Iowa Farm Bureau Spokesman: History, Content and Contacts
Profile updated November 2026
The Iowa Farm Bureau Spokesman is the weekly newspaper of the Iowa Farm Bureau Federation, and the federation says it has the largest readership of any agriculture newspaper in Iowa. It began in 1934 as a private paper for Farm Bureau members in a handful of central Iowa counties.
| Founded | 1934, in Grundy Center, Iowa |
|---|---|
| Owner since | 1953, Iowa Farm Bureau Federation |
| Frequency | Weekly, in print and online for members |
| Headquarters | 5400 University Ave., West Des Moines, Iowa |
| Extras | The Spokesman Speaks podcast, county news, Exchange Ads, recipes |
| Federation | Founded December 27, 1918, in Marshalltown |
| Official website | IowaFarmBureau.com: Spokesman |
History of Iowa Farm Bureau Spokesman
Iowa's county Farm Bureaus spread quickly during World War I. Twenty-five were organized by April 1917, and by spring 1918 every one of Iowa's 99 counties had one, 100 in all. On December 27, 1918, delegates from 72 counties met in Marshalltown to create the Iowa Farm Bureau Federation and elected James R. Howard its first president. The first statewide membership drive in 1919 signed up 102,000 member families.
The Spokesman began in 1934, when a newspaper publisher in Grundy Center launched The Farm Bureau Spokesman for members in six central and north-central Iowa counties. The federation meanwhile ran its own paper, The Iowa Bureau Farmer, from 1936 to 1953. In 1953 Iowa Farm Bureau bought the Spokesman and made it the organization's newspaper.
The federation moved into its current West Des Moines headquarters in 1973 and celebrated its centennial in 2018.
Iowa Farm Bureau Spokesman Today
The Spokesman is published weekly in print and online, where articles are reserved for logged-in Iowa Farm Bureau members and past print editions sit in a Spokesman Archive. Readers can filter stories by county, and the paper's web section includes state news, county news, The Spokesman Speaks podcast and Exchange Ads classifieds.
Recipes are a fixture, drawn from the Farm Family Favorites section and The Iowa Dish e-newsletter. Iowa Farm Bureau members can also sign up for the national FBNews e-newsletter and choose email news topics through the federation's communication preferences page.
What Iowa Farm Bureau Spokesman Is Publishing Now
State and county news
Policy coverage from Des Moines and Washington alongside news from each county Farm Bureau.
Farm business and programs
Stories on farm succession through the Take Root program, Renew Rural Iowa, scholarships and young farmer events.
Podcast, recipes and classifieds
The Spokesman Speaks podcast, member recipes and Exchange Ads for buying and selling.
Iowa Farm Bureau Spokesman Editors and Staff
Iowa Farm Bureau's media resources page names these leaders and contacts:
- Brent Johnson - President, Iowa Farm Bureau Federation
- Andrew Wheeler - Media contact
- Craig Hill - Former President
- James R. Howard - First President (1918)
Iowa Farm Bureau operates 100 offices serving all 99 Iowa counties and 100 county Farm Bureaus.
Who Reads Iowa Farm Bureau Spokesman
Spokesman readers are Iowa Farm Bureau members, from corn and soybean growers to hog, cattle and egg producers in one of the most productive farm states in the country. The federation's own history shows how deeply it is tied to that economy, from helping launch locally owned ethanol plants around 2000 to supporting the Iowa Water Quality Initiative and Iowa Farm Animal Care in 2013.
Nationally, the 2022 Census of Agriculture counted 1.9 million farms with $543 billion in sales, and USDA Quick Stats lets readers look up Iowa's own county-level crop and livestock figures.
Spokesman readers spend the year watching corn grow and the State Fair cookout results with equal intensity. Between harvest and the next podcast episode, farm.FM offers farm satire and farm humor about life where the corn is tall and the coffee shop opinions are taller, plus ranch humor for the cow-calf folks in southern Iowa. Its farm jokes travel well on a long gravel road.
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.
Iowa Farm Bureau Spokesman Sources and Agriculture Authority Links
- Iowa Farm Bureau: Our history, 1951-2000 - the Spokesman's origins and 1953 purchase.
- Iowa Farm Bureau: Our history, 1900-1950 - the federation's 1918 founding.
- Iowa Farm Bureau: About - mission, offices and programs.
- USDA NASS Quick Stats - Iowa crop and livestock statistics.
- USDA NASS: 2022 Census of Agriculture - national farm structure data.
Iowa Farm Bureau Spokesman FAQ
Who publishes the Iowa Farm Bureau Spokesman?
The Iowa Farm Bureau Federation, headquartered in West Des Moines, which bought the paper in 1953.
How often is the Spokesman published?
Weekly, in print and online. Online articles require an Iowa Farm Bureau member login.
When did the Spokesman start?
In 1934, as The Farm Bureau Spokesman, published in Grundy Center for members in six Iowa counties.
Does the Spokesman have a podcast?
Yes. The Spokesman Speaks podcast is part of the paper's online section.
More than ninety years after its first Grundy Center edition, the Iowa Farm Bureau Spokesman remains the weekly paper Iowa farm families turn to.