Legendary agriculture broadcaster Orion Samuelson passed away at his Huntley, IL home on Monday, March 16, 2026 at the age of 91. A familiar voice to Midwestern farmers for over 60 years, many producers relied on his farm reports on WGN-AM and WGN-TV based in Chicago to make their decisions regarding when to plant, harvest, or make major financial decisions based off his farm reports.
He began at WGN radio in Chicago in 1960 when Dwight Eisenhower was President. In fact, there were a total of 12 different men who had served as U.S. Presidents throughout Samuelson’s career as a farm broadcaster. A long-time advocate for the agriculture community, Samuelson reported not only on the news that impacted farmers, but the needs of producers and rural Americans.
Samuelson was born March 31, 1934 on a dairy farm near Ontario, Wisconsin. At the beginning of his career, Samuelson said he dropped out of the University of Wisconsin after three months because they were not teaching him how to be a radio announcer. He later enrolled at the American Institute of the Air in Minneapolis. His first radio job was in 1952 at WKLJ in Sparta, Wisconsin, where he was a polka disc jockey. It was the summer of 1952.
He worked for three Wisconsin radio stations before he was hired at WGN in Chicago in 1960. He hosted a show called Top O’ The Morning on WGN-TV beginning in the 1960’s. It was also at WGN where he hosted the National Barn Dance, which was the direct precursor of the Grand Ole Opry. The program had originated at WLS-AM in 1924, but was dropped by that station and picked up by WGN-AM in 1960. Samuelson was host until the show’s cancellation in 1968.
Samuelson also hosted U.S. Farm Report, a television farm show with another legendary farm broadcaster Max Armstrong. That program was syndicated to 150 television markets across the country. Both Samuelson and Armstrong were the Chet Huntley and David Brinkley of farm broadcasting. Together, they were the trusted voices for farm news and information for 42 years. Samuelson became popular for his ability to explain agribusiness and food production in an understandable way. He and Armstrong would talk about agriculture from a studio in Chicago over hundreds of networked stations. He would explain corn production and beef demand to thousands of suburban housewives, among others.
Samuelson was also a leader among farm broadcasters across the country. He was a member of NAFB for nearly 70 years. In 1965, he served as President of NAFB. He was also named NAFB Farm Broadcaster of the Year in 2003 and inducted into the NAFB Hall of Fame in 1999. Samuelson was also inducted in the Radio Hall of Fame in 2003.
