This month marks the start of the 145th year of Farm Journal magazine. Pennsylvania Quaker Wilmer Atkinson published his first journal in March of 1877. The original editor of what is now America’s oldest farm publication, promised readers in that first issue he would “make The Farm Journal a newspaper that shall possess real value to the class for whom it is published — the cultivators of the soil.”
While times have changed in nearly a century and a half, his mission of providing real value has not.
Ideas and Experiences
Atkinson created a magazine that focused on new ideas, research, resourcefulness, farmer experiences and sustainable profitability. Roughly five generations later these are the same issues you’ll find in Farm Journal today.
He once wrote, “It is our constant endeavor to treat all subjects in season; to be concise and to the point; to be practical rather than theoretical; to exclude long-winded discussions and fine-spun theories of fancy farmers; in short, to give our readers CREAM, not skim milk.”
A Day’s Ride
That legacy started with Atkinson delivering the publication to farms within a day’s ride of Philadelphia. By 1915 it had more than 1 million subscribers nationwide and by the mid-1950’s topped out near 6 million. As a farm and rural consumer magazine, it included recipes, ag education and rural lifestyle articles. In 1958, Farm Journal shifted its focus back to the farm and to the business of agriculture.
Learn more about Farm Journal’s history.
As the 12th editor of this iconic magazine, I see the optimism that lies in waiting this growing season. I talk to the companies and scientists that say we’re on the edge of real revolutionary innovations. While certainty is always fleeting, there is truth in these promises. There will be new innovations. There will be change. There will be challenges to overcome and my goal is for Farm Journal to be here, to offer real value to our readers on every page.
