Samuelson Sez: “If You Eat, You’re Involved in Agriculture”

Orion Samuelson was a hot commodity in the area this winter, speaking at Concordia College, the Northwest Farm Managers Meeting in Fargo, and the International Crop Expo in Grand Forks.  In the photo at right from the Expo, Samuelson is interviewing Alberta, Minn., crop producer Mike Bruer about grain issues, for “U.S Farm Report,” the longest running ag show on television, on the air since 1975.  Bruer is president of the Minnesota Association of Wheat Growers.

Samuelson has directed radio and TV ag coverage at WGN in Chicago since 1960.  In great demand as a convention speaker, he makes more than 100 appearances annually as a speaker or master of ceremonies. In his address at Concordia, Samuelson said that “something I tell people who don’t think they need to know about agriculture is, if you eat, you are involved in agriculture.”

He recalled the first time his father came to visit him at the radio station, which he said will always be a humbling memory. The elder Samuelson said nothing while his son was showing him around. When asked what he thought, the father replied, “It must be nice to look at all that hard work and just have to talk about it.”

Samuelson said in his Concordia speech that people need to understand the challenges of farming, as well as realize that we are living in a globalized agriculture economy.

“Today we spend as much time on the radio talking about weather in South America and how it affects agriculture as we do talking about the weather in the Midwest,” Samuelson said. “I have not met a farmer yet who likes imports. But if all we do is ship it out, it’s not called trade.”

Samuelson raised the issue of the farm bill, and how difficult it is to make farms self-sufficient without government subsidies. He also said most farmers would rather receive a good price for their commodities than get a check from the government. “If I could wave a magic wand, I’d make sure they could get their living out of the market instead of the mailbox,” he said.