Allan R. Johnson
2011 Agribusiness Recipient
North Dakota State University alumnus Allan R. Johnson has enjoyed a
distinguished career of more than 40 years in the agriculture publication
industry.
A native of Almont, N.D., Johnson graduated in 1968 with a bachelor’s
degree in agronomy. He says a chance meeting with former adviser
Roald Lund at a 1970 NDSU football game led to a job with the Dakota
Farmer Magazine. Johnson rose to advertising manager at the magazine prior to the publication being sold in 1979. He then joined the
Midwest Unit Farm Publications of Hartsdale, N.Y., as eastern manager.
Johnson was promoted in 1981 to national sales manager of Farm
Progress Companies, Oak Brook, Ill. He later advanced to vice president for advertising and
then to president. During his tenure as president, Farm Progress grew from seven publications
to 39 publications and became the leading agriculture media company in the United States.
In 2003, President George W. Bush appointed Johnson as director of legislative and public
affairs at USDA Rural Development. Two years later, he was appointed deputy under secretary
to provide leadership in carrying out Rural Development’s mission to support economic
opportunity and improve the quality of life for people living in rural America. He retired from
USDA in 2009.
Johnson received the Group Honor Award for Excellence from Agriculture Secretary Ed
Schafer, in recognition of his leadership in producing the Washington International Renewable
Energy Conference. The event, the largest renewable energy conference in history, attracted
official delegations from more than 100 countries.
Johnson was named Ag Communicator of the Year by the National AgriMarketing Association.
The National FFA Organization also presented him with an Honorary American Farm Degree
and Distinguished Service Citation. He was recognized as a Brother of the Century by the
National Alpha Gamma Rho Fraternity in 2004, and was inducted into the National Alpha
Gamma Rho Hall of Fame in 2010.
NDSU recognized Johnson as the Master of the College of Agriculture in 1996. He also was
inducted into the Hall of Fame of the NDSU chapter of Alpha Gamma Rho.
He has held numerous industry leadership positions including chair of the Farm Foundation
board of trustees, president of the Equipment Manufacturers Institute Suppliers Council, chair
of the National FFA Foundation Sponsor’s Board, president of the Agricultural Publishers
Association and grand president of Alpha Gamma Rho Fraternity.
Johnson also served in the U.S. Army’s 101st Airborne Division in Vietnam, where he was
awarded the Bronze Star for Valor and the Purple Heart.
He and his wife, Sara, own Agri-Pulse Communications, an electronic publishing firm serving
agriculture and rural policy leaders. Johnson owns his family’s century farm near Almont, N.D.,
and lives with his wife and their two sons, Jason and Jordan, in Camdenton, Mo.