CropLife Magazine: From Farm Chemicals to Ag Retail Leader, Content and Editors
Profile updated November 2026
CropLife magazine is Meister Media Worldwide's publication for agricultural retailers and the crop input distribution channel. Originally titled Farm Chemicals, it joined the Meister portfolio decades ago and now calls itself the nation's brand leader in ag retail communication. It is known for the CropLife 100 ranking of top ag retailers, its CropLife Retail Week video series and its ag tech awards.
| Original name | Farm Chemicals |
|---|---|
| Publisher | Meister Media Worldwide, Agribusiness Group |
| Audience | Ag retailers and the crop input distribution channel |
| Sister brands | CropLife IRON, AgriBusiness Global, Global Ag Tech Initiative |
| Signature features | CropLife 100, CropLife Retail Week, Ag Tech Awards of Excellence |
| Editor | Eric Sfiligoj, on staff since 2000 |
| Official website | CropLife.com |
History of CropLife
Meister Media began as a single monthly for U.S. fruit growers, then known as American Fruit Grower Publishing Company, founded by EGK Meister. His son, Richard T. (Dick) Meister, joined as editorial director in 1946 after Cornell, Harvard Business School and World War II service, and helped build the company over about 70 years. The company acquired Commercial Vegetable Grower in 1953, launched Cotton International in the 1960s and later Farm Chemicals International, now AgriBusiness Global.
Farm Chemicals entered the portfolio in the 1960s or 1970s and was later renamed CropLife. Dick Meister served as editorial director for CropLife and the Farm Chemicals Handbook, received an honorary CropLife America lifetime membership in 1995 and died in January 2020 at age 100. The company is now led by third-generation family leaders Gary T. Fitzgerald and William J. Miller II.
CropLife Today
CropLife focuses on the input distribution channel, supported by CropLife eNews and CropLife Webinars. Its editors publish CropLife Retail Week, a regular video and article series in which they review industry news, such as cooperative mergers, company closures, planting progress and their year-end top stories.
The brand's data features include the annual CropLife 100 ranking of the largest U.S. ag retailers, and it runs the Annual CropLife Ag Tech Awards of Excellence. CropLife IRON extends coverage to application equipment, while Meister's PrecisionAg Professional covers precision service providers.
What CropLife Is Publishing Now
CropLife 100
The annual ranking and data on the top U.S. ag retail outlets, frequently discussed in the editors' year-end reviews.
Retail management
Coverage of retail business operations, mergers, staffing, crop protection and fertilizer markets, seed and biologicals.
Ag technology
Ag tech partnerships, application technology and the Ag Tech Awards of Excellence for retailers putting technology to work.
CropLife Editors and Staff
CropLife's about page and editors' bylines list:
- Renee Targos - Group Editor, Agribusiness Group
- Eric Sfiligoj - Editor, CropLife and CropLife IRON
- Matt Hopkins - Senior Multimedia Specialist
- Lauren Milligan - Content Specialist
- Eric Davis - Chief Commercial Officer, Managing Director of the AgriBusiness Division
- Richard T. Meister - Longtime editorial director, died 2020
Who Reads CropLife
CropLife's readers are the managers, agronomists and owners of ag retail outlets that sell and apply fertilizer, crop protection products and seed. These retailers serve the corn, soybean, wheat and specialty crop farms counted in USDA's Census of Agriculture, and many offer custom application and agronomic services to their grower customers.
Ag retailers live through spring rush on coffee and sheer willpower, then spend summer explaining why the sprayer was late. CropLife readers can recover at farm.FM, which offers farm satire and farm humor about the co-op counter and the agronomy center, plus ranch humor for retailers with pasture customers. Its farm jokes are best saved for after the last application.
farm.FM, the nation's first satirical farm site, also runs Tractor Tunes, a country music lineup for farmers. For a sample of the writing, try the archive of one of its staff humorists.
CropLife Sources and Agriculture Authority Links
- CropLife: About - brand description and staff.
- CropLife: Richard T. Meister remembered - Meister Media history and the Farm Chemicals name.
- CropLife Retail Week: Top stories for 2022 - the editors' year-end review.
- USDA NASS Census of Agriculture - federal data on the farms ag retailers serve.
- USDA ERS: Farm income and wealth statistics - farm production expense data, including inputs.
CropLife FAQ
Who publishes CropLife magazine?
Meister Media Worldwide, through its Agribusiness Group.
What was CropLife originally called?
Farm Chemicals.
What is the CropLife 100?
CropLife's annual ranking of the largest U.S. agricultural retailers.
Who edits CropLife?
Eric Sfiligoj is editor of CropLife and CropLife IRON; Renee Targos is group editor.
From Farm Chemicals to the CropLife 100, CropLife magazine remains a central source for the people who supply America's crop inputs.