Farm Progress
Encyclopedia
Farm Progress is the publisher of 22 agricultural and ranching magazines. The company dates back nearly 200 years. Farm Progress Companies is owned by Fairfax Media
, an Australian media company based in New South Wales.
Farm Progress has the oldest known continuously published magazine with Prairie Farmer, which was launched in 1841. The company publishes 18 regional magazines with local coverage of each agricultural community. Annually, Farm Progress produces four farm shows including the Farm Progress Show, which launched in 1953.
, Henry A. Wallace
, and Henry Browne Wallace, owned and operated "Wallaces' Farmer", which was then a newspaper.
The Farm Progress affiliate, Prairie Farmer, purchased a talk radio station WLS-AM
from Sears in 1928, as a service to farmers. The station moved to the Prairie Farmer Building on West Washington Street in Chicago, Illinois where it remained for 32 years.
In 1959, ABC Broadcasting
/Paramount Theaters bought the Farm Progress Group. In 1986, ABC merged with Capital Cities and in 1996, the Disney Company purchased Capital Cities/ABC. In 1997, the Disney Company sold the Farm Progress Companies to Rural Press
. Rural Press merged with Fairfax
in 2007.
In subsequent years, the show evolved to include seed test plots and field demonstrations. The show typically was held annually at different sites in Illinois, Iowa, and Indiana. As the event grew, it became apparent that temporary sites were inadequate to handle the large crowds and exhibits.
In 2005, a permanent biennial exhibit site was constructed near Decatur, Illinois
which hosted its inaugural show in 2005. For the 2007 show, the site was expanded and upgraded with asphalt paved streets. The Decatur site is one of two permanent biennial sites constructed to host the show.
Boone, Iowa
, was selected for the show's second permanent biennial site. In 2008 the show site hosted its first show at its newly constructed permanent biennial facility. The show now alternates between these two permanent sites on an annual basis. The Boone site is developed on about 600 acres (2.4 km²) at the intersection of U.S. Highway 30 and Iowa Highway 17, while the Decatur show site includes 640 acres (2.6 km²) of exhibits and field demonstrations.
The Farm Progress Show is the oldest and largest outdoor agricultural equipment exhibition in the United States with more than 500 exhibitors. Farm Progress Companies does not release attendance figures, but the Decatur Convention & Visitors Bureau estimates attendance of at least 150,000 for the three days of the 2007 show.
Fairfax Media
Fairfax Media Limited is one of Australia's largest diversified media companies. The group's operations include newspapers, magazines, radios and digital media operating in Australia and New Zealand. Fairfax Media was founded by the Fairfax family as John Fairfax and Sons, later to become John...
, an Australian media company based in New South Wales.
Farm Progress has the oldest known continuously published magazine with Prairie Farmer, which was launched in 1841. The company publishes 18 regional magazines with local coverage of each agricultural community. Annually, Farm Progress produces four farm shows including the Farm Progress Show, which launched in 1953.
History
The company currently known as "Farm Progress" started in 1819 with the "American Farmer" magazine. "Prairie Farmer" started in 1841, followed by "Wallaces' Farmer" in 1855, which helped chronicle the vast changes in Iowa agriculture as well as providing information to help farmers trim costs and boost profits. Three generations of the Wallace family; Henry Cantwell WallaceHenry Cantwell Wallace
Henry Cantwell Wallace was a United States farm leader. He served as the Secretary of Agriculture between 1921 and 1924. He was the father of Henry Agard Wallace, who would follow in his footsteps as Secretary of Agriculture under President Franklin D. Roosevelt...
, Henry A. Wallace
Henry A. Wallace
Henry Agard Wallace was the 33rd Vice President of the United States , the Secretary of Agriculture , and the Secretary of Commerce . In the 1948 presidential election, Wallace was the nominee of the Progressive Party.-Early life:Henry A...
, and Henry Browne Wallace, owned and operated "Wallaces' Farmer", which was then a newspaper.
The Farm Progress affiliate, Prairie Farmer, purchased a talk radio station WLS-AM
WLS (AM)
WLS is a Chicago clear-channel AM station on 890 kHz. It uses C-QUAM AM stereo and transmits with 50,000 watts from transmitter and towers on the south edge of Tinley Park, Illinois....
from Sears in 1928, as a service to farmers. The station moved to the Prairie Farmer Building on West Washington Street in Chicago, Illinois where it remained for 32 years.
In 1959, ABC Broadcasting
American Broadcasting Company
The American Broadcasting Company is an American commercial broadcasting television network. Created in 1943 from the former NBC Blue radio network, ABC is owned by The Walt Disney Company and is part of Disney-ABC Television Group. Its first broadcast on television was in 1948...
/Paramount Theaters bought the Farm Progress Group. In 1986, ABC merged with Capital Cities and in 1996, the Disney Company purchased Capital Cities/ABC. In 1997, the Disney Company sold the Farm Progress Companies to Rural Press
Rural Press
Rural Press Limited was an Australian media company which owned approximately 170 newspaper and magazine titles, The Canberra Times being the most prominent. These were predominantly in rural Australia, though it also owned a number of agricultural publications in the United States and New Zealand...
. Rural Press merged with Fairfax
Fairfax Media
Fairfax Media Limited is one of Australia's largest diversified media companies. The group's operations include newspapers, magazines, radios and digital media operating in Australia and New Zealand. Fairfax Media was founded by the Fairfax family as John Fairfax and Sons, later to become John...
in 2007.
Current Publications
| Publication | Coverage |
|---|---|
| American Agriculturist | Northeastern United States Northeastern United States The Northeastern United States is a region of the United States as defined by the United States Census Bureau.-Composition:The region comprises nine states: the New England states of Connecticut, Maine, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, Rhode Island and Vermont; and the Mid-Atlantic states of New... |
| California Farmer | California California California is a state located on the West Coast of the United States. It is by far the most populous U.S. state, and the third-largest by land area... , Arizona Arizona Arizona ; is a state located in the southwestern region of the United States. It is also part of the western United States and the mountain west. The capital and largest city is Phoenix... |
| Carolina-Virginia Farmer | North Carolina North Carolina North Carolina is a state located in the southeastern United States. The state borders South Carolina and Georgia to the south, Tennessee to the west and Virginia to the north. North Carolina contains 100 counties. Its capital is Raleigh, and its largest city is Charlotte... , South Carolina South Carolina South Carolina is a state in the Deep South of the United States that borders Georgia to the south, North Carolina to the north, and the Atlantic Ocean to the east. Originally part of the Province of Carolina, the Province of South Carolina was one of the 13 colonies that declared independence... , Virginia Virginia The Commonwealth of Virginia , is a U.S. state on the Atlantic Coast of the Southern United States. Virginia is nicknamed the "Old Dominion" and sometimes the "Mother of Presidents" after the eight U.S. presidents born there... |
| Dakota Farmer | North Dakota North Dakota North Dakota is a state located in the Midwestern region of the United States of America, along the Canadian border. The state is bordered by Canada to the north, Minnesota to the east, South Dakota to the south and Montana to the west. North Dakota is the 19th-largest state by area in the U.S.... , South Dakota South Dakota South Dakota is a state located in the Midwestern region of the United States. It is named after the Lakota and Dakota Sioux American Indian tribes. Once a part of Dakota Territory, South Dakota became a state on November 2, 1889. The state has an area of and an estimated population of just over... |
| Farm Futures | United States United States The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district... (National coverage) |
| Indiana Prairie Farmer | Indiana Indiana Indiana is a US state, admitted to the United States as the 19th on December 11, 1816. It is located in the Midwestern United States and Great Lakes Region. With 6,483,802 residents, the state is ranked 15th in population and 16th in population density. Indiana is ranked 38th in land area and is... |
| Kansas Farmer | Kansas Kansas Kansas is a US state located in the Midwestern United States. It is named after the Kansas River which flows through it, which in turn was named after the Kansa Native American tribe, which inhabited the area. The tribe's name is often said to mean "people of the wind" or "people of the south... |
| Michigan Farmer | Michigan Michigan Michigan is a U.S. state located in the Great Lakes Region of the United States of America. The name Michigan is the French form of the Ojibwa word mishigamaa, meaning "large water" or "large lake".... |
| Mid-South Farmer | Arkansas Arkansas Arkansas is a state located in the southern region of the United States. Its name is an Algonquian name of the Quapaw Indians. Arkansas shares borders with six states , and its eastern border is largely defined by the Mississippi River... , Louisiana Louisiana Louisiana is a state located in the southern region of the United States of America. Its capital is Baton Rouge and largest city is New Orleans. Louisiana is the only state in the U.S. with political subdivisions termed parishes, which are local governments equivalent to counties... , Mississippi Mississippi Mississippi is a U.S. state located in the Southern United States. Jackson is the state capital and largest city. The name of the state derives from the Mississippi River, which flows along its western boundary, whose name comes from the Ojibwe word misi-ziibi... |
| Missouri Ruralist | Missouri Missouri Missouri is a US state located in the Midwestern United States, bordered by Iowa, Illinois, Kentucky, Tennessee, Arkansas, Oklahoma, Kansas and Nebraska. With a 2010 population of 5,988,927, Missouri is the 18th most populous state in the nation and the fifth most populous in the Midwest. It... |
| Nebraska Farmer | Nebraska Nebraska Nebraska is a state on the Great Plains of the Midwestern United States. The state's capital is Lincoln and its largest city is Omaha, on the Missouri River.... |
| Ohio Farmer | Ohio Ohio Ohio is a Midwestern state in the United States. The 34th largest state by area in the U.S.,it is the 7th‑most populous with over 11.5 million residents, containing several major American cities and seven metropolitan areas with populations of 500,000 or more.The state's capital is Columbus... |
| Prairie Farmer | Illinois Illinois Illinois is the fifth-most populous state of the United States of America, and is often noted for being a microcosm of the entire country. With Chicago in the northeast, small industrial cities and great agricultural productivity in central and northern Illinois, and natural resources like coal,... |
| Southern Farmer | Southeastern United States Southeastern United States The Southeastern United States, colloquially referred to as the Southeast, is the eastern portion of the Southern United States. It is one of the most populous regions in the United States of America.... |
| The Farmer | Minnesota Minnesota Minnesota is a U.S. state located in the Midwestern United States. The twelfth largest state of the U.S., it is the twenty-first most populous, with 5.3 million residents. Minnesota was carved out of the eastern half of the Minnesota Territory and admitted to the Union as the thirty-second state... |
| The Farmer-Stockman | New Mexico New Mexico New Mexico is a state located in the southwest and western regions of the United States. New Mexico is also usually considered one of the Mountain States. With a population density of 16 per square mile, New Mexico is the sixth-most sparsely inhabited U.S... , Oklahoma Oklahoma Oklahoma is a state located in the South Central region of the United States of America. With an estimated 3,751,351 residents as of the 2010 census and a land area of 68,667 square miles , Oklahoma is the 28th most populous and 20th-largest state... , Texas Texas Texas is the second largest U.S. state by both area and population, and the largest state by area in the contiguous United States.The name, based on the Caddo word "Tejas" meaning "friends" or "allies", was applied by the Spanish to the Caddo themselves and to the region of their settlement in... |
| Wallaces Farmer | Iowa Iowa Iowa is a state located in the Midwestern United States, an area often referred to as the "American Heartland". It derives its name from the Ioway people, one of the many American Indian tribes that occupied the state at the time of European exploration. Iowa was a part of the French colony of New... |
| Western Farmer-Stockman | Northwestern United States Northwestern United States The Northwestern United States comprise the northwestern states up to the western Great Plains regions of the United States, and consistently include the states of Oregon, Washington, Idaho, Montana, Wyoming, to which part of southeast Alaska is also sometimes included... |
| Wisconsin Agriculturist | Wisconsin Wisconsin Wisconsin is a U.S. state located in the north-central United States and is part of the Midwest. It is bordered by Minnesota to the west, Iowa to the southwest, Illinois to the south, Lake Michigan to the east, Michigan to the northeast, and Lake Superior to the north. Wisconsin's capital is... |
Farm Progress Show
In 1953, Prairie Farmer teamed with WLS Radio in Chicago to host a field day where farmers could see first-hand the progress being made in farming equipment, along with seed varieties and ag chemicals.In subsequent years, the show evolved to include seed test plots and field demonstrations. The show typically was held annually at different sites in Illinois, Iowa, and Indiana. As the event grew, it became apparent that temporary sites were inadequate to handle the large crowds and exhibits.
In 2005, a permanent biennial exhibit site was constructed near Decatur, Illinois
Decatur, Illinois
Decatur is the largest city and the county seat of Macon County in the U.S. state of Illinois. The city, sometimes called "the Soybean Capital of the World", was founded in 1823 and is located along the Sangamon River and Lake Decatur in Central Illinois. In 2000 the city population was 81,500,...
which hosted its inaugural show in 2005. For the 2007 show, the site was expanded and upgraded with asphalt paved streets. The Decatur site is one of two permanent biennial sites constructed to host the show.
Boone, Iowa
Boone, Iowa
Boone is a city in and the county seat of Des Moines Township, Boone County, Iowa, United States. It is the principal city of the 'Boone, Iowa Micropolitan Statistical Area', which encompasses all of Boone County. This micropolitan statistical area, along with the 'Ames, Iowa Metropolitan...
, was selected for the show's second permanent biennial site. In 2008 the show site hosted its first show at its newly constructed permanent biennial facility. The show now alternates between these two permanent sites on an annual basis. The Boone site is developed on about 600 acres (2.4 km²) at the intersection of U.S. Highway 30 and Iowa Highway 17, while the Decatur show site includes 640 acres (2.6 km²) of exhibits and field demonstrations.
The Farm Progress Show is the oldest and largest outdoor agricultural equipment exhibition in the United States with more than 500 exhibitors. Farm Progress Companies does not release attendance figures, but the Decatur Convention & Visitors Bureau estimates attendance of at least 150,000 for the three days of the 2007 show.
External links
- http://www.farmprogress.com
- http://www.farmprogressshow.com