ND Agricultural Hall of Fame to Induct Two New Members
A soil health pioneer and “the farmers lawyer” are the latest inductees to the North Dakota Agricultural Hall of Fame. Gabe Brown and Sarah Vogel will be officially inducted on March 5, 2025, during the ND Winter Show in Valley City.
Gabe Brown
Gabe Brown is a pioneer of the regenerative agriculture movement. Globally recognized for his innovative work as a conservationist, entrepreneur and agricultural systems thinker, he was named one of the 25 most influential agricultural leaders in the United States by the National No-Till Association.
On his ranch near Bismarck, Brown was an early adopter of no-till seeding systems, diverse cover crops, rotational grazing and integrated crop/livestock systems. Brown has taken what he learned and mentored producers in this country and beyond.
Over the years, many groups from all 50 states and more than 30 countries have visited his ranch to see his unique operation. His work and contributions have been recognized by numerous organizations including the Soil and Water Conservation Society and the Natural Resources Defense Council. In 2021, Brown received the prestigious Heinz Award for the Environment.
Brown is a founder and partner in Understanding Ag LLC, a regenerative agriculture consulting company; and he is a founder and instructor in the Soil Health Academy which conducts schools and workshops on regenerative agriculture. His popular book “Dirt to Soil” has been translated into eleven languages, underlining his global footprint in regenerative agriculture.
Having transitioned into full-time consulting and educational efforts, Gabe and his wife Shelly turned Brown’s Ranch over to their son Paul and his wife Jazmin.
Sarah Vogel
Sarah Vogel has been a legendary advocate and leader for family farmers and ranchers, not only in North Dakota, but throughout the country.
Vogel’s populist leanings began early in life, being the grand-daughter of Frank A. Vogel, chief advisor to William Langer, the state’s Nonpartisan League Governor and U.S. Senator. Later, as a lawyer herself, she specialized in agricultural law and in 1986, was named one of 20 outstanding young attorneys by the American Bar Association.
In 1988, she was elected North Dakota’s Commissioner of Agriculture, becoming the first woman in U.S. history to be elected to that position in any state. While Commissioner, Vogel and Senator Kent Conrad co-founded ‘Marketplace of Ideas’, the nation’s largest rural development program at that time.
In the height of the 1980s economic farm crisis, Vogel brought a national class-action lawsuit against the U.S. Department of Agriculture (Coleman vs. Block) and won, halting farm foreclosures and protecting the constitutional rights of 240,000 U.S. farm families. The Coleman case also laid the foundation for federal legislation that required fair appeals processes for most USDA programs.
Vogel received the Distinguished Service Award from the American Agricultural Law association in 2006. She is author of numerous publications on agriculture and the law; and in 2021 published “The Farmer’s Lawyer” a book about the Coleman vs. Block case.
The North Dakota Agricultural Hall of Fame was established by the 1997 North Dakota legislature to provide a way to honor men and women who have made significant contributions to the state’s leading industry, agriculture.
–North Dakota Agriculture Hall of Fame
