By Tracy Sayler

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Prairie Grains is the
official publication of
the Minnesota
Association of
Wheat Growers,
North Dakota Grain
Growers Association,
South Dakota Wheat,
Inc., and the
Minnesota Barley
Growers Association.

It’s a schedule that would probably drive most people insane. For Wiesemeyer, it’s something in which he thrives as Washington Bureau Chief for Professional Farmers of America, better known as Pro Farmer.

Wiesemeyer has been Pro Farmer’s eye on Capitol Hill for 18 years. As a veteran ag reporter, he is plugged into the Washington farm policy scene, on a first-name basis with many lawmakers and senior administration officials.

He contributes news and insight into Pro Farmer’s weekly newsletter. But it’s on the web where Pro Farmer and Wiesemeyer have established a presence. Pro Farmer’s web site, www.pro farmer.com, has only been online for about a year. But already, it might be the leading example in the agricultural communications industry today where a news organization’s web version is contending with its print version as the draw for subscribers.

Wiesemeyer updates Pro Farmer’s web feature "Overnight Overview" between 7:30 p.m. and 9 p.m. daily, and "News From Around The World" by 4 a.m. "At night the web is not as busy. I just love the net; it fits my schedule." The centerpiece of Pro Farmer’s web site, for which Wiesemeyer might be best noted, is "Inside Washington Today." His daily "inside-the-beltway, inside-the-hallways" insight has fast become the place for the latest and hottest buzz on farm policy.

Breaking news, commentary, analysis, and gossip are variable ingredients to Wiesemeyer’s IWT. "It takes on a life of its own each day. There’s really no deadline to it. When we started it, I asked (Pro Farmer bosses) ‘don’t rope me in.’ And they didn’t. They said, ‘whenever you get the story.’ Most of the time I try to have it updated between 9 a.m. central time and noon; rarely is it in the afternoon," he says.

On the popularity of "IWT": "It has become a calling card; we have lawmakers and USDA people wanting to give information. Not that we didn’t have access before, but it has just opened the doors wider. That’s the power of the Net. (Pro Farmer) merging with Farm Journal also opened an audience. Plus, we don’t hide behind bushes when we report."

Wiesemeyer is the keynote speaker at this year’s joint convention of the ND Grain Growers Association, Minnesota Association of Wheat Growers, and Minnesota Barley Growers, Dec. 7-8, at the Doublewood Inn, Fargo.