A Conversation With Congressman Mike Flood
Center-pivot irrigation in Nebraska.
M
ike Flood was elected in a June special election to represent Nebraska’s First Congressional District in the U.S. House of Representatives. A Nebraska native, businessman, and former state senator and speaker of the Nebraska Legislature, Congressman Flood has long familiarity with the importance of irrigated agriculture for Nebraska’s economy. In this interview, Irrigation Leader speaks with the new congressman about his views on agriculture in the state and how he will support Nebraska farmers and his other constituents in Washington.
Congressman Mike Flood: I’m from Norfolk, Nebraska. I started as a radio broadcaster when I was 15 years old. I went to college to study journalism and then attended law school. I started my first station when I was 24 and built it into a business with 15 radio stations and 7 television stations across Nebraska. In 2005, I was elected state senator, and I became the speaker of the Nebraska Legislature at
8 | IRRIGATION LEADER | July/August 2022
Irrigation Leader: Tell us more about your radio stations. Did you have a particular format? Congressman Mike Flood: I started in country radio, and when I was in South Bend, Indiana, for my undergraduate studies, I worked on the radio there and really honed my craft. I wanted to recreate what I learned in South Bend and bring it back in Norfolk, so in 2000, I started a country radio station, which also broadcast news and agricultural information, since I am in a rural area. I added a rock station in 2008. In 2012, I started buying other stations and developed News Channel Nebraska, a 24‑hour television, radio, and digital news channel that offers weather reports every 10 minutes and lots of information from all corners of the state. irrigationleadermagazine.com
PHOTO BY JOHN HOLM, LICENSED UNDER CC BY-SA 2.0.
Irrigation Leader: Please tell us about yourself and your background.
age 31. I served for 6 years, then went back home and continued to run my business. I was reelected to the legislature in 2020. In June 2022, I was elected in a special election to represent Nebraska’s first congressional district in the U.S. House of Representatives.
