While growing up in Texas County, Janet Adkison was surrounded by and immersed in an environment of livestock farming and developed a deep-seeded interest in the field.
As she became a young woman, Adkison also became interested in broadcasting, and her interest in the two fields ultimately combined into a career in radio and television. Climbing the ladder, so to speak, led Adkison – a 1993 graduate of Houston High School – to join the RFD-TV network in April 2013, and she recently became an anchor on its Rural Evening News Market Day Report team in Nashville.
“It’s an exciting opportunity,” she said. “With my background primarily being in radio, my three years here has been a wonderful learning experience the entire way. It’s been fun, and it’s not over yet.”
Janet Adkison stands next to a cow she showed during the 1993 Texas County Fair.
Adksion grew up near Yukon, on a cattle ranch owned and operated by her mother and father (Polly and the late Dewain Adkison). In high school, she followed in the footsteps of her dad and her brother, David, by being an active member of the local FFA chapter, serving as reporter, vice president and president and even being selected as a state FFA officer.
Following her days at HHS, Adkison earned a degree in agricultural communications at Missouri State University in Springfield. From there, she entered the radio industry as a farm broadcaster for the Arkansas Radio Network in Little Rock, and went on to work for the Brownfield Network in Missouri, a station in Clay Center, Kan., and spent a seven-year stint as the farm director for KMZU Radio in Carrollton, Mo.
Parlaying her life experience as a youth in Houston to a career in broadcasting was a process born from a realization.
“Being active in FFA, and then carrying that over into college – it fits together very well,” she said. “But in college, I initially started out as an animal science major, thinking I might go the pre-veterinary route. But I wasn’t real strong in the whole science department, so I went with the talking department.
“That has worked out well.”
Adkison is an integral member of the National Association of Farm Broadcasting (NAFB), and has served as the board’s president and vice president. She recently moved back to Nashville after spending a couple of years as an RFD-TV correspondent in Washington, D.C.
Adkison said life in Nashville is a bit faster-paced than in the Ozarks, but the city sort of resembles an overgrown small town.
“It’s a neat city,” she said. “There is a lot going on, but at the same time, it has a very sweet heart to it. And it obviously has the ripplings of being the center of country music; it’s funny how you’ll come across some of the country feeling in many locations and corners of the city.
“As a country music fan, that’s nice.”
Being both a “talking department” graduate and someone who loves agriculture, Adkison is on the list of people who love what they get paid to do.
“The fact I still get to be involved in the agriculture industry is something exciting every day,” she said. “I’ve had the chance over the years in my career to work with people in all aspects of the industry. My personal background is of course in beef cattle, but now I know people who raise cotton, rice, soybeans, corn and a variety of different commodities.
“They all have a similar livelihood, but different at the same time. It definitely gives me something to learn from.”
Adkison said she hopes to “stay put” in Nashville for a while, but might not be finished moving forward and upward.
“I’m looking forward to whatever life has in store and I’m open to those opportunities,” she said.
Janet Adkison stands next to an 1,100-pound crossbred market steer she showed during the 1992 Texas County Fair. The animal was purchased by the Bank of Houston. In back are bank representatives, from left, Chris Smith, Craig Pounds and Myles Smith.