Talking is the Easy Part

by Bryon Houlgrave

Hydration and rest are important keys to maintaining your voice. Any vocalist or narrator will tell you that. So will Paul Yeager, who hosts Market to Market on Iowa PBS. 

Yeager, a native of the northeast Iowa farming community of Jesup, has been the face of Market to Market since 2020, though viewers have seen him as the fill-in host since 2008. It’s his job to deliver news each week that focuses on rural America. Yeager also hosts the web-only analysis segment Market Plus, which is recorded immediately following the main broadcast every Friday. He can also be found hosting the MtoM podcast, an in-depth discussion with farmers, business leaders, market analysts and, occasionally, some of the Market to Market producers. You can find MtoM wherever you subscribe to podcasts. 

Yeager, a vocally-trained singer, is also the voice of high school championship events for Iowa PBS Sports. He is the play-by-play announcer for coverage of the Iowa Girls High School Athletic Union Softball Championships and he is the on-camera host for our coverage of the Iowa Girls High School Athletic Union Basketball Championships.  

He credits his ability to talk for long periods of time to growing up in a family that carried on a lot of conversations.

“My family is a family of talkers, and you had to be able to talk a lot to compete at the dinner table or at a family event,” Yeager said, then snuck in a polite jab. “But I consider myself the smartest of them all because I’m the one who gets paid to do it.”

Talking is the easy part. Talking on camera, however, can be intimidating for some people. 

Yeager has a keen sense for detecting the nervous energy of his guests. His ability to reduce their anxiety prior to the glow of the red “On Air” light is worth noting. 

“He does a great job cracking jokes before the show – just like Mark used to do,” said Naomi Blohm, senior market advisor at Total Farm Marketing based in West Bend, Wisconsin. The Mark she’s referring to is Mark Pearson, the host of Market to Market from 1991-2012.

“Mark was a guy that told funny stories and just had everybody laughing the whole time,” Yeager said. “I'm not ever going to be the storyteller Mark was, but I do try to tell stories and keep it somewhat light.”

Blohm is a regular guest on the program, but even seasoned pros get a little nervous before the show starts. Before the filming of a January episode, Yeager recalls his guest being a little worried because she felt that there were so many important things to discuss and she was concerned about how much time might be available.

“I mean, you might think 10-11 minutes is an eternity, but when you're trying to cover six or seven different commodities you’ve got to be efficient with your words and move along,” Yeager said. “That's the pressure that those analysts feel [before filming].”

Yeager’s on-air interview style is conversational in nature, perhaps not much different than what it might have been like around his family’s dining room table when he was growing up. His job is to help move the show along so all the information that needs to be part of each week’s show makes it into the allotted time. Each episode is just under 27 minutes in length, which is a lot of time to focus on news that impacts the rural communities of the United States.

Currently Market to Market airs on 21 PBS stations across 16 states – mostly in the Midwest – and is available everywhere for streaming online via YouTube, the PBS app and markettomarket.org. 

Yeager thinks back to those formative years growing up on that Buchanan County farm and watching Market to Market with his late father, Kent Yeager. There were times when, despite best efforts of the reporters to bring the full story, Kent still had questions. When he sits at the Market to Market desk, Yeager keeps those moments with his father in mind.

“When we watched the show he'd always be the guy yelling some ridiculous question in the back,” Yeager said. “I try to ask those types of questions.” A bit more politely, he added.

Yeager’s natural curiosity and charming on-air personality have served viewers of Iowa PBS well. Off-air he’s not much different; intelligent and kind, doting on his family, proud of his home and his state, always happy to share an anecdote or little-known detail. 

“I enjoy his personality, humor and breadth of knowledge between musical, sports, agriculture and global events,” Blohm told Iowa PBS in an email interview. “Paul does a great job.”

While farming and technology have changed dramatically in the past 50 years, the formula for Market to Market has remained relatively unchanged. 

“We still are talking about the same things,” Yeager said. “Corn, wheat, soybeans, cattle feeders, hogs, dairy, cotton.”

With more availability to access Market to Market’s team of expert reporters and producers, rural Americans have options to watch and consume as much as they want. On the free PBS app, viewers can watch the current show or select past episodes anytime they want, from the comfort of their couch or combine.

Yeager appreciates the opportunity to be linked with his viewers.

“I think it's very important to be connected with your audience. We've expanded the offering of what we have,” Yeager said, referencing the MtoM and Market Plus podcasts. Another piece of the equation he’s excited about is the Market Insider, an email newsletter sent out each week with even more information about what happened over the weekend.

Regardless of how viewers get their news, via gathering around the television or reading an emailed newsletter, at the end it’s all about them. It’s a privilege Yeager takes seriously.

“I just love the opportunity to talk to some incredibly smart people about a subject that's important for feeding the world and the livelihoods of many states, including my own state,” Yeager said. 

“It's just so fun to have a front row seat to ask questions.”