Reframing Rural

Name

Reframing Rural

Legal name

Tree Ring Records, LLC

Website

https://reframingrural.org

Company type

Private

Founded year

2019

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

1–10 employees

Short description

Reframing Rural is an award-winning documentary podcast that profiles underrepresented rural Americans, primarily in Montana and the Northern Great Plains, and supplements free audio distribution with grants, donor support, and founder-led speaking engagements.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Documentary Podcast Production

akta.pro primary industry

Regenerative Agriculture (Soil Carbon, Cover Crops, Reduced/No-Till) (AFAGAMAA)

Keywords

• Documentary podcast production
• Rural storytelling media
• Agricultural media content
• Humanities podcast content
• Nonprofit media production

Headquarters

HQ city

Missoula

HQ country

United States

HQ region

North America

Offices1 record

Markets served

GTM type

B2C

Offering type

Services

Cost components

Personnel, Operations, Marketing or Sales

Revenue model

1. Grants and Fellowships: Reframing Rural has received grant funding and fellowships to sustain production, including the inaugural Public Humanities Fellowship from Humanities Washington (2022) and a fellowship from Guest House Cultural Capital Residency (2020).
2. Donor Support / Crowdfunding: The company operates a Support page (reframingrural.org/support) and accepts listener donations. Season 4 supporters include organizations such as Winnett ACES, Headwaters Foundation, Plank Stewardship Initiative, World Wildlife Fund, American Farmland Trust, and the Department of Public Transformation.
3. Speaking Engagements and Consulting: Megan Torgerson earns revenue through speaking engagements, keynotes, and educational courses for organizations including the Red Ants Pants Foundation, Montana Farmers Union, and Montana State University Extension.

Go-to-market motion1 record

Distribution channels1 record

Marketing channels6 records

Core offering

Reframing Rural produces and distributes a free, award-winning documentary podcast series that explores rural American life, history, and culture across multiple seasons. The current fourth season, 'Succession Stories,' focuses on farm and ranch succession planning from Montana families, with prior seasons covering themes of coming home, rural resilience, and foundational stories. The company also offers keynote speaking and educational presentations on rural storytelling through its founder.

Product overview

Reframing Rural is an award-winning documentary podcast series produced by Tree Ring Records, LLC. The company offers a multi-season podcast exploring rural American stories, with individual seasons covering distinct thematic narratives. The core offering is the documentary podcast series, available across major podcast platforms, supplemented by speaking engagements from founder Megan Torgerson on rural storytelling and succession planning topics.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Brands

• Season 1: Coming Home: First season dedicated to rural homeplace of Northeastern Montana, featuring stories of farmers, ranchers, and community members.
• Season 2: Sowing Possibility
• Season 3: Groundwork
• Season 4: Succession Stories

Products and services

• Reframing Rural Documentary Podcast Series Free, award-winning documentary podcast that challenges mainstream stereotypes about rural places by introducing listeners to people, history, and culture not fully represented in media or pop culture. Available globally on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, SoundCloud, and through the company website.
• Season 1: Coming Home Inaugural season of the documentary podcast series featuring stories of farmers, ranchers, and community members from the rural homeplace of Northeastern Montana.
• Season 2: Sowing Possibility Second season of the documentary podcast series featuring stories of rural resilience, rural brain gain, cultural heritage, and community possibility across rural America.
• Season 3: Groundwork Third season of the documentary podcast series exploring foundational stories of rural communities, rural gentrification in North Idaho, mental health care normalization, Indigenous narratives, and community resilience.
• Season 4: Succession Stories Fourth season of the documentary podcast series, focusing on farm and ranch succession stories from Montana families, covering topics including ranch succession planning, regenerative grazing, and grassland stewardship.
• Speaking Engagements and Educational Courses Fee-based keynote speeches and educational presentations on rural spaces, storytelling, and fundraising delivered by founder Megan Torgerson for agricultural and rural-focused organizations.

Quantifiable outcome

• Reframing Rural is cited as an inspiration for rural-urban dialogue and agricultural community engagement, with episodes used by organizations such as the Red Ants Pants Foundation, Montana Farmers Union, and Montana State University Extension.

Named customers4 records

Segments3 records

Ideal customer profiles3 records

Technology focussed No

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Partnerships

Eight partnerships are on record, tiered core, major and minor.

• Winnett ACES (Agricultural Community Enhancement and Sustainability)coreStrategic or Co-development Partner · 1 January 2024Winnett ACES is a rancher-led nonprofit based in Winnett, Montana that supports farmers and ranchers in implementing conservation practices to restore native prairie and support wildlife. It is a close collaborator on Season 4 ('Succession Stories') of Reframing Rural. The mission of Winnett ACES is to strengthen their community by enhancing the health of their land, economy, and traditions for future generations.
• World Wildlife Fund (WWF)majorGTM or Marketing Partner · 1 January 2024World Wildlife Fund is a Season 4 supporter of Reframing Rural, with funding and support specifically directed toward the Succession Stories season. WWF's Great Plains Initiative works on sustainable ranching in the Northern Great Plains, aligning with Reframing Rural's focus on rural land stewardship.
• Plank Stewardship InitiativemajorGTM or Marketing Partner · 1 January 2024Season 4 supporter of Reframing Rural. The Plank Stewardship Initiative focuses on ranch stewardship and land conservation, aligning with the podcast's themes of rural land management and succession.
• American Farmland TrustmajorGTM or Marketing Partner · 1 January 2024Season 4 supporter of Reframing Rural. American Farmland Trust is the only national organization that takes a holistic approach to agriculture, focusing on land, agricultural practices, and farmers and ranchers. Their No Farms No Food® message aligns with Reframing Rural's focus on farm succession.
• Department of Public TransformationminorGTM or Marketing Partner · 1 January 2024Season 4 supporter of Reframing Rural, supporting the podcast's mission to strengthen rural communities and facilitate conversations about rural transformation and sustainability.
• AgWest Farm CreditmajorGTM or Marketing PartnerAgWest Farm Credit is an agricultural lending cooperative that provides succession planning workshops for farm and ranch families. The company sponsored Season 4 Episode 2 of Reframing Rural, with Gene Curry attending AgWest's succession workshops in Spokane, Helena, and Great Falls as part of his family's planning process.
• Tree Ring Records, LLCcoreOthersReframing Rural is a project of Tree Ring Records, LLC. This is the legal parent entity under which the podcast operates.
• Mountain & Prairie PodcastminorStrategic or Co-development PartnerIn 2023, Ed Roberson of the Mountain & Prairie podcast interviewed Megan Torgerson on her journey creating Reframing Rural. This cross-podcast collaboration broadened audience reach.

Scale indicators3 records

Recent moves6 records

Expansion highlights5 records

Direct peers

• Food Tank: A nonprofit organization focused on building a sustainable global food system, producing articles, reports, and multimedia content on agriculture. Comparable in nonprofit mission, focus on sustainable/regenerative agriculture, and educational content production.
• Inside Climate News: An independent, nonprofit newsroom covering climate and energy, including the agricultural and rural dimensions of climate change. Comparable in nonprofit-supported investigative journalism and overlapping coverage of regenerative ranching and rural land stewardship.
• Grist: An independent, nonprofit media organization covering climate, sustainability, and environmental justice with significant rural and agricultural coverage. Comparable in nonprofit-supported journalism, environmental/rural focus, and audience interest.
• StoryCorps: A national nonprofit that collects and broadcasts first-person audio stories from everyday Americans. Directly comparable in mission (authentic voices from underrepresented communities), format (audio storytelling), and revenue model (grant-funded nonprofit).
• The Counter: A nonprofit newsroom covering the U.S. food system, including rural communities, agricultural labor, and food production. Comparable in nonprofit-supported journalism model and shared interest in regenerative ranching and rural sustainability.
• Modern Farmer: A media company covering agriculture, food systems, and rural life. Comparable in audience overlap (people interested in agriculture and rural America), topic focus, and editorial mission of reframing agricultural narratives.
• Civil Eats: An independent journalism outlet focused on the American food system, with significant coverage of regenerative agriculture, farm succession, and rural issues. Comparable in topic focus and audience, with similar editorial commitment to underreported food/ag stories.
• Mountain & Prairie: A regional podcast about land conservation, Western land stewardship, and rural communities. Closely comparable to Reframing Rural in format (documentary podcast), regional focus (American West), and mission (amplifying rural/land-based voices). Already a cross-promotional collaborator.

Broad incumbents

• This American Life: A flagship public radio program producing long-form narrative audio stories about everyday Americans. Comparable in documentary podcast format and storytelling craft, though vastly larger in audience, resources, and editorial scope — represents the tier of incumbent media that Reframing Rural could aspire to.
• Reveal: A podcast/radio program from the Center for Investigative Reporting covering investigative journalism on social, environmental, and economic issues. Comparable in nonprofit investigative journalism model and podcast format, with overlap on agricultural and rural topics.

Market position

Strengths5 records

Weaknesses5 records

Competitive moat3 records

Key risks5 records

Key highlights6 records

Customer concentration

• Facebookfacebook.com/reframingrural
• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/reframingrural
• Instagraminstagram.com/reframingrural

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles1 record

Funding overview

Funding rounds

Investors

Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

M&A

Investments

M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

Frequently asked questions about Reframing Rural