When I started writing about farmers full time, the average corn yield was 127 bushels per acre, peanut farmers were delighted with harvesting a single stock ton on any acre, and conventional tillage was the norm. Cover crops? That was farming ugly.
And at the turn of the century, the cover story featured “Men of the Millennium,” the fellows who started farming by walking behind a mule and now rocked air-conditioned tractors.
Since then, their sons and daughters have doubled yields, learned the intricacies of precision age, expanded their acres and diversified the business. Soon, they might not even drive the tractor.
That’s the speed of ag.
In my early days as a journalist, I relied on a T-square to meticulously align columns of print with wax on the back. Precision meant careful editing with an X-Acto knife, trimming and adjusting the waxed copy before it was pressed onto pages, which were hand-delivered to the printer.
Today, those pages are sent electronically, and editing is online.
Turns out a lot of the reading is, too. And so, this long-winded lead — one my college mentor never would approve — is me backing into telling you Farm Futures magazine will no longer be offered as a standalone print magazine.
Going forward, the media source you turn to for managing your farm business and marketing your crops will be part of the print issues of each of our sister publications, but content is now primarily available online. We’ve been online for about 20 years. In that first year, we just hoped a few of you would show up. These days surveys show more and more people turn to digital for the information they need. (Googled anything lately?) So, that’s why we’re putting our focus on digital.
To be honest, the economic reality of paper prices and the cost of mailing certainly weigh into this decision. To continue to serve you on any platform, we must be business minded.
The content, however, isn’t changing. Your favorite writers are regularly online — David Kohl, Mike Downey, Ed Usset, Ben Potter and Bruce Blythe, to name a few. And as you can see in the last print issue, which is also provided online, we include guest appearances from writers who are longtime friends to our audience, including Bryce Knorr, John Otte and Mike Wilson.
We still share your stories and your wisdom and support your transition to the next generation of farming tools or practices, and the next generation on your farm.
And we hope you’ll move with us. Sign up for our email newsletters. Bookmark FarmFutures.com. Join the conversation we’re leading online.
As always, we lean into your wisdom.
Sam Love, one of those Men of the Millenium, started farming with a mule, left to sell insurance and then came back to farming at 69. Some 26 years ago, he told me: “It’s a hard life. I’ll tell you that for sure. But the farmers who can stick it out are going to be the winners in the long run.”
So will Farm Futures. How could we do otherwise with farmers as our inspiration? Keep visiting us at FarmFutures.com.