Russell Nemetz, 40
alumnus, communications
Billings, MT
March 23, 2015
By Cassie Winter, University Communications and Marketing
Nemetz graduated from MSU Billings with a bachelor鈥檚 degree in liberal studies in
1999. He is currently the Ag Director for Northern Ag Network. Russell serves on the
Metrapark Advisory Board, volunteers for 4-H and FFA, and has been a guest speaker
for Billings Chamber of Commerce events. He has also been active in the Billings Exchange
Club. Nemetz has won numerous awards and can be heard on every weekday on nearly 70
stations in 4 states on Northern Ag Network.
How did you become interested in broadcast journalism?
鈥淲hen I first went to college, I had tried a semester at MSU Bozeman. I didn鈥檛 really find anything that I was interested in so I decided to go back home to the ranch in Chinook. I was going to settle in there, be a rancher, have a family and raise them there. After a year or two my parents really encouraged me to go back to school to get a degree and experience life somewhere else for a little bit. They always told me, the ranch will be here if you want to come back. I couldn鈥檛 make my mind up on what I wanted to do. Then one day I was watching TV or listening to the radio when Taylor Brown came on. He is a well-known farm broadcaster and is my boss today, and I thought, 鈥榟ey, that sounds fun.鈥� Broadcasting still keeps you involved in the agriculture industry and I could do some fun things like talk on the radio, be on TV and travel to conventions. That鈥檚 when I called down to Billings to one of Taylor鈥檚 other farm broadcasters, and just asked him if I came to Billings for college if I could work at Northern Ag Network as an intern. That was twenty years ago. I made my mind up and went back to college at MSU Billings because they had a great communications program, plus I had the media entity in town I wanted to work for.鈥�
Tell me about the opportunities you have had traveling for the Northern Ag Network?
鈥淲e like to go to different conventions, whether it be for livestock or grain. We try to be out and about as much as we can to do interviews and have the opportunity to meet our viewers and listeners, ranchers and farmers. If nothing else, it keeps us out there and keeps our finger on the pulse of the industry so we鈥檙e not relying on information sources. When you cover an area of about 350 square miles like we do, you can wear out a pickup pretty fast. I鈥檝e been though quite a few in the 20 years I鈥檝e been doing this, but it is because we do like to get out.
鈥淥n the rare occasion, I鈥檝e been so fortunate to go on international trade missions鈥攖hey鈥檝e taken me around the world. I鈥檝e seen things that most kids from little towns like Chinook don鈥檛 get to see, from the Red Square in Moscow, Russia to sand dunes in Morocco. I鈥檝e been so fortunate to see stuff like that. If you told me I was doing that twenty years ago, I would have told you that you鈥檙e crazy.鈥�
What has been your favorite thing about traveling internationally?
鈥淚 guess my favorite part is getting to see how other farmers and ranchers around the world raise livestock and crops. It is also very interesting to see how important our farmers and ranchers are here at home; we feed a lot of the world. The rest of the world isn鈥檛 able to feed its entire population. It鈥檚 interesting and humbling at the same time to see the hard work our families have put in to raise a crop or livestock for people in this country, but also for others around the world. It鈥檚 humbling because we take a lot for granted in this country. When we wake up, we have a safe, affordable and abundant food supply everyday at our fingertips. That鈥檚 not the case in some countries; they wake up everyday with a goal to find enough food and enough water to give their families to survive one more day.鈥�
How has being involved in organizations like 4-H and Future Farmers of America when you were younger helped you to get where you are today?
鈥淭hey broadened my horizons. Back in the day when you said you were involved in FFA that meant either cows or plows. Now that鈥檚 not really the case. They provide so many career opportunities that really open your eyes and give a much bigger picture to what鈥檚 out there. Whether it be a scientist or an agriculture engineer, or maybe you want to be a farm broadcaster and talk on the radio. They give you the tools to help prepare you for what you think you want to do. When I was in FFA, I wasn鈥檛 really into things you would actually do on the farm and ranch like crop and livestock judging. Things that really interested me were public speaking and parliamentary procedure. It was all those little things back then that helped me lay a solid foundation for my career now.鈥�
To read about other 2015 Outstanding Alumni, visit the MSUB Alumni Association website.