WDAY weather and ag teams to plant crop in 2023; proceeds to benefit Great Plains Food Bank

(Fargo, ND) -- WDAY Radio and The Fieldstone Group have announced a new venture to bring their media audience a unique and interactive farming experience this summer.

The Weather and Ag team, Chief Meteorologist Dean Wysocki, Meteorologist Justin Storm, and Ag Director Bridgette Readel, will raise soybeans on a 20-acre parcel of land, near Fargo, three miles west of Fargo. 

The land will be leased from Casselton-area farmer Jim Ueland, and all proceeds from the crop will be donated to the Great Plains Food Bank.

The announcement was made Monday on WDAY Radio’s “Weather and Ag in Focus” program.

Daily conversation will take place through the spring and summer on the radio program and the visual story will be told on video, courtesy of Fieldstone Group’s video and social media managers Michael Downs and Matt Lien.

“We have an incredibly talented team, both on-air and production,” says Steve Hallstrom, President and Managing Partner. “Some of the most popular video channels in the Midwest are ‘reality TV’ farming channels on social media.

Seeing Dean learning to drive a tractor will be must-see TV and watching as Bridgette explains farming to a couple of newbies should be great entertainment. As a farm kid myself, I am really excited to see our audience learn about issues that farmers face and the decisions they have to make.”

“We find that people these days outside of agriculture don’t understand much about what we go through and they think things just appear (in the store),” says Ueland. 

“They say they believe science but when things on the farm are proven scientifically safe, the majority of the population doesn’t seem to agree with that. The consumer should be much more informed on the way we are raising crops because our own families eat them and we’re trying to be very safe with what we do and make them as healthy as possible.”

Current conditions suggest field work should begin mid to late May. 

For updates, listen to WDAY Radio’s “Weather and Ag in Focus” program at 1 p.m. weekdays, and follow WDAY Radio’s “Weather & Ag in Focus” channel on YouTube.