Farm News: History, Northern Iowa Coverage, Columnists and Staff
Profile updated November 2026
Farm News Fort Dodge readers know the paper simply as Farm News, the weekly agricultural sister of The Messenger in Fort Dodge, Iowa. Since 1995 it has covered local, national and global farm news for a 33-county area of northern Iowa, and it runs an annual farm show of its own.
| Founded | 1995 |
|---|---|
| Parent paper | The Messenger, Fort Dodge, Iowa |
| Messenger owner | Ogden Newspapers, since 1963 |
| Address | 713 Central Ave., Fort Dodge, Iowa |
| Frequency | Weekly |
| Coverage | 33 counties of northern Iowa |
| Official website | MessengerNews.net |
History of Farm News
The Messenger, a Fort Dodge daily whose roots go back to the Fort Dodge Sentinel of 1856, launched Farm News in 1995 as a weekly agricultural newspaper for north-central and northern Iowa. Its first editor was Bill Rentsch, who died in 2013. Later editors included Randy Mudgett, Kelli Bloomquist and Larry Kershner, and Kriss Nelson, who had been with the paper since the start, was editor at its 25th anniversary in April 2020.
Several writers stayed with Farm News from the beginning, including Clayton Rye and Karen Schwaller, while Darcy Dougherty Maulsby and Kristin Danley-Greiner started as interns. In 2002 the paper started the Farm News Ag Show, held each December in Fort Dodge, and later planned a second annual show in Emmetsburg.
Farm News has also published books, including Barns of Iowa, recipe collections and three volumes of Iowa Farm Life. Its pages have followed the big northern Iowa stories of three decades: ethanol, livestock confinement rules, commodity prices, weather and farmland values.
Farm News Today
Farm News continues as a weekly produced from The Messenger's office at 713 Central Ave. in Fort Dodge, with editions also posted online. The Messenger is owned by Ogden Newspapers of Wheeling, West Virginia, which bought it in 1963; Bill Shea is listed as The Messenger's editor.
The paper draws on Iowa State University and ISU Extension and Outreach as a key source of research and advice for its readers.
What Farm News Is Publishing Now
Local farm news
Stories on farm families, crops, livestock and agribusiness across a 33-county northern Iowa area.
Commentary columns
Weekly commentary from Alan Guebert, David Kruse, Brian Hoops and Bob Streit, plus long-time contributor Jerry Nelson.
Farm News Ag Show
An annual December farm show in Fort Dodge since 2002, connecting readers with equipment, seed and service companies.
Farm News Editors and Staff
Farm News' own anniversary column and The Messenger's listings name these people:
- Kriss Nelson - Editor (as of 2020), with the paper since 1995
- Bill Shea - Editor, The Messenger
- Karen Schwaller - Writer since 1995
- Darcy Dougherty Maulsby - Writer
- Dana Lantz - Advertising Sales Manager
- Bill Rentsch - Founding Editor (died 2013)
Former editors include Randy Mudgett, Kelli Bloomquist and Larry Kershner.
Who Reads Farm News
Readers are corn, soybean, hog and cattle farmers and agribusiness people in northern Iowa, one of the most intensively farmed regions in the country. USDA NASS county data from the Census of Agriculture show how concentrated crop and livestock production is in the area, and ISU Extension research shapes much of what the paper reports.
Farm News readers have spent three decades reading about ethanol plants, hog barns and farmland values, so they have earned a laugh. For more of that, farm.FM serves up farm satire and farm humor with a dry Iowa delivery, plus ranch humor for the cow-calf folks along the river bottoms. Its farm jokes travel well from Fort Dodge to the Minnesota line.
For context, farm.FM is the nation's first satirical farm site and the home of Tractor Tunes, country music for farmers. Its contributors each keep an archive, and this one is a good sampler of ranch humor and farm jokes.
Farm News Sources and Agriculture Authority Links
- The Messenger: Happy 25th anniversary to Farm News - history, editors and writers.
- Wikipedia: The Messenger (Fort Dodge) - the parent paper and Ogden ownership.
- Farm News on Issuu - a 2025 edition of the weekly.
- USDA NASS: Census of Agriculture - northern Iowa county farm data.
- USDA ERS: Animal product cash receipts - hog and cattle income nationwide.
Farm News FAQ
When did Farm News start?
Farm News was launched by The Messenger in Fort Dodge, Iowa, in 1995.
Who publishes Farm News?
The Messenger of Fort Dodge, which is owned by Ogden Newspapers.
What area does Farm News cover?
A 33-county area of northern Iowa, along with national and global farm news.
What is the Farm News Ag Show?
An annual farm show held each December in Fort Dodge since 2002.
Thirty years in, Farm News Fort Dodge remains northern Iowa's own weekly farm paper.