Max Armstrong (born June 13, 1953, Owensville, Indiana) is an American agriculture broadcaster from Chicago, Illinois.[1]
Armstrong's first job out of college was for the Illinois Farm Bureau as a broadcast editor, which was where he met Orion Samuelson. For 42 years, Max Armstrong and Orion Samuelson have partnered together, first on WGN radio, and later on the TV Show U.S. Farm Report, until creating the show This Week in Agribusiness.[1]
Since July 2009, Armstrong has been director of broadcasting for Farm Progress.[1] He produces and hosts the Farm Progress America and Max Armstrong’s Midwest Digest daily radio programs. Armstrong also hosts a three-minute feature, "Farming America", on the Tribune Radio Network.
From 1977 to 2009, Armstrong was the agri-business broadcaster for WGN Radio[2] before the program transitioned to a weekly Saturday morning show and accompanying podcast entitled The Morning Show with Orion and Max.[3]
Since August 2005, Armstrong has been co-host and co-founder of This Week in AgriBusiness, owned and produced with Samuelson.[4] The show is a weekly agriculture television show, produced by OMAX Communications, LLC in cooperation with 22 Creative Group and Farm Progress. In addition to its syndication run, the show is broadcast on RFD-TV.[5]
In 2001, Armstrong was named Farm Broadcaster of the Year by the NAFB. In 2017, Max Armstrong was elected President of the NAFB. Armstrong was a member of NAFB for 40 years before being elected president.[6]
In 2016, Armstrong earned a plaque on the WGN Radio Walk of Fame in Chicago. Armstrong was full-time with WGN Radio for 32 years until 2009. The bronze plaque is in the sidewalk outside the Tribune Tower studios at 435 N. Michigan Ave.[7] The induction ceremony took place on May 27, 2016, where Armstrong was honored along with 6 others.[8]
OnThis Week in Agribusiness, Armstrong has a segment "Max's Tractor Shed", which features vintage tractors sent in by viewers. These stories were also translated into Max Armstrong's Tractor App, launched in 2013.[9]
In 2015, Armstrong published his first book, titled "Stories from the Heartland."[10]
For 22 years, Armstrong contributed his time as an appointed Fire Commissioner in the Western Suburbs of Chicago. Serving on a three-member board, he hires and promotes full-time firefighters and paramedics for one of the highest-rated (ISO 1) fire service organizations in the United States, the Lisle-Woodridge Fire Protection District.[11]