{{Short description|American publisher of farming magazines}} {{Infobox company | name = Farm Progress | logo = | caption = | type = Media publishing|events company | genre = | fate = | predecessor = | successor = | founded = 1819 | founder = | defunct = | hq_location_city = St. Charles, Illinois | hq_location_country = United States | num_locations = | area_served = | key_people = | industry = Farming, ranching | products = | services = | revenue = | operating_income = | net_income = | aum = | assets = | equity = | owner = | num_employees = | parent = Informa | divisions = | subsidiaries = | website = {{URL|http://www.farmprogress.com}} | footnotes = | intl = }} '''Farm Progress''' is the publisher of 22 farming and ranching magazines. The company's oldest publication began in 1819. Farm Progress Companies is owned by Informa.
Farm Progress has the oldest known continuously published magazine{{citation needed|date=September 2020}}, ''Prairie Farmer'', which was launched in 1841. The company publishes 18 regional magazines with local coverage of each agricultural community.
Farm Progress produces four annual farm shows including the Farm Progress Show, which launched in 1953.<ref>http://www.farmprogress.com/ME2/dirsect.asp?sid=50A4695952D64EFB886435FE1F323AFA&nm=Farm+Shows {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070404002727/http://www.farmprogress.com/ME2/dirsect.asp?sid=50A4695952D64EFB886435FE1F323AFA&nm=Farm+Shows |date=2007-04-04 }} Show Locations</ref>
==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 provide information to help farmers trim costs and boost profits.<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.thefreelibrary.com/Wallaces+farmer+celebrates+150+years+serving+Iowa+readers-a0134908654|title=Wallaces farmer celebrates 150 years serving Iowa readers. - Free Online Library}}</ref> Three generations of the Wallace family, Henry Cantwell Wallace, Henry A. Wallace, and Henry Browne Wallace, owned and operated ''Wallaces' Farmer'', which was then a newspaper.<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.iptv.org/iowapathways/mypath.cfm?ounid=ob_000035|title = Explore Iowa History|date = 17 August 2016}}</ref>
The Farm Progress affiliate Prairie Farmer purchased radio station WLS from Sears in 1928 and operated it primarily as a service to farmers.<ref>{{cite web | url = http://www.wlshistory.com/WLS30/ | title = The Prairie Farmer Days | work = The History of WLS Radio | publisher = Scott Childers | date = 2010-05-06 | access-date = 2010-07-30 }}</ref> The station moved to the Prairie Farmer Building on West Washington Street in Chicago, Illinois where it remained for 32 years.<ref>[http://www.richsamuels.com/nbcmm/wls/studios/index.html A look at the floor plan for the WLS studios in the Prairie Farmer Building-Studio A and its control room are still intact today]</ref>
In 1959, American Broadcasting-Paramount Theaters bought the Farm Progress Group, largely to acquire WLS and consolidate it with ABC station WENR. In 1986, ABC merged with Capital Cities. In 1991, Capital Cities/ABC acquired the farm magazines of Harcourt Brace Jovanovich.<ref>{{cite news|last1=Strother|first1=Susan G.|title=Hbj Sells Off 12 Magazines In Farm Group|url=https://www.orlandosentinel.com/1991/05/08/hbj-sells-off-12-magazines-in-farm-group/|access-date=May 11, 2015|work=Orlando Sentinel|date=May 8, 1991}}</ref> In 1996, the Disney Company purchased Capital Cities/ABC. In 1997, the Disney Company sold the Farm Progress Companies to Rural Press.<ref>{{Cite web | title = Australian Firm Buys Parent Of Prairie Farmer Magazine From Disney | work = Chicago Tribune | access-date = 2014-08-23 | url = https://www.chicagotribune.com/1997/07/01/australian-firm-buys-parent-of-prairie-farmer-magazine-from-disney/ }}</ref> Rural Press merged with Fairfax in 2007. In 2012, Fairfax sold Farm Progress to Penton Media.<ref>[http://www.foliomag.com/2012/penton-acquires-farm-progress-companies-79-9-million Penton Acquires Farm Progress Companies for $79.9 Million]</ref> On November 2, 2016, Penton was bought by the UK based company Informa.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://informa.com/investors/shareholder-centre/corporate-transactions/aquisition-of-penton-information-services/|title=Informa.com - 2016: Acquisition of Penton Information Services|website=informa.com|access-date=2019-04-30}}</ref> Farm Progress and its publications were integrated into the Informa Markets Division.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.farmprogress.com/|title=Farm Progress|website=www.farmprogress.com|access-date=2019-04-30}}</ref>
==Current publications== {|class="wikitable sortable" |- !Publication !Coverage |- |''American Agriculturist'' |Northeastern United States |- |''Carolina-Virginia Farmer'' |North Carolina, South Carolina, Virginia |- |''Dakota Farmer'' |North Dakota, South Dakota |- |''Farm Futures'' |United States (national coverage) |- |''The Farmer'' |Minnesota |- |''The Farmer-Stockman'' |New Mexico, Oklahoma, Texas |- |''Indiana Prairie Farmer'' |Indiana |- |''Kansas Farmer'' |Kansas |- |''Michigan Farmer'' |Michigan |- |''Mid-South Farmer'' |Arkansas, Louisiana, Mississippi |- |''Missouri Ruralist'' |Missouri |- |''Nebraska Farmer'' |Nebraska |- |''The Ohio Farmer'' |Ohio |- |''Prairie Farmer'' |Illinois |- |''Southern Farmer'' |Southeastern United States |- |''Wallaces Farmer'' |Iowa |- |''Western Farm Press'' |California, Arizona |- |''Western Farmer-Stockman'' |Northwestern United States |- |''Wisconsin Agriculturist'' |Wisconsin |}
==Farm Progress Show== {{Primary sources section | date = June 2024 }} 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 agricultural 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.{{Citation needed|date=June 2024|reason=Source for '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. This 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 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.<ref>{{Cite web |date=2024-06-26 |title=About {{!}} Farm Progress Show |url=https://www.farmprogressshow.com/en/about.html |url-status=deviated |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080622172013/http://www.farmprogressshow.com/ME2/Audiences/dirsect.asp?sid=4004AE94B713487FA72E447FB5AFF127&nm=Show+History |archive-date=2008-06-22 |access-date=2024-06-26 |website=farmprogressshow.com}}</ref> The Boone site is developed on about {{convert|600|acre|km2|1}} at the intersection of U.S. Highway 30 and Iowa Highway 17,<ref>{{Cite web |title=Iowa Farm Progress Show Location Announced |url=https://www.farmprogress.com/farm-progress-show/iowa-farm-progress-show-location-announced |access-date=2024-06-26 |website=www.farmprogress.com |language=en}}</ref> while the Decatur site includes {{convert|640|acre|km2|1}} of exhibits and field demonstrations.
The Farm Progress Show is the oldest outdoor agricultural equipment exhibition in the United States, with more than 500 exhibitors.{{Citation needed|date=June 2024}} 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.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Landis |first=Tim |date=2007-08-12 |title=Farm Progress Show returns to Decatur Aug. 28-30 |url=https://www.dailyrepublicannews.com/20070813/news/farm-progress-show-returns-to-decatur-aug-28-30/ |access-date=2024-06-26 |website=Marion Republican |language=en-US}}</ref>
==References== {{reflist}}
==External links== * http://www.farmprogress.com * http://www.farmprogressshow.com *[http://idnc.library.illinois.edu/cgi-bin/illinois?a=cl&cl=CL1&sp=PFR Illinois Digital Newspaper Collections: ''Prairie Farmer'' (1841-1941)] *[http://idnc.library.illinois.edu/cgi-bin/illinois?a=cl&cl=CL1&sp=WAF Illinois Digital Newspaper Collections: ''Wallace's Farmer'' (1898-1950)] *[http://idnc.library.illinois.edu/cgi-bin/illinois?a=cl&cl=CL1&sp=OFR Illinois Digital Newspaper Collections: ''Ohio Farmer'' (1907-1922)] *[http://rbsc.slpl.org/MA_MissouriRuralist.pdf Missouri Ruralist] finding aid at the [https://www.slpl.org/ St. Louis Public Library]
{{Informa}}
Category:Companies based in Kane County, Illinois * Category:Magazine publishing companies of the United States Category:Publications established in 1819 Category:St. Charles, Illinois Category:Agricultural shows in the United States