June 6, 2017
Whether it’s TV, radio, the Hefty Supply Company, or their live agronomy events, Brian and Darren Hefty are always focused on helping farmers increase yield, profits, and improve their land and the environment through solid agronomic practices. Today, June 6th, 2017 marks a huge milestone for the Hefty Brothers with the premiere of Ag PhD‘s 1,000th episode on RFD-TV.
“We are so excited and blessed. We want to say thanks to Patrick Gottsch and his family for their support and great staff over the years. It’s been a fun run,” said Darren Hefty on the “Market Day Report” yesterday. “We originally started filming inside a studio with belive it or not, suit coats. Now we film in the field and are dressed in whatever we’re wearing that day on the farm. We do a lot of the filming on our own farm with our own crops. That’s been a big change. And also the technology has changed. It’s interesting when we look back at what we did on our first episode when bio crops were just getting started. And now we see where agriculture is today and where our yield levels are at. It’s really exciting.”
The Hefty brothers are well known in the ag industry for their family legacy established in 1969 as Hefty Farm Supply in Baltic, SD. Now 48 years later, the Hefty Seed Company is run by brothers Brian and Darren and other family members which now operates in 39 stores across the country and is the 8th largest crop protection retailer in the U.S. and number 12 in seed.
When asked what it’s like to work with family, Darren said. “My brother says it’s been tough putting up with me for 1,000 episodes, but I honestly think that’s one of the benefits because he gets to be around me that much more” joked Darren. “It’s been great. Our sister Janelle has been there from the other side of the camera. She does such a great job. It’s been a blessing.
The next big event for Brian and Darren is their annual Ag PhD Field Days, held in Baltic, SD. “Our field day has grown alongside our TV and radio shows. Last year we had farmers from 40 states and 25 different countries attend and we’ve got just about any different crop you can imagine there from peanuts to corn and soybeans, wheat, and sugar beets. Plus we’ll have a lot of new technology demos and get hear from other farmers about what they’re doing to raise crops,” said Darren. “Brian and I love learning from them.”
To learn more about their the Hefty family and their shows, Ag PhD Field Days on July 27th, or other projects the Hefty Brothers are working on, visit agphd.com. And don’t forget to tune in weekly on RFD-TV, Tuesdays at 8 p.m. ET and weekdays on RURAL RADIO Channel 147 on SiriusXM at 3 p.m. ET.