Red River Farm Network hired Tyler Donaldson as a farm broadcaster and journalist in December 2023.
After graduating from high school, Donaldson went to community college for a year before joining the Air Force. He served as a Chinese Mandarin linguist for six years and earned his associate’s degree in linguistics and Chinese Mandarin from the Defense Language Institute. After his service in the military came to an end, he pursued further education at the University of Pittsburgh to study linguistics.
After that, he became a professional musician.
“I have been a lifelong musician since I was a kid,” Donaldson said. “However, there wasn’t much money to be made in being a traveling musician, which wasn’t a big surprise. So, I set music aside and turned back to linguistics.”
He entered the technology industry and worked for a bank in Denver, Colorado, performing technical support and communications. After two years, he transitioned to a position with the Department of Agriculture, doing communications and technical writing.
“I realized I was missing my family and needed a bit of a change, so I ended up moving home and taking a year off working,” Donaldson said. “I did some odd jobs here and there back in the small town I’m from and realized I was ready to get back into the workforce.”
He enjoyed his communications work and decided that was the direction he wanted to go. He applied for several jobs nationwide and got a call back from Red River Farm Network.
“The first few weeks were a lot of learning about broadcasting and the production side of agriculture,” Donaldson said. “My main duties are conducting interviews, coming up with story ideas, and assisting with our afternoon shows.”
Donaldson already is enjoying his job and likes traveling to special events.
“I’m learning a lot about agriculture, and the people here are great,” Donaldson said. “Most of my job is going to conventions right now, and I love meeting great people. I enjoy learning from their stories and seeing the tight-knit community agriculture offers.”
