 and will celebrate 12 years in California in July.
Sustained solely through advertising and program sponsorship support, AgNet West invites interested parties to contact the network at 352-671-1909 or Office@AgNetWest.com.
AgNet Media: 30 Years and Growing
The farm radio concept began in Florida three decades ago. Gary Cooper obtained seed capital from about three dozen Florida farmers and ranchers willing to help establish the radio news service for the state’s farm producers. Florida was then and remains today a leading state in diversified agriculture production. Since then, the original concept has become a leading agricultural communications company serving Florida, Georgia, Alabama and California. Here’s a brief look at the company’s growth timeline:
2014
AgNet Media, Inc. made the difficult decision to discontinue publishing Pest Pro magazine in order to refocus on its core agricultural media operations: Southeast AgNet Radio Network, AgNet West Radio Network, Citrus Industry magazine and the World’s Premier Citrus Expo. AgNet Media donated Pest Pro to the University of Florida’s Urban Entomology Laboratory, which now publishes the magazine under the leadership of Managing Director Phil Koehler.
2014
AgNet Media, Inc. embarks on its newest venture by becoming the contract publisher for Florida Turf Digest (founded in 1984), the official journal of the Florida Turfgrass Association.
2013
AgNet Media, Inc. becomes the new official corporate name. Original names and brands of the various operations remain intact, with AgNet Media, Inc. now able to facilitate more efficient management and growth toward further expansion and brand development.
2012
AgNet West radio network was formed in California by Cooper and Loftin, with other partners who left the partnership late the following year. AgNet West broadcasts several daily farm news headlines on 14 California radio stations, reaching all key areas in the nation’s number-one state in agriculture production. Ten affiliate stations now air the network’s new feature hour program, Farm City Newsday, which began in early 2014. AgNet West news can also be accessed online and in AgNet West This Week e-news.
2009
Citrus book sales and publishing company Florida Science Source (founded in 1995) is acquired. More than 30 agricultural book titles are available for sale online.
2008
Pest Pro magazine (founded in 2005 and formerly known as Florida Pest Pro magazine) is acquired. The trade magazine and Pest Pro This Week e-news focus on serving Florida’s commercial pest control industry, the largest pest control market in the United States. Pest Pro recently began adding subscribers from throughout the United States.
2005
Citrus Industry (founded in 1920), Florida’s leading citrus trade magazine, and Citrus Expo (founded in 1992), the world’s premier annual citrus trade show and seminar event for growers, are acquired. Citrus Industry magazine and Citrus Industry This Week e-news deliver the most timely and relevant production information and industry news to Florida’s citrus community
1984
Independent Florida Agrinet is born and is the first and only farm radio network in Florida. Expanding into Alabama and Georgia in the late 1980s, the name was changed to Southeast Agrinet. Growing rapidly into radio station ownership and sports distribution, those activities ceased in the early 1990’s during a reorganization plan. Southeast AgNet Radio Network became the name in 1994, now under the co-ownership of Cooper and Robin Loftin. Loftin joined Cooper and the venture as a local radio station salesperson in 1989, and the two were wed in 1997. Today, daily farm news headlines are broadcast on more than 60 radio stations in the region and additional farm news can be heard and read online and in AgNet This Week e-news.