At his Montana Ag Summit on June 1 in Great Falls, MT, U.S. Senator Steve Daines honored former three-term U.S. Senator and Farm Broadcaster, the late Conrad Burns, by naming a special new award after him. Before about 700 attendees, Senator Daines presented his first-ever Conrad Burns Ag Technology Award, saying that throughout his life “Senator Conrad Burns was an advocate for technology to bring connectivity to Montana. This award recognizes Montanans who have sought to advance agriculture through technology.” The first recipient of the new award was another Montana Farm Broadcaster, Taylor Brown, the owner of the Northern Ag Network, which was founded by Conrad Burns in 1975. Today, Taylor and his team of NAFB Broadcasters Russell Nemetz and Lane Nordlund use the latest technology to deliver agricultural programming to 60 radio and 10 TV stations in Montana, Wyoming, and the western Dakotas along with their popular digital platform, NorthernAg.Net, that includes a weekly electronic newsletter and various social media. Taylor Brown was inducted into the NAFB Hall of Fame in 2010. He was chosen Farm Broadcaster of the Year in 1989 and served as NAFB President in 1992. Conrad Burns was named to the NAFB Hall of Fame in 2011.

Taylor Brown said, “On June 1, those of us who were in Great Falls to hear Sonny Perdue, the new U.S. Secretary of Agriculture, received one of the most positive messages I have ever heard. We have posted his entire 17-minute speech on our website, at NorthernAg.net. For many of my listeners this is the most encouraging 17 minutes they will watch this week. As you watch him speak from his heart, without any notes or script, there is nothing that I would disagree with.” Click here to watch Secretary Perdue.