An Alabama native, Ishee served nearly two decades in the U.S. Navy before settling in the Shenandoah Valley in 1994. One of Ishee’s collateral duties in the Navy involved writing, so when he came to live in the Valley, he began work for a rural newspaper near Staunton. He had no formal training in agriculture, but increasingly he found himself writing stories about agriculture and agribusiness topics. “Even though I wasn’t raised on a farm, a lot of my extended family is involved in agriculture, from beef cattle producers to catfish farmers,” says Ishee. “So I certainly had an interest and familiarity with farm life.”

Homer Quann, for years the premier voice of agriculture in the Shenandoah Valley onWSVA radio (AM 550), had seen some of Ishee’s writing and in 1996 asked if he’d be interested in doing farm-related radio broadcast work. “I told Homer that I had no broadcast experience, but I’d love to give it a try, so he took me under his wing and mentored me for two years,” Ishee notes. “When Homer retired in 1998, I was deeply honored to be able to take over the broadcast.” Ishee still serves as farm director for WSVA in Harrisonburg. His radio segments air multiple times a day, six days a week.

The idea for a syndicated program came with repeated requests for a farm radio broadcast to a wider audience, beyond the Shenandoah Valley. “Working with WSVA, I would find myself interviewing people in other parts of Virginia. They would always mention that they knew of our program, and they wished there was a farm program in their own area,” notes Ishee.

This led to development of On the Farm, which is Ishee’s own radio show, a separate entity from the work he does for WSVA. The program egan broadcast in January of 2002 and is designed for the entire Mid-Atlantic audience including Virginia, West Virginia, eastern ennessee, Maryland, Pennsylvania and North Carolina. The show airs six days a week throughout the region.

To complement On the Radio, Ishee has also developed a comprehensive new Web site, www.onthefarmradio.com.

“One thing I’ve learned in working the agriculture beat is that farming today is information driven,” Ishee says. “Successful farmers rely uchmore on the Internet now than they did even five years ago. That is why I started the Web site, which offers in-depth news about griculture for the Mid-Atlantic area.” Like the radio program, Ishee’s Web site offers crop and weather reports, market information and eneral news about agriculture.

Into the Realm of Television

Ishee’s ag-info network expanded even more in 2002, when he was approached by representatives of Virginia Public Television - WVPT. “I hought they just wanted some ideas on a possible farm television show,” observes Ishee. “I was dumbfounded when they asked me if I would be interested in hosting the show.”

Ishee told the WVPT management he didn’t have any television broadcast experience, but he would be willing to try. And here again, shee’s willingness to try something new worked out well for him and for the agribusiness community.

The first program aired in March, 2003 and the show has been on the air every week since. The show has included guests ranging from farmers talking about sheep production to Chairman of the House Agriculture Committee, Sixth District of Virginia Congressman Bob oodlatte discussing farm exports and legislative issues. “So far, the program has touched on everything from cotton farming to raising rainbow trout,” says Ishee. “Virginia is one of the most diversified states in terms of agriculture, so I don’t think we’ll ever have to worry about running out of topics for the program.”

The 30-minute TV show recently expanded and is currently seen not just on Virginia Public Television, but is now available in nearly 22 million homes all across North America on RFD-TV, a non-profit, satellite- delivered television network serving rural interests. Ishee says he's thrilled to know that topics concerning Virginia agriculture will now be available to a national audience.

"Farming is our state's largest and oldest industry," says Ishee. "We in Virginia are blessed to have a long legacy of farming dating all the ay back to the early 1600s at Jamestown. As we enter the 21st century, we continue to have a viable and dynamic agricultural economy."

Ishee’s daily radio program and weekly television show are the only shows in the Old Dominion that focus exclusively on farming. Virginia Farm Bureau Federation has named him radio broadcaster of the year for the past five consecutive years and, in a recent magazine article, referred to him as “the voice of Virginia agriculture”, a mantle he feels he inherited from his mentor Homer Quann at WSVA radio. “Homer’s formula for success was simple,” notes Ishee. “He said farmers want to know three basic things – the weather situation, market prices, and what other farmers are doing. All I have done is carry on the formula developed by Homer and it has worked very well.”

Contact Information:
Phone (540) 363-3938
Fax (540) 434-7481
www.virginiafarming.com