NCGA to Participate in Public Television Series on Agriculture
(4-27-05)
The National
Corn Growers Association (NCGA) will collaborate with Monsanto,
the American Farm Bureau Federation (AFBF) and four other commodity
groups on a new public television program that is aimed at promoting
agriculture to the non-farming public. The program, America's
Heartland, will be produced by public television affiliate station
KVIE in Sacramento, Calif., and distributed nationwide this fall.
America's Heartland is a weekly television program that celebrates
the miracle of American agriculture and the farm and ranch families
that help make it possible. The magazine-style, half-hour program
will focus on the nation's love for the land, its fascination with
food and the bedrock American values of family, hard work and independence
that make the U.S. agricultural system the finest in the world.
“We are pleased to take part in this important series,”
said Mimi Ricketts, NCGA director of communications. “We believe
the program will help raise public awareness of the agricultural
industry, particularly among the nation’s opinion leaders,
and highlight the important role farmers and ranchers play in feeding,
clothing and fueling the world.
The presentation of this program is made possible through major
underwriting by Monsanto Company in collaboration with the AFBF.
NCGA along with the American Soybean Association, National Cotton
Council, United Soybean Board and U.S. Grains Council will provide
additional production and promotion assistance.
America's Heartland will premiere the first week of September 2005.
The program's first season will consist of 20 original programs,
one or more of which will break from the established format to cover
a single topic or theme. The series will be distributed to each
of more than 300 public television stations across the United States
by America's Public Television, the single largest provider of programming
to public television stations.