Lynn Ketelsen

Lynn Ketelsen was born and raised on a farm in eastern Iowa, one of six children, and attended Iowa State University with a BS degree in Journalism and Mass Communications. During college, he was awarded the WMT Farm Broadcast Scholarship and worked for the Cedar Rapids Gazette, the Iowa State Daily, and the campus radio station. His first job out of college was as a Farm Editor at KMA Radio in Shenandoah, Iowa. After two years at KMA, he was hired to create an agriculture-based network in Minnesota for stations owned by the Linder family in Willmar, Montevideo, Mankato, and Marshall.

Lynn brought innovation and a focus on the business of farming to the state: “Farm broadcasters were mainly personalities when I started in Minnesota,” says Ketelsen. “I’ve always wanted our focus to be on information farmers need to farm successfully. Agriculture is the number one industry in the state. We wanted to give it the information and notoriety it deserves.”

The Linder Farm Network was groundbreaking: the first in Minnesota to report futures prices, to feature a market analyst daily, to feature top leaders of the day as “Farm Broadcaster of the day,” and to report live from events across the country and cover hundreds of state events on a regular basis. The Linder Farm Network’s audience has continued to grow and is now the top-rated agriculture radio source in Minnesota and one of the highest-rated in the nation.

Lynn has been recognized as the nation’s top agriculture communicator by such groups as the National Corn Growers, American Soybean Association, National AgriMarketing Association, and Mid America Dairymen. Along with receiving recognition from many Minnesotan organizations, “Lynn Ketelsen Day in Minnesota” was proclaimed in his honor by Governor Rudy Perpich. Lynn served as President of the National Association of Farm Broadcasters (NAFB) and has been honored as NAFB Farm Broadcaster of the Year and most recently was inducted into the NAFB Hall of Fame.

Lynn, and the late John Linder, started building and buying radio stations which now include clusters in Owatonna, Mankato, Marshall, Rochester, and Fairmont. His son, Matt, is a partner along with David Linder and David Legault. Steve Linder of Lakeland Broadcasting and David Linder share ownership of the Linder Farm Network with Lynn.

Lynn’s popular broadcasts are heard by thousands of farmers and consumers in Minnesota and surrounding states each day.