Backyard Farmer

Did You Know?

• Backyard Farmer first aired in 1953 on Lincoln, Nebraska, station KFOR-TV, moving to NET in 1955.
• The KFOR license was donated in 1954 to the University of Nebraska by John Fetzer, who also owned competing Lincoln TV station KOLN.
• In the 1960s, Backyard Farmer had the highest rating of any educational broadcast in the United States.
• Phone volunteer Gladys Jeurink has served from 1977 to the present.

Overview

The show features a host who fields viewer questions about home lawn and gardening, as well as Nebraska-native flora and fauna, to a panel of four specialists in Entomology, Horticulture, Plant Pathology, and Turf Grass and Weeds. Segments include a plant-of-the-week, live plant and pest samples, and a "Lightning Round" where panelists compete to answer as many viewer questions as possible in 60 seconds. During live broadcasts, telephone operators handle about 200 calls and 100 emails to select questions, with most revolving around soil preparation, water conservation, organic food production, landscape practices, and edible landscapes.

History

Backyard Farmer debuted in 1953 on KFOR-TV in Lincoln, Nebraska, and shifted to NET two years later. The KFOR license was given to the University of Nebraska in 1954 by John Fetzer, who also owned rival station KOLN, to establish NET’s flagship KUON-TV, which operated from the basement of the campus Temple building. The show was created by George Round, the university’s Director of University Relations, and Jack McBride, who founded the University of Nebraska Television Department and managed the nine-station Nebraska ETV Network. It was the fourth program to launch on KUON-TV. Original hosts and moderators were George Round and Dwayne Trenkle, with a format featuring a host and four specialists. During the 1960s, it achieved the highest ratings of any U.S. educational broadcast. The program bills itself as “The longest running locally produced program in television history.”