This month, husband and wife NAFB Broadcast Council members Rusty and Sabrina Halvorson are celebrating 30 years working in the media.
Both Halvorsons started as young teens in June 1990 -- Rusty in North Dakota and Sabrina in California -- and then spent their lives sharpening their skills and building strong careers.
Sabrina Halvorson started as Sabrina Wilcox, working at her father’s central California newspaper. It was her first job and the springboard into a multifaceted media career.
“I loved every aspect of it,” she reminisced. “I knew that news, information, and media is where I belonged.”
Sabrina worked in newspapers until the age of 22, when she was brought on as a reporter and producer for a Fresno, California, news radio and television station.
“That began my infatuation with broadcasting,” she said. “I get a charge from the immediacy of it. I’m at my best when I’ve got a hot story and the phone is ringing, the clock is ticking, a juicy soundbite is cued up, and I know no one else has the story because it’s mine. Those are my favorite moments.” Spending most of her career working hard news in California, Sabrina has had many of those moments.
Rusty Halvorson had his first radio job at the age of 15 in his hometown of Williston, North Dakota.
“I worked with great people, who helped start what I didn’t know then was going to be such a long and fulfilling career,” he said. “The guidance they provided has helped me to understand how to provide guidance to people new to the industry.”
Like Sabrina, Rusty worked alongside his father, Lee, at his first job. Lee Halvorson is in the North Dakota Sports Hall of Fame for his sports broadcasting, as is his brother, Les Halvorson.
“I’m proud to follow in the footsteps of my father and my uncle, who also spent decades in the broadcast industry,” Rusty said. “The example of their hard work showed me what needs to be done.”
Straight out of college Rusty went to work for the American Ag Network, and that’s where he has been for more than 20 years.
“I’m most proud of achieving a goal I had set in college --being a farm broadcaster for the American Ag Network,” he said.
Both Halvorsons have had their share of accolades. Sabrina has awards for her reporting and newscast producing, and Rusty earned several marketcast and news awards from NAFB. It was their careers that brought the pair together. They first met each other at Commodity Classic in 2015. Then, a few weeks later they met again as they were both part of the first Leadership NAFB class in Washington, D.C.
In January 2018, Sabrina joined Rusty at the American Ag Network. Last September, they were joined in marriage. As they look at the future together, they both plan on many more decades in media and all the adventure that brings with it.
