Farming meets Safari with keynote speaker Steve Fredlund 

Professional speaker Steve Fredlund will take the main stage Jan. 21, 2026, during lunch to share how doing the “unright” thing in his mind led him to fulfillment through his Safari Way Roadmap speech.  

He did the “right” thing attending college and working for a Fortune 500 company, spending most of his career as an actuary before leaving for the “unright” path and finding his passion as a speaker.  

“We’re excited to welcome Steve Fredlund to MN Ag Expo,” MSGA President Darin Johnson said. “I think his message will resonate with our audience and he has a compelling story to share his point.” 

As a two-time TEDx presenter and author of “Do the Unright Thing,” Fredlund will share his experiences of leading a trip to Rwanda that brought him insight to inspire others that extraordinary results don’t come from ordinary choices.  

“It’s this idea of embracing the fact that we are on, personally and professionally, in our farms, in our work, we are on this adventure, and the more we can lean into that and embrace it, the better we’re going to feel personally,” Fredlund said. “We’re also going to be more engaged or be more collaborative. We’re going to be more innovative. We’re going to be more creative. And we can start to create a culture of that around this.” 

He shared that through research he’s learned there are two kinds of people experiencing the same situation: Those who always feel defeated and those who are energized and more optimistic.  

“It comes down to a mindset, this idea of what I call the adventure mindset, this idea of there are people trying to encourage people,” Fredlund said. “How do we start to have a perspective toward our business and life and everything where we recognize that farming and life, they are an adventure. This is what it means to be human. This is what it means to have a farm. There are always these ups and downs and highs and lows and knowns and unknowns and this is the very nature of every adventure. It’s the very nature of life. It’s the very nature of our existence. So, trying to get people to start thinking through this lens of, ‘I’m on this great adventure, it doesn’t mean it’s all great, there’s good stuff and bad stuff, but it’s part of the adventure. It’s part of our story.’” 

This is Fredlund’s first visit to MN Ag Expo, though he spoke last year to farmers during a meeting among state soybean groups.  

“I’m excited to network and hang out with people, to hear their stories,” Fredlund said. “It’s fun for people to share their stories, but for me, it’s fun to learn more about that. Hopefully I can be at some of the breakouts and chat with some of the people and kind of understand: What are some more of the innovative things? What things are happening in the Capitol? I’m excited about being able to take that and then when I’m in conversations in other places feel like I can represent the industry a little bit better than I can right now. … For me, that’s helpful to help then spread the message that you guys are delivering internally into my sphere of influence.” 

Though not a farmer, Fredlund is no stranger to being around the farm helping his wife’s family and growing up around family who farmed. When speaking about farmers he said he’s always appreciated and loved their work ethic and what they mean to their communities. 

“At first, I was a little intimidated, because I’m not a farmer,” Fredlund said of when he first started speaking to agriculture groups. “I don’t have the hands of a farmer, right? You can be shaking hands with all these people who are, salt of the earth, you know, worn hand, so kind of intimidating, but they were super welcoming. And I think it was just, it’s such a good fit.” 

Check mnagexpo.com for more information on MN Ag Expo 2026. Visit stevefredlund.com to learn more about our keynote speaker.