INDIANAPOLIS, Ind. — RFD-TV believes in the future of agriculture and the FFA. Since the beginning of RFD-TV and its parent company, it has provided coverage of the National FFA Convention from the opening gavel to the closing ceremonies, as well as weekly programs about the FFA organization.

“When RFD-TV was launched in December 2000, our stated mission and charter was dedicated to serving the needs and interests of rural America,” said Patrick Gottsch, founder and president of Rural Media Group, Inc. “Our association with FFA has been such a rewarding experience and contributed much to the success now being realized at RFD-TV and RURAL TV.”

Recently, Rural Media Group, parent company of RFD-TV and RURAL TV, showed its support in making an unrestricted cash contribution of $1 million to the National FFA Foundation.

“Gifts to the foundation translate directly into educational opportunity for agriculture students, their communities and American agriculture,” said Rob Cooper, executive director of the National FFA Foundation, the fundraising arm of National FFA. “RFD-TV is part of a very special group of sponsors whose significant contributions underscore their confidence in the importance of this program to their industry and our nation.”

The donation will be used to support educational programs for more than 540,000 students in 7,489 chapters, from Alaska to Puerto Rico and Maine to Hawaii. Since its inception in 1944, the foundation has raised more than $216 million to support FFA and agricultural education.

“The support from RFD-TV will make major educational opportunities available for our students to grow as they learn about the science, business and technology of agriculture,” said Dr. Dwight Armstrong, CEO of the National FFA Organization. “These are the young people who will help feed a world population projected to grow from 6.2 billion to 9 billion by the year 2050.

“They are the ones to put an end to hunger and malnutrition, both at home and abroad. And they will ensure we meet the needs for food, fiber and renewable energy in sustainable ways that preserve our precious natural resources.”

Scout Finch, public relations manager for Rural Media Group, said RFD-TV is the nation’s first 24-hour television network dedicated to servicing the needs and interests of rural America. The station programming is focused on agriculture, equine and rural lifestyle, along with traditional country music and entertainment.

Sister network RURAL TV launched in February 2012 and is a multimedia agribusiness and rural lifestyle network. Currently, the two networks are distributed to more than 55 million homes worldwide by DBS and cable systems.

The bi-monthly RFD-TV The Magazine has more 180,000 paid subscribers, and the company operates RFD-TV The Theatre in Branson, Mo. Corporate headquarters are in Omaha, Neb., and production operations are in Nashville, Tenn.

For more information, visit www.rfdtv.com and www.myruraltv.com