The
Morning Show:
Saturdays at 5:00am
The Noon
Show:
Saturday at noon
(Includes Paul Harvey News and Comment.)
Show rundown
Business
and Agri-Biz update schedule
Orion
Samuelson and Max Armstrong bring WGN Radio 720 listeners comprehensive
news on current financial and agricultural trends. From up-to-the-minute
market reports and coverage of trading action to agricultural
developments at local, state, national and global levels, Orion
and Max deliver the information Chicagoland and the Heartland
want and need.
Orion
Samuelson
Orion
Samuelson is heard on WGN Radio, where he has served as Agribusiness
Director since 1960. He and his associate, Max Armstrong, present
15 agricultural/business reports daily on WGN. They also host
the hour-long Morning Show and Noon Show, both
heard on Saturdays on WGN. Orion is also heard daily on more than
260 radio stations with his syndicated National Farm Report
and on 110 stations with his syndicated Samuelson Sez.
Orion and Max are seen weekly on rural channel RFD-TV, carried
on Dish-TV and DirecTV on This Week in Agribusiness.
His
life-long commitment to agriculture has been recognized by organizations
in all segments of agri-business. In May of 2001, Orion was named
a Laureate of the Lincoln Academy of Illinois and received the
Lincoln Medal … the highest award bestowed by the state of Illinois.
A week later the University of Illinois presented Orion with the
Honorary Degree of Doctor of Letters. In January of 1998, the
American Farm Bureau Federation honored Orion and Bob Dole with
the AFBF Distinguished Service Award. At the 1997 Illinois State
Fair, Governor Jim Edgar changed the name of the Junior Livestock
Building to the Orion Samuelson Junior Livestock Building
as a tribute to Orion’s nearly 4 decades of service to the agricultural
youth of Illinois. In October of 1994, Orion was honored as “Man
of the Year” by Heifer Project International on its 50th anniversary.
He has received the National 4-H Alumni Award and the Honorary
FFA American Farmer Degree and is an honorary member of Alpha
Gamma Rho, the agriculture fraternity.
In
1985, Orion was inducted into the Scandinavian-American Hall of
Fame. He has also been inducted into the National 4-H Hall of
Fame, the NAFB Hall of Fame and in November 2003, Orion received
the highest award in the radio broadcasting industry when he was
inducted into the National Radio Hall of Fame in Chicago. Hall
of Famer Paul Harvey presented Orion with the award on the national
broadcast hosted by Larry King.
Orion
has traveled internationally to 43 countries to cover agricultural
production and trade for his radio and television shows ... countries
include Australia, Malaysia, Singapore, Scotland, England, Hungary,
France, Denmark, India, Norway, Sweden, Austria, Canada, Mexico,
Japan, Korea, Taiwan, Hong Kong, Philippines, Thailand, Peoples
Republic of China, Brazil, the former USSR, Vietnam and Indonesia.
He has also been involved in four official government trips. In
October 1989, Orion traveled to Taipei to receive the International
Communicator of the Year Award from the President of the Republic
of China.
Samuelson
is also active in areas outside broadcasting. He is Vice Chairman
of the Board of Directors of the Illinois Agricultural Leadership
Foundation, a Trustee of the Cornerstone Foundation of Lutheran
Social Services of Illinois (LSSI), and a Trustee of the National
4-H Council. He serves on the Board of Directors of Agriculture
Future of America, Foods Resource Bank, and Farm Safety 4 Just
Kids.
Max
Armstrong
Max
Armstrong is one of the most widely recognized and highly regarded
agriculture journalists in America. His broadcasts have been seen
and heard by millions of farmers and consumers for nearly 30 years.
From
the WGN Radio Studios in Chicago, Max is heard daily with his
agriculture and business news broadcasts. His Farming America
radio broadcasts are carried each day on stations in every region
of the country.
As
co-host of the weekly television show This Week In AgriBusiness,
Max is seen each weekend on local commercial television stations
and the RFD-TV satellite channel via DirecTV and Dish Network.
In
pursuit of the news of agriculture, Max has originated broadcasts
from every state in America and at least 30 different nations.
His work has earned dozens of honors from agriculture groups,
trade associations, professional organizations and fraternities.
He
has twice been awarded The Oscar In Agriculture presented for
excellence in agriculture journalism. In addition to being recognized
as Agriculture Communicator Of The Year by the National Agri-Marketing
Association, Max was also presented the Master Writer recognition
by the American Agricultural Editors Association. In 2001, he
was given the Farm Broadcaster Of The Year Award by the National
Association Of Farm Broadcasters. And in 2003 he was recognized
with the highest civilian honor given by the Governor of Indiana,
the Sagamore Of The Wabash Award.
A
graduate of Purdue University, Max was in honored in 2005 in the
school’s Old Masters program. A year later he was presented
the Honorary Master Farmer Award by Indiana Prairie Farmer
Magazine, the first journalist so honored by the publication.
Max
is proud of his Indiana roots, having grown up on a farm in Southern
Indiana. He has maintained close ties with agriculture and proudly
displays at parades, fairs and festivals the 1953 Farmall Super
H tractor on which he learned to drive. Max and his dad's old
tractor have been featured on calendars, videos, playing cards
and collectible farm toys. Many of those items were donated or
sold to benefit the 4-H and FFA youth organizations.
Since
1990 Max has contributed his time as a Fire Commissioner in the
Western Suburbs of Chicago. In that role he hires and promotes
firefighters and paramedics for the Lisle-Woodridge Fire Protection
District, one of the highest rated fire departments in the United
States. It is here that Max resides with his wife, Linda, and
daughters Kristi and Lisa.
