07-12-11 Weld County Friend of the Fair…Brian Allmer of the BARN

BRIAN ALLMER

If you head to the beef championship shows, you’ll hear it. Turn the radio to FM 104.7 or several other stations in Northeastern Colorado and you will hear it there, too. The husky, friendly and humble voice of Brian Allmer has become familiar in Weld County. It flows from the speakers as he announces livestock shows at the Fair and during the BARN agricultural news reports on radio stations throughout the state, and it streams from the computer as he does the play-by-play for Briggsdale High School sports.

After a devastating car accident in the late ‘90s, Allmer dedicated his life to supporting the hard-working young men and women involved in FFA and 4-H and to promoting agriculture in a positive way.

While volunteering with the marketing team at the Colorado Farm Show, he made connections with Northeast Colorado Broadcasting, a radio station out of Fort Morgan.

“They gave me a radio test and the rest is history,” said Allmer, who became an agriculture broadcaster in 2005.

“I feel like I have a second chance,” he said, explaining that back problems from the accident left him unable to farm and ranch. “I plan to help any way I can…to shed the light a little brighter on the 4-H and FFA kids. I plan to do that until I can’t do it anymore, and I hope that’s a long time from now.”

The Brian Allmer Radio Network, or BARN, was created in 2007. With more than 7,000 hits a month, the BARN has listeners around the world. The network primarily covers agricultural market reports, features and interviews. Allmer also streams webcasts of local sports games and the junior livestock sale.