By Bill Spiegel, Byline Editor
Growing up in a military family, Sarah McNaughton’s roots in agriculture didn’t start out riding the combine with her dad, or pulling calves in the dark night of winter. Instead, her ag roots began growing when her folks bought a small hobby farm outside of Grand Forks, North Dakota.
“I started really getting involved in 4-H then, and I think I showed just about any animal my dad would let me bring home,” says ACN Member Sarah McNaughton.
4-H was a major factor in why McNaughton chose to attend North Dakota State University, where she completed a degree in ag communications. For a year, she was a farm and ranch reporter at KFGO Radio in Fargo, North Dakota, where she covered North Dakota, South Dakota and Minnesota.
Before joining the Farm Progress editorial team, she spent a few years as a county Extension 4-H agent and earned a M.Ed. in Extension.
“I realized I really missed ag media,” says McNaughton, who in 2021 was hired as senior editor of Dakota Farmer, covering North Dakota and South Dakota, succeeding longtime editor Lon Tonneson.
McNaughton’s young career is defined by tackling new opportunities. Prior to her stint at KFGO, she had never been on-air. But her writing portfolio showed a wide range of skills, from feature writing to short blog posts that lent perfectly to radio reporting.
One of her hobbies included photography–everything from landscapes to senior pictures–showcasing a talent for creating images for a farm magazine. And her natural curiosity for all things agriculture gives her the passion for writing news stories, features, blog posts and more for the Farm Progress companies.
And she’s not afraid to try new ideas. Hence, the Farm Progress podcast, “FP Next,” which McNaughton hosts with Curt Arens, editor of Nebraska Farmer – an idea they hatched inside the Beer Tent at Husker Harvest Days in 2023.
“It’s easy for Curt and I to visit. He’s a farmer and a Generation X, while I’m more on the Gen Z side. So we can have both perspectives and kind of make it interesting for everybody,” she says.
When she’s not chasing stories or recording podcasts, McNaughton enjoys hiking, backpacking, and attending and participating in rodeos with her fiancé, Cole Peterson, whom she will marry in November. “And when we’re not working or at a rodeo, we’re playing as much golf as we can, trying to take in as much sunshine as possible before the snow flies.”
Giving Back
Not surprisingly for a former 4-H agent, but getting involved is in her DNA. Membership in ACN provides her a chance to help others.
“I didn’t know there was a major like ag communications when I went to college,” she recalls. Now, she serves on the ACN Future Ag Communicators Committee, and participates in as many professional development opportunities as possible.
“The 2024 Ag Media Summit was the first one I’d attended, and I thought it was great. I loved building my network and having a chance to give back to an organization that has helped me find passion in my career,” she says.
The Farm Progress team, she adds, is second to none.
“We have such a great team. Everyone kind of brings something a little bit different to the table, and it’s great because you can just pick each other’s brain. We are like family.”