The National Association of Farm Broadcasters has inducted Mark Oppold and Curt Lancaster into the 2024 NAFB Hall of Fame.
The pair was celebrated during a special banquet on Nov. 15 as part of the 81st NAFB Convention in Kansas City, Mo. Oppold and Lancaster have a combined 100 years of broadcasting experience, delivering information to rural audiences highly invested in agriculture. They each have held leadership roles in the NAFB, including as past presidents.
Oppold grew up on a family farm in Iowa and began his broadcast career at KMMJ(AM) in Grand Island, Neb., before moving onto WMT(AM) in Cedar Rapids. The NAFB said he’s most known for voicing the Helming Report, now known as the Bottomline Report, which features market commentary for farmers. It still airs on stations throughout the heartland of the U.S. Oppold also produces and distributes the American Ag History Minute, of which he has hundreds of episodes to his credit. He’s also hosted reports on the AgriTalk program.
“Looking back, a real blessing has been working with other NAFB Hall of Famers like Jack Crowner, Rich Hull, George Stephens, Ken Root and Mike Adams,” Oppold said in a post on NAFB’s Instagram. “I will always be grateful to be able to share the message of rural America across the country.”
Lancaster has long had roots in Texas, having grown up on a cotton and grain farm and listening to Paul Harvey. His first radio stop was at KLBK(AM), now KKAM, in Lubbock in 1970. The NAFB said he worked at other broadcast stations in the Lone Star state until eventually becoming a farm broadcaster and the eventual general manager at the Voice of Southwest Agriculture Network. In 2001, the Texas Farm Bureau asked Lancaster to start and build the Texas Farm Bureau Radio Network. He retired in 2016 after a half-century of broadcasting.
“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 U.S.,” Lancaster said in a NAFB press release,
The Platte City, Mo., based NAFB is a non-profit organization whose mission is to lead, promote and support growth in agricultural and rural broadcasting. Established in 1986, there are now 79 inductees in its hall of fame.
