Orion Samuelson ( ; born March 31, 1934) is a retired American broadcaster, known for his agriculture broadcasts and his ability to explain

agribusiness Agribusiness is the industry, enterprises, and the field of study of value chains in agriculture and in the bio-economy, in which case it is also called bio-business or bio-enterprise. The primary goal of agribusiness is to maximize profit ...

and food production in an understandable way. He was inducted into the

Radio Hall of Fame The Radio Hall of Fame, formerly the National Radio Hall of Fame, is an American organization created by the Emerson Radio Corporation in 1988. Three years later, Bruce DuMont, founder, president, and CEO of the Museum of Broadcast Communication ...

in 2003.

Career

Samuelson was born on a dairy farm in Ontario, Wisconsin, near

LaCrosse Lacrosse is a contact team sport played with a lacrosse stick and a lacrosse ball. It is the oldest organized sport in North America, with its origins with the indigenous people of North America as early as the 12th century. The game w ...

. Growing up on the farm Samuelson was expected to take over the family business, but a leg disease made it impossible to do heavy work. He considered becoming a

Lutheran Lutheranism is a major branch of Protestantism that emerged under the work of Martin Luther, the 16th-century German friar and Protestant Reformers, reformer whose efforts to reform the theology and practices of the Catholic Church launched ...

pastor before deciding on six months of radio school. His early work was based in

Wisconsin Wisconsin ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Great Lakes region, Great Lakes region of the Upper Midwest of the United States. It borders Minnesota to the west, Iowa to the southwest, Illinois to the south, Lake Michigan to the east, Michig ...

, at WKLJ in Sparta,

WHBY WHBY (1150 AM broadcasting, AM) is a commercial radio station city of license, licensed to Kimberly, Wisconsin, that serves the Green Bay, Wisconsin, Green Bay and Appleton, Wisconsin, Appleton-Oshkosh, Wisconsin, Oshkosh areas. The station is o ...

in Appleton, and

WBAY-TV WBAY-TV (channel 2) is a television station in Green Bay, Wisconsin, United States, affiliated with American Broadcasting Company, ABC and owned by Gray Media. The station's studios are located on South Jefferson Street in downtown Green Bay (a ...

/ AM in Green Bay. Samuelson was heard on

WGN radio WGN (720 kHz) is a commercial AM radio station in Chicago, Illinois, featuring a talk radio format. WGN's studios are in the Chicago Loop, while the transmitter is in Elk Grove Village. WGN also features broadcasts of Chicago Blackhawks hocke ...

in Chicago for sixty years as the station's head agriculture broadcaster from 1960 through 2020, getting the job after his predecessor Norm Kraft abruptly resigned from his position on-air. In May 1960, one of Mr. Samuelson's first assignments for WGN was to emcee the ''

National Barn Dance ''National Barn Dance'', broadcast by WLS (AM), WLS-AM in Chicago, Illinois starting in 1924, was one of the first American country music radio programs and a direct precursor of the ''Grand Ole Opry''. ''National Barn Dance'' also set the stag ...

'', a long running program that WGN had just acquired when WLS radio discontinued its association with

Prairie Farmer ''Prairie Farmer'' is a weekly newspaper which covers agricultural and rural news in the state of Illinois. It was first published in 1841 in Chicago, Illinois by John Stephen Wright and was called ''The Union Agriculturist and Western Prairie ...

magazine. WLS had converted to "The Station With Personality" and started playing

rock 'n' roll Rock and roll (often written as rock & roll, rock-n-roll, and rock 'n' roll) is a Genre (music), genre of popular music that evolved in the United States during the late 1940s and early 1950s. It Origins of rock and roll, originated from African ...

. Three years into his tenure at WGN, Samuelson was the staffer who read the news of the

John F. Kennedy assassination John F. Kennedy, the 35th president of the United States, was assassinated while riding in a presidential motorcade through Dealey Plaza in Dallas, Texas, on November 22, 1963. Kennedy was in the vehicle with his wife Jacqueline, Texas gove ...

. His career led him to have dinner at the White House and travel to 43 countries including

Cuba Cuba, officially the Republic of Cuba, is an island country, comprising the island of Cuba (largest island), Isla de la Juventud, and List of islands of Cuba, 4,195 islands, islets and cays surrounding the main island. It is located where the ...

, where he shook hands with

Fidel Castro Fidel Alejandro Castro Ruz (13 August 1926 – 25 November 2016) was a Cuban politician and revolutionary who was the leader of Cuba from 1959 to 2008, serving as the prime minister of Cuba from 1959 to 1976 and President of Cuba, president ...

Moscow Moscow is the Capital city, capital and List of cities and towns in Russia by population, largest city of Russia, standing on the Moskva (river), Moskva River in Central Russia. It has a population estimated at over 13 million residents with ...

where he met with

Mikhail Gorbachev Mikhail Sergeyevich Gorbachev (2 March 1931 – 30 August 2022) was a Soviet and Russian politician who served as the last leader of the Soviet Union from 1985 to dissolution of the Soviet Union, the country's dissolution in 1991. He served a ...

, and

England England is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It is located on the island of Great Britain, of which it covers about 62%, and List of islands of England, more than 100 smaller adjacent islands. It ...

to broadcast live from the

Royal Agricultural Show The Royal Show, also known as the Royal Agricultural Show, was an annual agricultural show held by the Royal Agricultural Society of England every year from 1839 to 2009. The event encompassed all aspects of farming, food and rural life - from ...

. He traveled with the Secretary of Agriculture and the Prime Minister of

India India, officially the Republic of India, is a country in South Asia. It is the List of countries and dependencies by area, seventh-largest country by area; the List of countries by population (United Nations), most populous country since ...

to see the

Taj Mahal The Taj Mahal ( ; ; ) is an ivory-white marble mausoleum on the right bank of the river Yamuna in Agra, Uttar Pradesh, India. It was commissioned in 1631 by the fifth Mughal Empire, Mughal emperor, Shah Jahan () to house the tomb of his belo ...

. He interviewed and/or met every US president from

Dwight D. Eisenhower Dwight David "Ike" Eisenhower (born David Dwight Eisenhower; October 14, 1890 – March 28, 1969) was the 34th president of the United States, serving from 1953 to 1961. During World War II, he was Supreme Commander of the Allied Expeditionar ...

Donald Trump Donald John Trump (born June 14, 1946) is an American politician, media personality, and businessman who is the 47th president of the United States. A member of the Republican Party (United States), Republican Party, he served as the 45 ...

, including

John F. Kennedy John Fitzgerald Kennedy (May 29, 1917 – November 22, 1963), also known as JFK, was the 35th president of the United States, serving from 1961 until his assassination in 1963. He was the first Roman Catholic and youngest person elected p ...

(when he was still a Senator),

Lyndon Johnson Lyndon Baines Johnson (; August 27, 1908January 22, 1973), also known as LBJ, was the 36th president of the United States, serving from 1963 to 1969. He became president after assassination of John F. Kennedy, the assassination of John F. Ken ...

Richard Nixon Richard Milhous Nixon (January 9, 1913April 22, 1994) was the 37th president of the United States, serving from 1969 until Resignation of Richard Nixon, his resignation in 1974. A member of the Republican Party (United States), Republican ...

Gerald Ford Gerald Rudolph Ford Jr. (born Leslie Lynch King Jr.; July 14, 1913December 26, 2006) was the 38th president of the United States, serving from 1974 to 1977. A member of the Republican Party (United States), Republican Party, Ford assumed the p ...

Ronald Reagan Ronald Wilson Reagan (February 6, 1911 – June 5, 2004) was an American politician and actor who served as the 40th president of the United States from 1981 to 1989. He was a member of the Republican Party (United States), Republican Party a ...

George H. W. Bush George Herbert Walker BushBefore the outcome of the 2000 United States presidential election, he was usually referred to simply as "George Bush" but became more commonly known as "George H. W. Bush", "Bush Senior," "Bush 41," and even "Bush th ...

George W. Bush George Walker Bush (born July 6, 1946) is an American politician and businessman who was the 43rd president of the United States from 2001 to 2009. A member of the Bush family and the Republican Party (United States), Republican Party, he i ...

, and

Bill Clinton William Jefferson Clinton (né Blythe III; born August 19, 1946) is an American politician and lawyer who was the 42nd president of the United States from 1993 to 2001. A member of the Democratic Party (United States), Democratic Party, ...

, and additionally, after he was 20 years out of the Oval Office,

Harry S. Truman Harry S. Truman (May 8, 1884December 26, 1972) was the 33rd president of the United States, serving from 1945 to 1953. As the 34th vice president in 1945, he assumed the presidency upon the death of Franklin D. Roosevelt that year. Subsequen ...

. During the 1960s, Samuelson hosted an early-morning show on

WGN-TV WGN-TV (channel 9) is a television station in Chicago, Illinois, United States, serving as the local outlet for The CW. It is owned and operated by the network's majority owner, Nexstar Media Group, and is sister station, sister to the company ...

, ''Top 'O' the Morning'', first with organist Harold Turner, then with Max Armstrong. From 1975 to 2005, Samuelson was the host of '' U.S. Farm Report'', a weekly television newsmagazine dedicated to agriculture. ''U.S. Farm Report'' continued without Samuelson after his departure. Samuelson hosted a similar show, ''This Week in Agribusiness'', along with his longtime collaborator Max Armstrong, until his retirement, and continues to make occasional commentaries on that show with Armstrong as host. Both shows aired on 190 Midwest stations via

first-run syndication Broadcast syndication is the practice of content owners leasing the right to broadcast their content to other television stations or radio stations, without having an official broadcast network to air it on. It is common in the United States whe ...

. Politically, Samuelson was a Republican; he supported the production of

ethanol fuel Ethanol fuel is fuel containing ethyl alcohol, the same type of alcohol as found in alcoholic beverages. It is most often used as a motor fuel, mainly as a biofuel additive for gasoline. Several common ethanol fuel mixtures are in use aro ...

from corn, to help American farmers. In 2004,

Dennis Hastert John Dennis Hastert ( ; born January 2, 1942) is an American former politician, teacher, and wrestling coach who represented from 1987 to 2007 and served as the 51st speaker of the United States House of Representatives from 1999 to 2007. Hast ...

approached Samuelson about running for office against

Barack Obama Barack Hussein Obama II (born August 4, 1961) is an American politician who was the 44th president of the United States from 2009 to 2017. A member of the Democratic Party, he was the first African American president in American history. O ...

in the

2004 United States Senate election in Illinois The 2004 United States Senate election in Illinois was held on November 2, 2004. Incumbent Republican Senator Peter Fitzgerald decided to retire after one term. The Democratic and Republican primary elections were held in March, which includ ...

; Samuelson, though he was eager to enter the race, was forced to decline due a throat infection that doctors and his wife warned would be fatal if he attempted the campaign. On the lighter side, Samuelson and a studio group dubbed the " Uff da Band" once recorded covers of Yogi Yorgesson's novelty songs '' I Yust Go Nuts at Christmas'' and ''Yingle Bells''. Samuelson held the same position in the broadcasting industry for 60 consecutive years through 2020, second only to

Los Angeles Dodgers Radio Network The Los Angeles Dodgers Radio Network is a network that consists of 27 radio stations that air Major League Baseball games of the Los Angeles Dodgers in parts of seven states and one U.S. territory and in three languages. , 20 stations broadcast ...

announcer

Vin Scully Vincent Edward Scully (November 29, 1927 – August 2, 2022) was an American sportscaster, best known for his broadcast work in Major League Baseball. Scully was the play-by-play announcer for the Brooklyn / Los Angeles Dodgers for sixty-se ...

. In 2001, Samuelson was named a laureate of

The Lincoln Academy of Illinois The Lincoln Academy of Illinois is a not-for-profit, non-partisan organization dedicated to recognizing contributions made by living Illinoisans. Named for Abraham Lincoln, the Academy administers the Order of Lincoln, the highest award given b ...

and was awarded the Order of Lincoln – the highest award bestowed by the

State of Illinois Illinois ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Midwestern United States, Midwestern United States. It borders on Lake Michigan to its northeast, the Mississippi River to its west, and the Wabash River, Wabash and Ohio River, Ohio rivers to its ...

. The

University of Illinois The University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign (UIUC, U of I, Illinois, or University of Illinois) is a public university, public land-grant university, land-grant research university in the Champaign–Urbana metropolitan area, Illinois, United ...

presented Samuelson with the honorary degree of Doctor of Letters. He was honored at the 2010 Wisconsin Corn/Soy Expo in Wisconsin Dells. Samuelson received a custom-engraved Norwegian horse plaque to commemorate the occasion from presidents of the Wisconsin Corn Growers Association, the Wisconsin Soybean Association, the Wisconsin Agri-Services Association, and the Wisconsin Pork Association. On December 9, 2010, the southwest corner of E. Illinois St. & N. Cityfront Plaza Dr. was named 'Orion Samuelson Way' by the city of Chicago. In 2014 he was awarded the VERITAS award by American Agri-Women (AAW) Organization. Samuelson serves as a Board Member Emeritus for the Illinois Agricultural Leadership Foundation (IALF) having previously served as chairman of the board. He also serves on the Farm Foundation Bennett Round Table, and is a former member of the board of the Agriculture Future of America, the Board of Farm Safety 4 Just Kids, the board of directors of the Foods Resource Bank, a former trustee of the Cornerstone Foundation of Lutheran Social Services of Illinois, and a former member of the board of trustees of the National 4-H Council. On November 1, 2012, Samuelson published his autobiography "You Can’t Dream Big Enough" via Bantry Bay Media. In 2014 the

CME Group CME Group Inc. is an American financial services company based in Chicago that operates financial derivatives exchanges including the Chicago Mercantile Exchange, Chicago Board of Trade, New York Mercantile Exchange, and the Commodity Exchange. ...

and the National Association of Farm Broadcasting (NAFB) Foundation announced the inaugural recipient of the Orion Samuelson Scholarship ($5,000) for a senior at the

, Urbana-Champaign. The scholarship is presented to a college student seeking a career in agricultural communications. On September 23, 2020, Samuelson announced his retirement from WGN Radio. His final broadcast on WGN was the noon business report on December 31, 2020.

Awards

National Radio Hall of Fame The Radio Hall of Fame, formerly the National Radio Hall of Fame, is an American organization created by the Emerson Radio Corporation in 1988. Three years later, Bruce DuMont, founder, president, and CEO of the Museum of Broadcast Communicati ...

, 2003 *

American Farm Bureau The American Farm Bureau Federation (AFBF), more informally called the American Farm Bureau (AFB) or simply the Farm Bureau, is a United States–based 501(c)(5) tax-exempt agricultural organization and lobbying group. Headquartered in Washi ...

's Distinguished Service Award, 1998 *

4-H 4-H is a U.S.-based network of youth organizations whose mission is "engaging youth to reach their fullest potential while advancing the field of youth development". Its name is a reference to the occurrence of the initial letter H four times ...

Alumni Award * Oscar *

Norsk Høstfest Norsk Høstfest (Norwegian language: "''Norwegian Autumn Festival (literally: Norwegian Harvest Festival)''") is an annual festival held each fall in Minot, North Dakota, US. It is North America's largest Scandinavian festival. History The event ...

Scandinavian-American Nordic and Scandinavian Americans are Americans of Scandinavian and/or Nordic ancestry, including Danish Americans (estimate: 1,453,897), Faroese Americans, Finnish Americans (estimate: 653,222), Greenlandic Americans, Icelandic Americans (es ...

Hall of Fame * Orion Samuelson was inducted as a Laureate of

and awarded the Order of Lincoln (the State's highest honor) by the governor of Illinois in 2001 in the area of Communication and Agriculture. American Agri-Women Veritas Award, 2015

Listen to

Christmas Eve air check from Radio Hall of Fame

References

External links

This Week in Agribusiness
- Weekly commentary *
Tribune Radio NetworkOrion Samuelson, Keynote Speaker ProfileAmerican Agri-Women Veritas AwardLegendary agribusiness broadcaster Orion Samuelson on 60 years
{{DEFAULTSORT:Samuelson, Orion American television personalities People from La Crosse, Wisconsin Radio personalities from Chicago 1934 births Living people American Lutherans American people of Norwegian descent