Red River Farm Network: History, Programs, FarmNetNews and Broadcasters
Profile updated November 2026
The Red River Farm Network (RRFN) is a farm radio network based in Grand Forks, North Dakota, serving the sugarbeet, wheat, soybean and corn country of the Red River Valley and beyond. Three former KKXL radio colleagues put it on the air on December 4, 1995, with 12 affiliates and a studio built from used equipment. Today it airs in more than 20 radio markets in Minnesota, North Dakota and South Dakota and publishes the FarmNetNews e-newsletter. Here is its history, its programs and its people.
| On air since | December 4, 1995 |
|---|---|
| Founders | John Vasichek, Mike Hergert and Jerry Fiskum |
| Early partner | Minnesota Association of Wheat Growers |
| Headquarters | 997 47th Avenue South, Grand Forks, North Dakota |
| Reach | About 23 radio markets in Minnesota, North Dakota and South Dakota |
| President | Don Wick |
| Official website | RRFN.com |
History of Red River Farm Network
John Vasichek, Mike Hergert and Jerry Fiskum had all worked at KKXL in Grand Forks before launching the Red River Farm Network in 1995, with the Minnesota Association of Wheat Growers as a partner. The network started with 12 affiliates broadcasting from a downtown Grand Forks studio assembled from used gear.
RRFN quickly built a reputation for traveling to the story. It covered the 1999 World Trade Organization ministerial in Seattle and later WTO meetings in Hong Kong and Cuba, and since 2008 it has hosted seminars and live broadcasts at the Big Iron Farm Show in West Fargo. Its weekly e-newsletter, FarmNetNews, launched in 2004.
Leadership passed through the founding generation. When Vasichek retired, Hergert became president and board chairman and Don Wick became vice president and general sales manager. Wick was named National Farm Broadcaster of the Year in 2004 and Hergert won the same honor in 2007; Hergert entered the National Association of Farm Broadcasting Hall of Fame in 2015 and retired in 2017, after 46 years in radio, and Wick was inducted in 2018. The network moved into its current Grand Forks offices in October 2017.
Red River Farm Network Today
Don Wick now leads RRFN as president, farm broadcaster and advertising lead, with Kolleen Wick as vice president for public relations and marketing. The broadcast team added farm journalist Jamie Dickerman in December 2024 and ag journalist and farm broadcaster Kloe Wadd in June 2026, when Madyson Sears also joined as a sales and marketing specialist.
Alumni of the network have gone on to other farm media; Carah Hart, who joined RRFN in 2015, moved to Brownfield Ag News in 2022.
What Red River Farm Network Is Covering Now
Daily farm radio
Country Morning, Agriculture Today, market analysis and weather reports give listeners the news and prices they need through the day.
Weekly and special programs
This Week in Agriculture recaps the week, while TransFARMation addresses farm stress and mental health and Talking Conservation covers soil and water stewardship.
Innovation and the newsletter
Ag Innovation News, presented by the Agricultural Utilization Research Institute, highlights new uses for crops, and FarmNetNews delivers the network's reporting by email.
Red River Farm Network Editors and Staff
RRFN's about and contact pages list this team:
- Don Wick - President, Farm Broadcaster and Advertising
- Kolleen Wick - Vice President, Public Relations and Marketing
- Jamie Dickerman - Farm Journalist
- Kloe Wadd - Ag Journalist and Farm Broadcaster
- Jay Rehder - Sales and Advertising
- Ashley Lannen - Office Manager
- Madyson Sears - Sales and Marketing Specialist
- Mike Hergert - Co-founder, retired 2017
Who Listens to Red River Farm Network
RRFN's audience farms the flat, fertile Red River Valley and surrounding prairie: sugarbeet growers, spring wheat and durum producers, soybean and corn farmers, edible bean and potato growers, and cattle producers in Minnesota, North Dakota and South Dakota.
Programs like TransFARMation and Talking Conservation reflect concerns found across the region, and federal resources back them up: farmers.gov explains NRCS support for no-till and cover crops on northern farms, and the Census of Agriculture details the region's crop mix county by county.
Red River Farm Network listeners plant in a valley so flat that a sugarbeet pile counts as a landmark, and they have developed the humor to match. Those who want more can visit farm.FM, home to farm satire about spring blizzards, beet harvest and the eternal wait for a dry field. Its farm humor, ranch humor and farm jokes are best enjoyed during yet another planting delay.
Part newsroom, part radio dial, farm.FM bills itself as America's first satirical farm site and plays Tractor Tunes, its country music for farmers. Browse a farm.FM writer's back catalog to see the style.
Red River Farm Network Sources and Agriculture Authority Links
- RRFN: History and about - the founding, programs and staff.
- Agweek: Mike Hergert to retire after 46 years in radio - the co-founder's career.
- RRFN: Wick inducted into farm broadcasting hall of fame - Don Wick's 2018 honor.
- farmers.gov: NRCS no-till and cover crops - conservation practices covered on Talking Conservation.
- USDA NASS: Census of Agriculture - North Dakota and Minnesota crop and farm data.
Red River Farm Network FAQ
Who founded the Red River Farm Network?
John Vasichek, Mike Hergert and Jerry Fiskum, former KKXL colleagues, launched it on December 4, 1995.
Where is the Red River Farm Network based?
Grand Forks, North Dakota.
Who leads the Red River Farm Network now?
Don Wick is president, with Kolleen Wick as vice president for public relations and marketing.
What is FarmNetNews?
RRFN's e-newsletter, launched in 2004, which delivers the network's reporting by email.
Three decades after its first broadcast, the Red River Farm Network remains the home-grown farm radio voice of the northern plains.