Newly named as an honorary member by NAFB, Sam Knipp retired July 2, 2021, from his final agricultural communications position.
“The summer of 1975 was special for me in many ways as I made my first television appearance, became engaged to my wife, and was introduced to the National Association of Farm Broadcasters,” Knipp recalls. “That spring I was selected as the first intern for WIBW-TV-AM-FM (Topeka, Kansas) farm department by Rich Hull. Among my many coworkers that summer was Kendal Frazier. I was so impressed by Kendal that I later asked him to be the best man at my wedding.
“Kendal went on to bigger and better things, eventually retiring as the top guy at the National Cattlemen’s Beef Association. That summer I started down the path of a long and winding career telling the story of agriculture.”
Raised as a true “son of the soil” on a western Kansas farm and ranch, Knipp attended Kansas State University (KSU), where he graduated with a bachelor of science in ag journalism, minoring in ag economics. As a side note, the late Dr. Barry Flinchbauch was one of his favorite professors.
After interning at WIBW and graduating from KSU, Knipp worked at KWNS AM-FM (Pratt, Kansas) and KFEQ AM-FM (St. Joseph, Missouri), where he was mentored by Gene Millard. He eventually returned to WIBW.
The call to fully implement his college degree and expand his desire to more completely tell the farm story attracted him back to Manhattan, Kansas, where he was hired as editor of the Kansas Farm Bureau publication. That job later expanded to include director of broadcasting as Farm Bureau had a modern radio studio and a state-of-art TV studio.
The spring of 1996 brought Knipp another great opportunity as private farmers in Ukraine needed help. This was after the breakup of the Soviet Union, and the Ukrainian government decided to grant land to every citizen. Overnight, doctors, store clerks, former government workers, and taxi drivers became instant farmers. Lacking an extension service to help the newly minted farmers, they formed a private association similar to the Farm Bureau. They noticed the radio programs Knipp was producing and distributing to radio stations and asked if he would help as Ukraine was wired for sound.
“Readers of George Orwell’s 1984 will understand this connection as most buildings in Ukraine and the entire Soviet Union were connected with speakers, enabling the Communist government to communicate with their citizens,” Knipp explained.
Kansas Farm Bureau “loaned” Knipp to the Citizen’s Network for Foreign Affairs (CNFA), a program funded by the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID).
“My office was in Kiev, the capital of Ukraine, but I spent most of my time traveling and working in southern Ukraine, where I was based in the city of Kherson,” Knipp said. “There was an occasion where I had the chance to attend the world-famous ballet in the Kiev Opera. Sitting there, watching this unique form of dance, I thought, ‘I have come a long way from that western Kansas farm.’
“After several months of working with Ukrainian farmers during the day and teaching journalism students at night, it was time to go home. Waiting for me was another opportunity. Oklahoma Farm Bureau needed someone to direct their communications efforts. This was an opportunity to take everything I had learned during the past 20 years and bring it all together in one concerted effort,” Knipp said.
“During my tenure in Oklahoma, I had the unique opportunity to travel to Cuba when Oklahoma wheat producers sold wheat directly to the country. A few years later, I participated in a program through Oklahoma State University (OSU) where a group of journalists traveled to Mali, West Africa, to work with farmers and help Malian journalists report on ag production in this huge country, which includes the Sahara Desert. We later brought some of those journalists to Oklahoma to ‘shadow’ our efforts in the southern High Plains. This was a fantastic experience. Working with OSU, I was impressed with the institution’s academics and was accepted into their graduate school, where I earned a master in science in agricultural communications.”
After 19 years of producing daily and weekly radio programs as well as videos and helping with the marketing and branding of the Oklahoma Farm Bureau insurance company, Knipp temporarily retired.
“I use the term ‘temporarily’ because it was only for one month,” he explained.
“The President of American Farmers & Ranchers (AFR), otherwise known as Oklahoma Farmers Union, asked if I would take over their communications efforts. Yes, it was an adjustment in policy direction, but keeping with the non-biased tenet of journalism, the basics remained unchanged – tell the farmer’s story. I thoroughly enjoyed my years with AFR, seeing the agriculture world through a different prism,” Knipp said.
Now it was time for Knipp to semi-retire.
“Following in the footsteps of my close friend, the late Mike Dain, I worked as a farm broadcaster for iHeartRadio’s family of ag networks, which included the First Oklahoma Ag Network. After corporate downsizing, I was hired by former NAFB President Ron Hays to work part-time, editing the Oklahoma Farm Report daily newsletter and occasionally report news and interview farmers. That’s where I punched the clock for the last time July 2, 2021.
“Through it all, there have remained several constants: my wife, Leah, membership in NAFB, and the strong desire to tell the story of our great farmers and ranchers. It is indeed a great honor to be accepted as an honorary member of the NAFB,” Knipp concluded.
