CALF_News_Oct_Nov_2018

28 CALF News • October | November 2018 • www.calfnews.net Since the most we get of Susan Little- field is a faceless voice, let’s get to know her better, so we have a more thorough understanding of this person who lives in the airwaves. At the beginning Littlefield grew up on a Minnesota dairy farm. She attended the Univer- sity of Wisconsin, River Falls, and that’s when her life took an unexpected turn; she had initially signed up for an agricultural education major. A wizened teacher knew the difficulties dealing with a classroom full of teenagers and determined that his students needed to “learn to speak to a blank wall.” Thus, each ag ed student was required to spend time at the college radio station, honing as farm director for two years and sta- tion manager during her senior year. She was off and running. After graduation, Littlefield began a 27-year odyssey, working at South Dakota, Minnesota andWisconsin stations. She landed a job in Columbus, Neb., at KZEN radio, and stayed for 18 years before moving to KRVN, Lexington, in 2016. A dream job Her job at KRVN reflects the modern technology and flexibility available in today’s workplace. After securing her new employment two years ago, Little- field converted her sons’ toy room to an office and studio. She not only broad- casts radio from there but does a short news program twice daily for TV News- channel Nebraska. Her program has also been picked up by Spectrum and several other local entities. It is contracted through the Rural Radio Network. According to Littlefield,“no day is the same.” She spends considerable time on the road, going to meetings, events and businesses. Farm news and markets are always a priority. When asked about any drawbacks to her work-at-home flexibility, Littlefield responds with a line that every mother will identify with,“My kids think I’m not working.” She is also convinced that some of her neighbors don’t know she has a job. Thankfully, she is able to interview farmers at any time, at their convenience, due to her at-home studio location. They often prefer to visit in the evenings, when field work is done for the day. It is a big advantage for her. Tons of fun and kudos Littlefield’s favorite story about her career is about an incident that hap- pened years ago when she worked for WNAX in South Dakota. The broad- cast area reached from Yankton to West River at Hot Springs. While she was covering an event in the field, the general public was finally able to take a gander at their farm broadcaster. Nonethe- less, the farmers kept asking,“Where is she?” Considering her last name, they all thought she must be a Native American. When someone in the crowd finally realized he was looking at the real Susan Littlefield, he said, disappointedly, “Damn. You’re a white girl.” Littlefield has accomplished a great By Patti Wilson Contributing Editor SUSAN LITTLEFIELD Littlefield covers a group of schoolchildren on a field trip to the Nebraska State Fair. KRVN farm director Susan Littlefield spends time helping out at the Nebraska State Fair. WE LISTEN TO HER. We wait for the clear, silky voice to come over our radios, and we hope that, today, her news is good. She is Susan Littlefield, farm director for KRVN Radio. their speaking skills. Littlefield described “falling in love” with radio almost immediately. Not only was she good at it, she knew right away that her teaching ambitions had van- ished at the first sight of a microphone. She took a job there while still in college Airwave Maven