ND Ag Hall Of Fame Inductees

Tom Borgen

Tom Grew Up On A Small Farm At Hannah, North Dakota. Through High School Worked On Local Farms. Times Were Tough, He Grew Up Poor And Swore That He Would Not Care To Be Poor! He Did Everything | Could To Make Things Different. Tom Graduated From High School In 1965 And After A Short Year In College At Mayville State Found Work In Road Construction. A Year Later Tom Married Nola Koehmstedt Of Langdon.

Tom And His Family Moved To Seattle, Washington And Was Employed Boeing And Later A Freight Trucking Company. Became A Shop Stewart And A Trustee For The Teamsters Union Representing 280 Members In The Trucking Companies Around Seattle. A First Opportunity To Represent Someone. After 14 Years In Seattle Tom And His Family Returned Back To North Dakota To Farm.

Tom's First Experience With Growing An Oil Crop Was With An Idaho Company Contracting Growing A Specialty Oil. That Introduction Spurred His Interest In Canola That Had Presence In Canada. Learning That The Crop Was A Good Alternative Rotation, And Would Be A Crop Without Discounts And Would Not Be Hindered By Wet Years. Now With Approximately 250,000 Acres Canola Had Gradually Gained Greater Recognition. It Was At A Point That There Would Be A Benefit Of An Organization. Then Named Northern Canola Growers. Executive Director Was Barry Coleman Located In Bismarck.

Moving Ahead It Was Instrumental In Joining The Nd Oilseeds Council. It Was Granted It First Funding Dedicated To Research And Promotion. The Council Position Made It Obvious That It Was Important To Be With Them And Others For Support And Experience. In The Course Of 30 Years Tom Was Fortunate To Have Been Elected, Appointed Or Requested To Have Positions On Other Boards. Each Position Aided Immensley, Beneficial For Promoting, Registration, Research And Most Importantly The Exposure To The Canola Industry.

Tom Thanks All The Other People, Their Passion, Time And Contributions To Their Positions. Many Volunteers Without Compensation! What A Success Story! Developing A Major Crop...approximately 1.8 Million Acres In The United States!

Year Inducted: 2021