Agri Marketing Magazine: History, Henderson Communications and NAMA
Profile updated November 2026
Agri Marketing magazine is the trade journal of the people who sell to farmers: marketing managers, ad agencies, public relations firms, farm media and the seed, chemical and equipment companies behind them. Published since 1962 and owned since 2005 by Lynn Henderson's Henderson Communications in Adel, Iowa, it is the official publication of the National Agri-Marketing Association (NAMA). This page covers its history, its products and its people.
| Published since | 1962 |
|---|---|
| Publisher | Henderson Communications L.L.C., Adel, Iowa |
| Owner | Lynn Henderson, since 2005 |
| Frequency | Six issues a year |
| Circulation | Nearly 6,000 subscribers in the U.S. and Canada |
| Affiliation | Official publication of the National Agri-Marketing Association |
| Official website | AgriMarketing.com |
History of Agri Marketing
Agri Marketing was founded by Century Communications Inc. (CCI) and has been published since 1962. Lynn Henderson, an Iowa State University graduate who began his career as communications manager at ACCO Seed, became associated with the magazine in 1977 and served as its publisher while at CCI.
Doane Agricultural Services of St. Louis acquired the magazine from CCI in 1993, and Henderson later became Doane's president and CEO. In October 2005 Vance Publishing bought Doane, and within days the magazine changed hands again: Henderson formed Henderson Communications L.L.C. and bought Agri Marketing and related properties, promising that its frequency, circulation and editorial content would stay the same. Audrey Evans, already affiliated with the magazine, became managing editor and longtime staffer Judy Knoll stayed on in ad sales and customer service.
The magazine went online in 2000 and later added an e-newsletter, a digital edition and a news archive. Henderson, a past national president of NAMA and winner of its R.C. Ferguson Award, was named to the Agricultural Relations Council's Agricultural Public Relations Hall of Fame in 2021.
Agri Marketing Today
Agri Marketing still publishes six print issues a year, each also available as Agri Marketing DIGITAL. Its Agri Marketing Update e-newsletter goes out on Mondays and Thursdays to nearly 10,000 readers with agency moves, personnel changes, campaign launches and farm media news, and its social accounts reach roughly 31,000 followers.
Its NAMA connection remains central. The magazine publishes the annual Best of NAMA editions, and the 2026 edition is featured on its site. The magazine also lists affiliations with the Canadian Agri-Marketing Association, the National Association of Farm Broadcasting and the American Agricultural Editors' Association, now the Agricultural Communicators Network.
What Agri Marketing Is Publishing Now
Agency and media news
Coverage tracks who is hiring, who won which account, new campaigns and the business of farm magazines, radio networks and digital ag media.
Reference guides
Each January brings the Agri Marketing Services Guide, a directory of agencies and suppliers, along with farm show and ag and rural show guides and a Latest Ag Agencies listing.
Recognition and books
A Product of the Year program, the Best of NAMA publications and books such as ProSelling and Agri-Manners round out the brand.
Agri Marketing Editors and Staff
Agri Marketing's own pages and industry coverage name these people:
- Lynn Henderson - Owner, Henderson Communications L.L.C.
- Audrey Evans - Customer Service Manager, subscriptions and advertising; named managing editor in 2005
Henderson's long service to the magazine led industry veteran Hugh Whaley to call the two inextricably linked when Henderson entered the ag PR hall of fame.
Who Reads Agri Marketing
Readers are agricultural marketers in the U.S. and Canada: brand and product managers at input and equipment companies, agency account teams, public relations specialists, farm media sales staff and the college students in NAMA chapters who hope to join them.
Their target market is well documented. The 2022 Census of Agriculture counted 1.9 million U.S. farms, 95% of them family farms, with $543 billion in sales, and USDA NASS Quick Stats lets marketers slice those numbers by county, crop and farm size.
Agri Marketing readers know exactly how hard it is to get a busy farmer to stop and read an ad, which makes them a good audience for a site that actually gets farmers laughing. farm.FM offers farm satire, farm humor and ranch humor in a deadpan rural voice. Marketers can treat the farm jokes there as free research into what makes a grower crack a smile.
The outlet behind those laughs, farm.FM, is the nation's first satirical farm site, complete with Tractor Tunes country music for farmers. A farm.FM humorist's archive shows what a week of it looks like.
Agri Marketing Sources and Agriculture Authority Links
- AgriMarketing.com: Who we are - the magazine's publisher, history and products.
- AgWired: Henderson Communications acquires Agri Marketing - the 2005 ownership change.
- Vegetable Growers News: Lynn Henderson enters ag PR hall of fame - Henderson's career.
- USDA NASS: 2022 Census of Agriculture release - the size and structure of the farm market.
- USDA NASS Quick Stats - county and crop data used in farm market planning.
Agri Marketing FAQ
Who publishes Agri Marketing magazine?
Henderson Communications L.L.C. of Adel, Iowa, owned by Lynn Henderson, who bought the magazine from Doane in 2005.
How often is Agri Marketing published?
Six times a year in print and digital, with an e-newsletter twice a week.
What is the connection between Agri Marketing and NAMA?
Agri Marketing is the official publication of the National Agri-Marketing Association and publishes the Best of NAMA editions.
How old is Agri Marketing?
The magazine has been published since 1962.
More than six decades in, Agri Marketing magazine is still where the business of selling to farmers reads about itself.