Ag Alert: History, Biweekly Format, Content and Editors
Profile updated November 2026
Ag Alert is the newspaper of the California Farm Bureau, the state's largest farm organization. Launched as a weekly in 1974 and switched to a biweekly schedule at the start of 2025, it reaches about 24,000 print subscribers who own and run commercial farms and ranches across the nation's leading farm state.
| First published | 1974, as a weekly |
|---|---|
| Publisher | California Farm Bureau, Sacramento |
| Frequency | Biweekly since January 2025, plus a free email newsletter |
| Print circulation | About 24,000 subscribers |
| Digital | About 62,000 monthly page views |
| Recent honor | Best newspaper, AFBF communications awards, 2025 |
| Official website | AgAlert.com |
History of Ag Alert
The California Farm Bureau Federation was formed in 1919, when delegates from 32 county Farm Bureaus met in Berkeley and adopted a constitution on October 23. Promoted by B.H. Crocheron, founder of the state's agricultural extension service, it started with 24,168 members and two rooms in Hilgard Hall on the UC Berkeley campus. Dr. W.H. Walker of Willows was its first president.
For decades the Farm Bureau Monthly was the federation's main publication. That changed in 1974, when the weekly Ag Alert newspaper began. The federation moved its headquarters to Sacramento in 1979 and launched its website in 1996, and Ag Alert followed members online.
In January 2025 Ag Alert moved to a biweekly schedule, promising expanded science and technology reporting, special editions on finance and equipment trends and more in-depth analysis from the Farm Bureau communications team.
Ag Alert Today
Ag Alert is printed for Farm Bureau agricultural and collegiate members, the owners and decision makers on California commercial farms and ranches. A free Ag Alert email newsletter delivers digital content between print issues, and the archive is online at AgAlert.com.
The paper is a regular award winner. In 2025 it was named best newspaper in the American Farm Bureau Federation's communications awards, and writer Caleb Hampton won the top prize for best agriculture story for his reporting on how California's 2014 groundwater law is affecting land values.
What Ag Alert Is Publishing Now
Policy and advocacy
Water, labor, regulation, trade and Farm Bureau lobbying in Sacramento and Washington, D.C.
Crops and markets
Commodity reports and the long-running From the Fields feature, with growers describing conditions around the state.
Pest management and science
The Ask Your PCA column from pest control advisers, plus expanded coverage of agricultural research and technology.
Ag Alert Editors and Staff
The California Farm Bureau's 2025 awards announcement credits these Ag Alert staff:
- Barbara Arciero - Director of Publications and Media Relations
- Christine Souza - Editor
- Ching Lee - Editor
- Caleb Hampton - Editor
- Linda DuBois - Editor
- Shawn Collins - Production Designer
The California Farm Bureau is based at 2600 River Plaza Drive in Sacramento.
Who Reads Ag Alert
Ag Alert readers farm in a state that leads the nation. The California Department of Food and Agriculture reports $64.7 billion in farm cash receipts for 2025, led by milk at $8.39 billion, almonds, cattle and calves, grapes and lettuce. California grows nearly half of U.S. vegetables and more than three-quarters of its fruits and nuts, and its farm exports reached $23.8 billion in 2024.
The California Farm Bureau counts more than 30,000 members and 53 county Farm Bureaus, so Ag Alert's audience runs from Imperial Valley vegetable growers to North Coast vineyards and Central Valley dairies.
Ag Alert readers know that in California a farm meeting can involve three water districts, two regulators and one very patient almond grower. For a break from the paperwork, farm.FM serves up farm satire and farm humor about life on the irrigated side of the Sierra, with ranch humor from the foothill cattle country. Its farm jokes require no permit, at least for now.
Part newsroom, part radio dial, farm.FM bills itself as America's first satirical farm site and plays Tractor Tunes, its country music for farmers. Browse a farm.FM writer's back catalog to see the style.
Ag Alert Sources and Agriculture Authority Links
- Ag Alert: Farm Bureau reaches 90 - the federation's history and the 1974 start of Ag Alert.
- Ag Alert: New biweekly schedule - the 2025 format change.
- Ag Alert: Farm Bureau publications earn top honors - 2025 awards and staff.
- California Department of Food and Agriculture: Agricultural Statistics - state farm receipts and top commodities.
- USDA NASS: 2022 Census of Agriculture - national farm structure data.
Ag Alert FAQ
Who publishes Ag Alert?
The California Farm Bureau, a nonprofit farm organization based in Sacramento.
Is Ag Alert still weekly?
No. Ag Alert began as a weekly in 1974 and moved to a biweekly schedule in January 2025, with an email newsletter between issues.
Who reads Ag Alert?
Farm Bureau agricultural and collegiate members, about 24,000 print subscribers who run California farms and ranches.
What awards has Ag Alert won?
It was named best newspaper in the 2025 American Farm Bureau Federation communications awards.
Fifty years after its first weekly edition, Ag Alert remains the working paper of record for California Farm Bureau members.