Chad Smith never planned on becoming a farm broadcaster. He certainly never planned on becoming editor of the NAFB News Service.
But after a career full of unexpected turns, Smith has found himself doing both.
Smith attended Southwest Minnesota State University in Marshall, Minnesota, where he studied speech communication, radio and television.
“I actually was first interested in radio because I wanted to be a play-by-play guy,” Smith said.
After working part time in radio during college and landing his first full-time position in Marshall, Smith moved to KWAT in Watertown, South Dakota. He spent 12 years there covering sports, conducting interviews and helping wherever he was needed.
That willingness to help eventually led him to farm broadcasting.
When the station needed additional help on its AM programming, Smith volunteered and soon found himself working alongside Jim Thoreson during Ag Hour. Smith, who grew up working on a dairy farm, ran the control board and served as Thoreson's sidekick.
Then Thoreson went on vacation — and left Smith in charge of the show.
“Jim went on vacation, and he left me in charge of the show,” Smith said. “I remember thinking ‘What do I know about Ag Hour?’”
The assignment became his first introduction to the NAFB News Service.
After Watertown, Smith spent several years as the voice of the Redwood Valley Cardinals in Minnesota before stepping away from radio because of health issues in his family. He later transitioned into written journalism before NAFB approached him about contract work roughly 12 to 13 years ago.
Nearly two years ago, Smith joined NAFB full time as News Service Editor.
Today, he receives submissions from farm broadcasters and prepares them for the News Service, formatting stories for consistency while preserving broadcasters' original reporting. He also conducts and prepares paid client interviews and works alongside Mike Davis and NAFB News Service reporter Stephanie Hoff.
For Smith, the people are his favorite part of the job.
“We interact with people from the West Coast to the East Coast and all points in between,” Smith said. “I just love listening to the stories they tell.”
Perhaps the best twist in Smith's career came before he accepted his current position. While contracting with NAFB, he told the previous editor there was “no way in heaven or on earth” he would ever take the News Service Editor job.
Ironically, that's exactly where he landed.
“Life has a sense of humor, does it not?” Smith said.
The position may not have been part of Smith's original plan, but he's glad his career led him there.
“We've got a good staff, good people we work for and I'm just happy to be on the team,” Smith said.
