PLATTE CITY, Mo. (November 15, 2024) – The National Association of Farm Broadcasting (NAFB) honored veteran broadcasters Mark Oppold and Curt Lancaster as the 2024 inductees in the NAFB Hall of Fame. They were celebrated at a special Hall of Fame banquet on Thursday evening, Nov. 14, attended by farm broadcasters and ag industry leaders at this week’s NAFB Convention in Kansas City.
Together, Oppold and Lancaster have more than 100 years in the broadcasting industry. They both have developed career-long reputations for being trusted voices in agriculture and in their rural communities, delivering ag news, market insights and features that matter to farm and non-farm audiences alike. Both broadcasters served various leadership roles at NAFB, including terms as president.
Oppold grew up on his family’s farm in Iowa and began his broadcasting career at KMMJ Radio in Grand Island, NE. He is most recognized for serving as a regular on the WDAF Morning Show in Kansas City, serving as broadcast director of the Helming Report, starting the Bottomline Report and delivering market reports and other ag news on AgriTalk. He joined RFD-TV in 2008, where he hosted Market Day Report, Rural America Live and reported on events throughout the country
Oppold still produces The Bottomline Report and listeners can also hear him on the air through his American Ag History Minute, a program focusing on the history of American agriculture. He has produced and distributed hundreds of episodes.
“Being recognized by my peers is very humbling,” Oppold says. “I will always be grateful to be able to share the message of rural America across the country.”
Lancaster is a long-time Texas broadcaster whose beginnings began on his family’s cotton and grain farm when he listened to broadcasting legend Paul Harvey. His first full-time broadcasting gig came in 1970 at KLBK Radio in Lubbock, TX. He spent time at other stations in Texas and working behind the scenes in television until he got the call to become farm broadcaster at the Voice of Southwest Agriculture Network, where he would eventually become general manager.
In 2001, the Texas Farm Bureau asked Lancaster to start and build the Texas Farm Bureau Radio Network, and he oversaw everything from buying the equipment to signing up affiliate stations. He retired from the network at the end of 2016 after a half-century of broadcasting.
Lancaster still does voice work from his home studio on request and is a member emeritus of NAFB.
“Being a farm broadcaster, representing NAFB and being at the helm as president gave me the thrilling opportunity to see agriculture at its finest, not just in Texas, but across the USA,” Lancaster says. “I am humbled and greatly honored to be included in the NAFB Hall of Fame.”
Established in 1986, the NAFB Hall of Fame has recognized pioneers of the industry. In total, there are 79 inductees, including Oppold and Lancaster, into the Hall of Fame. Inductees are known leaders who are powerful advocates in the field of agriculture.
NAFB is a non-profit professional organization whose mission is to lead, promote, and support growth in agricultural and rural broadcasting for the benefit of its members, audiences, and industry.
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