In recent months, Mark Magnuson has gotten out of his comfort zone and made the switch from sports to farm broadcasting with the Iowa Agribusiness Radio Network.
After graduating with his bachelor’s in journalism from the University of Nebraska, Magnuson took a job as the sports director at KICD, his hometown radio station in Spencer, Iowa.
“When I graduated, I was looking for a job. It worked out the job that opened up was at my hometown radio station,” Magnuson said. “I would not say I necessarily wanted to be in media or radio, but once I tried it, I loved it.”
After working as the sports director for 12 years at KCID, Magnuson decided to take on a new adventure and explore farm broadcasting. He felt more comfortable entering the role because of the agricultural experience he gained from his father, who worked in the swine industry for more than 40 years.
“When I was first asked about potentially taking over this role, I thought about how I had not worked specifically in ag broadcasting before,’” Magnuson explained. “That is the thing with radio; you have to be well-rounded.”
Although Magnuson did have some agricultural knowledge from his family, he knew he had a lot to learn before transitioning. Magnuson knew how diverse the agricultural industry is and did varied research.
“Preparation is one of the essential parts of the job,” Magnuson noted.
Additionally, Magnuson has enjoyed learning more about the agriculture industry by including different angles in his broadcast.
“The wide range of people that you get to talk to in the ag world is appealing to me,” Magnuson exclaimed. “You get to meet so many people from every walk of life.”
