Jarvis - Joe - Montgomery InGenWeb Project

By Ken Rains – There can’t be any doubt that Joe Jarvis’ favorite topic is Hoosier farm life – from dirt to manure. Jarvis, farm director of WCVL-Radio, Crawfordsville just put in a long week of long hours helping businessmen, farmers and truckers get together in a haylift for farmers in the Southeast. “I work any hours that agriculture works, anything from five to 20 hours a day, 7 days a week,” he said. “If it’s agriculture and it’s done something,  you’ll usually find me there.”{  He takes it in strike and already is looking for the next big story or project which needs his attention.  All part of the job he’s been doing 20 years, 18 years as farm director. He’s also done play-by-play of high school sports and Sunday races. Jarvis is unabashedly effusive when he talks about his job, farming and broadcasting. His broadcasts reach listeners in Montgomery, Fountain, Parke, Tippecanoe, Boone and Clint counties.  “I love the people that I get the chance to meet and work with – extension agents, farmers, all kinds of people and groups,” he said. “I deal heavily with 4-H, Future Farmers of American and YFA. If it’s an organization that’s working with agriculture I want to know about it.” It almost wasn’t that way for Jarvis. Years ago he had to drop his studies of speech and communication at DePauw University. He went to work for the Baltimore & Ohio RR just like his father had. When the rr job bottomed-out, he had to find something else. He was a ham radio operator, but knew little about broadcasting. “I guess it just came naturally,” he said. “I was born and raised in the area, love farming and farm living. There’s something different everyday and it’s fun working with people. I don’t dwell on the worse things that are happening to farmers. I try to keep an even keel so they can look at it as it is. The truth hurts, but there are good things to report.” Jarvis’ favorite assignments are stories about young people and working with them  He and his wife are parade chairmen for this year’s Montgomery County fair.  The toughest stories for him are those about accidents and other tragic events that hurt his friends in farming. “The hardest thing for me is seeing my farm friends in their economic situation to see what is happening to them here and in the drought areas. It just shouldn’t be happening to people who feed the world,” he said. Farming has changed so much the past 5 years it’s sometimes hard hard to recognize that we’re still in agriculture. The farmer and his wife have to be a tiller, finance expert, and a little bit of everything else just to survive.”  However, he said, “I’ve just got the feeling we’ll come out of this. Oh, yes, Jarvis does talk about his wife, his two sons and his Boston Bull Dog, Skipper. And Jarvis, 60, hints at retirement. But He quickly adds that most of his friends in farm broadcasting don’t retire. He’s willing to stick around as long as the station and the listeners want him.  Jarvis also talks about taking a vacation in a couple of weeks. He doesn’t have any plans except to help Ladoga celebrate its sesquicentennial. “I’m just a Hoosier. I wouldn’t be satisfied living anywhere else. I love doing things for agriculture and Indiana,” he said.