Roger Walter, Guest Speaker at the RLCC Academic Banquet

Roger Walter, a Pershing High School graduate, was guest speaker at the Red Lake County Central High School Academic Banquet held in Plummer on Monday, April 13. Walter graduated in 1973 from Pershing High School in Plummer and is one of the few dairy farmers remaining in northern Minnesota. He had served on the school board and the Academic Banquet committee for many years. In introducing Walter, Superintendent James Guetter commented that Walter “thinks outside the box” and is an “inventor of ideas.”
Walter was one of 10 children. His mother, two sisters, and one brother were teachers. He related the movie “Wizard of Oz” to his feelings about school when he was young. In the movie, the scarecrow who didn’t have a brain went to see the wizard for help. Walter talked how as a eight year old he thought “I didn’t need schooling. I just needed a wizard!” He talked more about the wizard of Oz and how the scarecrow did have a brain but just wasn’t educated and this eventually lead to Walter realizing he needed an education and not just a wizard. Walter went on to a year of college after graduating from high school.
He told about the Walters family dairy farm. Throughout his years of farming he has become experienced in welding, plumbing, electrical work, AI technician, agronomy, nutrition, and many other skills including “cow whisperer.” They farm 1000 acres, have 400 young stock, and milk 400 cows producing 9 million pounds of milk per year. He spoke about the dairy farms in northern Minnesota and how they have dwindled over the years. In 1989 there were 92 dairy herds, now there are five. Walter commented by the end of this year it would diminish to three herds.
“We need to get the young involved.” He commented how young people like to “push buttons” using technology. Today dairy equipment is slowing becoming robotic and people are finding new technological ways of milking cows. In Canada and Minnesota, 1000 robots are being sold and one robot can milk 60 cows.
Walter went on to talk about how important education is. By getting an education, this young generation will be the ones to find new and better ways of growing crops and producing food. Advice Walter gave to the students was to take time to get a degree because that is one thing that you can never lose. He commented, “Life is like a tree. Education is the roots that go down. Once you get your degree, that’s the trunk and branches.” He encouraged the students to not be afraid to take out loans and do what you need to do. Walter noted he would like to see more agriculture classes in the high school.
Family is also important to Walter. He and his wife Janelle have four children and mentioned what professions they went into. One son works in the Information Systems for UND Medical Center, another had worked for the state auditor in North Dakota and now runs warehouse for a chemical company. His daughter is a teacher, and his youngest son who is an agronomist now is back working at their family dairy farm.
Walter also thanked the people he saw in the audience who he knew had been a big help in agriculture as well as education. Walter added, “Go out and make your mistakes, don’t worry about them, just don’t make them twice,” before ending his speech with a joke.