LIVE ON AIR. Bob Bosold, pictured above, a co-anchor of the Mid-West Farm Report on WAXX 104.5 radio, was inducted into the Wisconsin FFA Hall of Fame for his near five decades of community service to future farmers of America. (Submitted photo)

After nearly 50 years, Bob Bosold has become the “Voice of Agriculture” to the Eau Claire community – and beyond – on the Mid-West Farm Report with WAXX 104.5 radio.

He’s won virtually every award there is on a state and national level for his broadcasts and role as Farm Director; this year, Bosold has been inducted into the Wisconsin FFA Hall of Fame. 

“Not everybody has the chance to say they’ve talked to everybody from a first year 4H member to the president of the United States,” Bosold told WEAU News 13, when celebrating 45 years of community service with WAXX 104.5. “It’s for me really and truly because of the people I work with, the farmers, and the kids been a labor of love and I’ve enjoyed every minute of it.”

Much of these values have been true for Bosold from a young age; his family farming roots are in western Iowa where some of his family still raise cattle, corn and soybeans, his website states.

“Bob spent most summers on his uncle’s farm learning about and loving the farming way of life,” the website reads. 

Following graduation from the college of agriculture and life sciences at the University of Wisconsin-Madison, Bosold worked alongside Larry Meiller on Wisconsin Public Radio (Meiller is set to retire at the end of this month). These segments range from topics in the environment, nature, consumer issues, among others. 

It was on Valentine’s Day in 1977 when Bosold would profess his love for farming to Eau Claire locals with WAXX 104.5 radio. This beginning marked the start of a legendary career broadcasting, in an area he considered then a “major market for radio agriculture.”

With the sun not even up yet, locals turn their stations to the Mid-West Farm Report – where Bob Bosold and co-host Jill Welke share agriculture news, commodity prices and as the station puts it, “that straight-off-the-farm Wisconsin morning grit.”

The Wisconsin FFA Hall of Fame was established in 1995 to honor individuals who have made lifelong contributions to future farmers of America, a recent media release shared. Bosold accepted his new accolade on June 17 at the Alliant Energy Center in Madison.

Bosold’s continued stewardship and production of weekly broadcasts – and advocacy for agriculture systems on a regional, state and national level – underscore this honor and legacy in the Chippewa Valley.

Learn more about Bob Bosold online via the Mid-West Farm Report webpage. Listen to the Mid-West Farm Report live from 5am-6am, seven days a week, on WAXX 104.5 radio.