Extension and Ag Research News

Accessibility


NDSU’s Olson Named Communicator of the Year

Frayne Olson is honored for his expertise and professionalism in providing educational programs and information.

The North Dakota chapter of the Association for Communication Excellence and NDSU Agriculture Communication have selected Frayne Olson as the 2014 communicator of the year.

Olson is the NDSU Extension Service’s crops economist/marketing specialist and an assistant professor in NDSU’s Agribusiness and Applied Economics Department.

The Communicator of the Year Award recognizes an individual who displays exceptional expertise and professionalism in delivering educational programs and information to the public through several types of media.

Olson shares Extension information in a number of ways, including publications, news releases and interviews with news media from throughout North Dakota, as well as national media such as Successful Farming, Farm Journal, Bloomberg News, Reuters and New York Times.

He is a regular contributor to Market Journal, the University of Nebraska-Lincoln’s agricultural business TV program, and has been the presenter for several of NDSU Extension’s Sound Ag Advice programs. He also has developed Excel spreadsheets and provided other educational material for several websites to help producers make informed decisions, and has been a presenter at 70 to 90 meetings in the region each year.

In addition, he has made use of NDSU’s commodity trading room (CTR) in his Extension programming. The CTR, at Barry Hall, helps NDSU focus on educating students and producers about commodity trading, finance and risk management.

Olson grew up on a farm near Buxton. After receiving bachelor of science and master’s degrees in agricultural economics from NDSU, he farmed with his father and brother. While continuing to farm, he worked part time for the NDSU Extension Service as a farm management specialist from 1987 to 1996. From 1996 to 2003, he worked part time as assistant director for the NDSU Quentin Burdick Center for Cooperatives.

He earned a Ph.D. in agricultural economics from the University of Missouri in 2007 and then spent a little more than a year working for the Iowa State University Extension Service in the Economics Department. He rejoined NDSU Extension in 2008.

Olson received the Communicator of the Year Award at the recent joint NDSU Extension- Research Extension Center conference in Fargo.


NDSU Agriculture Communication - Oct. 10, 2014

Editor:Ellen Crawford, (701) 231-5391, ellen.crawford@ndsu.edu
Creative Commons License
Feel free to use and share this content, but please do so under the conditions of our Creative Commons license and our Rules for Use. Thanks.