Progressive Farmer
Encyclopedia
DTN/The Progressive Farmer is a country life
oriented magazine, published twelve times a year by DTN
, a division of Telvent
. The magazine is based in Birmingham
, Alabama
.
and livestock
production to the newly united nation's agrarian economy in the Southeast
. When Polk died in 1892, Clarence H. Poe from Raleigh, NC took over as editor, and in 1903, he and 3 partners purchased the publication, taking it from a newspaper to a magazine with 36,000 subscribers by 1908. One of the most notable achievements of the magazine was its continual crusade and endorsement during the early twentieth century of the land grant college
subsidies provided to Agricultural and Mechanical colleges across the United States.
operation with the Southern Farm Gazette newspaper published in Starkville, Mississippi
. This was a major innovation in publishing at the time. Merging these two farm publications established the first publication in history to publish regional editorial specific to its circulation areas. This merger of the Progressive Farmer and the Southern Farm Gazette resulted in the need to have a production and printing facility that would be a one day train trip to both of the editorial offices in Starkville, Mississippi
and Raleigh, North Carolina for receiving the typewritten feature stories for publication. It was decided in 1911 to establish a central office in Birmingham, Alabama
, while Clarence Poe and his partners remained in Raleigh and directed company operations from there.
In 1932, Cully Cobb
of Atlanta
, Georgia
sold his Southern Ruralist magazine to Progressive Farmer. Cobb served for a year as the managing editor of the Georgia-Alabama edition of Progressive Farmer. In 1933, however, he accepted an appointment in Washington, D.C.
, in Franklin D. Roosevelt
's administration as director of the Cotton
Division of the New Deal
agency, the Agriculture Adjustment Administration.
The Progressive Farmer Company continued to publish across the Southeastern and Mid-south regions soon expanding successfully into Texas
and the Southwest
. Serving farm information needs, publishing through two world wars, crusading for important rural farm issues such as rural electrification, soil conservation
, rural education and modern agricultural technology, the magazine soared to a circulation high of 1.3 million by the 1960s.
magazine fashioned after the lifestyle and home life section in the magazine. The Progressive Farmer had extended its appeal among suburban housewives, and that segment of its circulation received the new magazine, Southern Living to establish its distribution and advertising rate base. From the pages of Progressive Farmer rose the largest and most successful regional publication in history. Consequently, Progressive Farmer was able to editorially focus more completely on production agriculture and concentrate circulation efforts to the rural farm household. The launch of Southern Living was an outstanding strategic move for the Progressive Farmer Company.
. It was distinctively different from the main Southern issue and was used to establish a circulation and advertising foothold in the Midwest. In 1985, Southern Progress Corporation was purchased by Time, Inc for $498 million. By the end of the decade, Progressive Farmer Midwest was incorporated into the main edition's editorial and circulation making Progressive Farmer a nationwide production agricultural and lifestyle publication with a circulation of over 700,000. During the 1990s Progressive Farmer enjoyed prominence among farm readers and advertisers with special editorial efforts in farm safety and rural recreation blended with production agricultural reporting.
, based in Omaha, Nebraska
. It was announced by DTN that Progressive Farmer will continue to be headquartered in Birmingham, Alabama.
DTN was acquired by Telvent
in 2008.
Rural
Rural areas or the country or countryside are areas that are not urbanized, though when large areas are described, country towns and smaller cities will be included. They have a low population density, and typically much of the land is devoted to agriculture...
oriented magazine, published twelve times a year by DTN
Data Transmission Network
DTN, formerly known as Data Transmission Network, is a subscription-based service for the delivery of real-time weather, agricultural and commodity market information. Telvent DTN is the name of the service that is owned by its parent company Telvent...
, a division of Telvent
Telvent
Telvent is an information technology and industrial automation company specializing in SCADA, GIS and related IT systems for pipeline, energy utility, traffic, agriculture and environmental monitoring industries. Their customer base is worldwide, but concentrated in Spain and North America...
. The magazine is based in Birmingham
Birmingham, Alabama
Birmingham is the largest city in Alabama. The city is the county seat of Jefferson County. According to the 2010 United States Census, Birmingham had a population of 212,237. The Birmingham-Hoover Metropolitan Area, in estimate by the U.S...
, Alabama
Alabama
Alabama is a state located in the southeastern region of the United States. It is bordered by Tennessee to the north, Georgia to the east, Florida and the Gulf of Mexico to the south, and Mississippi to the west. Alabama ranks 30th in total land area and ranks second in the size of its inland...
.
History
Founded in Winston, North Carolina in 1886 by North Carolina native Leonidas Lafayette Polk (1837–1892; a Confederate Army veteran who is often confused with CSA General Leonidas Polk), the publication was intended to bring the latest information on cropCrop (agriculture)
A crop is a non-animal species or variety that is grown to be harvested as food, livestock fodder, fuel or for any other economic purpose. Major world crops include maize , wheat, rice, soybeans, hay, potatoes and cotton. While the term "crop" most commonly refers to plants, it can also include...
and livestock
Livestock
Livestock refers to one or more domesticated animals raised in an agricultural setting to produce commodities such as food, fiber and labor. The term "livestock" as used in this article does not include poultry or farmed fish; however the inclusion of these, especially poultry, within the meaning...
production to the newly united nation's agrarian economy in the Southeast
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....
. When Polk died in 1892, Clarence H. Poe from Raleigh, NC took over as editor, and in 1903, he and 3 partners purchased the publication, taking it from a newspaper to a magazine with 36,000 subscribers by 1908. One of the most notable achievements of the magazine was its continual crusade and endorsement during the early twentieth century of the land grant college
Land-grant university
Land-grant universities are institutions of higher education in the United States designated by each state to receive the benefits of the Morrill Acts of 1862 and 1890....
subsidies provided to Agricultural and Mechanical colleges across the United States.
Merger with Southern Farm Gazette
The magazine broadened its reach beyond the Southeast by merging its Raleigh, North CarolinaNorth 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...
operation with the Southern Farm Gazette newspaper published in Starkville, Mississippi
Starkville, Mississippi
-Demographics:As of the census of 2000, there were 21,869 people, 9,462 households, and 4,721 families residing in the city. The population density was 851.4 people per square mile . There were 10,191 housing units at an average density of 396.7 per square mile...
. This was a major innovation in publishing at the time. Merging these two farm publications established the first publication in history to publish regional editorial specific to its circulation areas. This merger of the Progressive Farmer and the Southern Farm Gazette resulted in the need to have a production and printing facility that would be a one day train trip to both of the editorial offices in Starkville, 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...
and Raleigh, North Carolina for receiving the typewritten feature stories for publication. It was decided in 1911 to establish a central office in Birmingham, Alabama
Birmingham, Alabama
Birmingham is the largest city in Alabama. The city is the county seat of Jefferson County. According to the 2010 United States Census, Birmingham had a population of 212,237. The Birmingham-Hoover Metropolitan Area, in estimate by the U.S...
, while Clarence Poe and his partners remained in Raleigh and directed company operations from there.
In 1932, Cully Cobb
Cully Cobb
Cully Alton Cobb, Sr. , was an agricultural pioneer, educator, printer, journalist, and philanthropist in the American South who with his second wife, Lois Dowdle Cobb , co-founded the Cobb Institute of Archaeology on the campus of Mississippi State University at Starkville, Mississippi.-Early...
of Atlanta
Atlanta, Georgia
Atlanta is the capital and most populous city in the U.S. state of Georgia. According to the 2010 census, Atlanta's population is 420,003. Atlanta is the cultural and economic center of the Atlanta metropolitan area, which is home to 5,268,860 people and is the ninth largest metropolitan area in...
, Georgia
Georgia (U.S. state)
Georgia is a state located in the southeastern United States. It was established in 1732, the last of the original Thirteen Colonies. The state is named after King George II of Great Britain. Georgia was the fourth state to ratify the United States Constitution, on January 2, 1788...
sold his Southern Ruralist magazine to Progressive Farmer. Cobb served for a year as the managing editor of the Georgia-Alabama edition of Progressive Farmer. In 1933, however, he accepted an appointment in Washington, D.C.
Washington, D.C.
Washington, D.C., formally the District of Columbia and commonly referred to as Washington, "the District", or simply D.C., is the capital of the United States. On July 16, 1790, the United States Congress approved the creation of a permanent national capital as permitted by the U.S. Constitution....
, in Franklin D. Roosevelt
Franklin D. Roosevelt
Franklin Delano Roosevelt , also known by his initials, FDR, was the 32nd President of the United States and a central figure in world events during the mid-20th century, leading the United States during a time of worldwide economic crisis and world war...
's administration as director of the Cotton
Cotton
Cotton is a soft, fluffy staple fiber that grows in a boll, or protective capsule, around the seeds of cotton plants of the genus Gossypium. The fiber is almost pure cellulose. The botanical purpose of cotton fiber is to aid in seed dispersal....
Division of the New Deal
New Deal
The New Deal was a series of economic programs implemented in the United States between 1933 and 1936. They were passed by the U.S. Congress during the first term of President Franklin D. Roosevelt. The programs were Roosevelt's responses to the Great Depression, and focused on what historians call...
agency, the Agriculture Adjustment Administration.
The Progressive Farmer Company continued to publish across the Southeastern and Mid-south regions soon expanding successfully into 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...
and the Southwest
Southwestern United States
The Southwestern United States is a region defined in different ways by different sources. Broad definitions include nearly a quarter of the United States, including Arizona, California, Colorado, Nevada, New Mexico, Oklahoma, Texas and Utah...
. Serving farm information needs, publishing through two world wars, crusading for important rural farm issues such as rural electrification, soil conservation
Soil conservation
Soil conservation is a set of management strategies for prevention of soil being eroded from the Earth’s surface or becoming chemically altered by overuse, acidification, salinization or other chemical soil contamination...
, rural education and modern agricultural technology, the magazine soared to a circulation high of 1.3 million by the 1960s.
Launch of Southern Living
In 1966, the management, led by Emory Cunningham and the editors of Progressive Farmer launched Southern LivingSouthern Living
Southern Living is a widely read lifestyle magazine aimed at readers in the Southern United States featuring recipes, house plans, and information about Southern culture and travel...
magazine fashioned after the lifestyle and home life section in the magazine. The Progressive Farmer had extended its appeal among suburban housewives, and that segment of its circulation received the new magazine, Southern Living to establish its distribution and advertising rate base. From the pages of Progressive Farmer rose the largest and most successful regional publication in history. Consequently, Progressive Farmer was able to editorially focus more completely on production agriculture and concentrate circulation efforts to the rural farm household. The launch of Southern Living was an outstanding strategic move for the Progressive Farmer Company.
Midwest expansion
In the early 1980s the editors of Progressive Farmer began a regional edition of Progressive Farmer in the twelve Midwestern statesMidwestern United States
The Midwestern United States is one of the four U.S. geographic regions defined by the United States Census Bureau, providing an official definition of the American Midwest....
. It was distinctively different from the main Southern issue and was used to establish a circulation and advertising foothold in the Midwest. In 1985, Southern Progress Corporation was purchased by Time, Inc for $498 million. By the end of the decade, Progressive Farmer Midwest was incorporated into the main edition's editorial and circulation making Progressive Farmer a nationwide production agricultural and lifestyle publication with a circulation of over 700,000. During the 1990s Progressive Farmer enjoyed prominence among farm readers and advertisers with special editorial efforts in farm safety and rural recreation blended with production agricultural reporting.
New Ownership
After 130 years of publishing under the company it founded, Southern Progress Corporation, a division of Time-Warner announced it had sold the Progressive Farmer magazine, circulation 620,000, to a former advertiser, DTNData Transmission Network
DTN, formerly known as Data Transmission Network, is a subscription-based service for the delivery of real-time weather, agricultural and commodity market information. Telvent DTN is the name of the service that is owned by its parent company Telvent...
, based in Omaha, Nebraska
Omaha, Nebraska
Omaha is the largest city in the state of Nebraska, United States, and is the county seat of Douglas County. It is located in the Midwestern United States on the Missouri River, about 20 miles north of the mouth of the Platte River...
. It was announced by DTN that Progressive Farmer will continue to be headquartered in Birmingham, Alabama.
DTN was acquired by Telvent
Telvent
Telvent is an information technology and industrial automation company specializing in SCADA, GIS and related IT systems for pipeline, energy utility, traffic, agriculture and environmental monitoring industries. Their customer base is worldwide, but concentrated in Spain and North America...
in 2008.