FarmWeek: History, Illinois Farm Bureau, Coverage and Staff
Profile updated November 2026
FarmWeek is the weekly newspaper of the Illinois Farm Bureau, mailed to about 68,200 member households every week from the Farm Bureau's Bloomington headquarters. Its first issue appeared on June 10, 1974, and it passed 50 years and nearly 2,500 issues in 2024.
| First issue | June 10, 1974 |
|---|---|
| Publisher | Illinois Farm Bureau |
| Home | Illinois Farm Bureau headquarters, Bloomington |
| Frequency | Weekly |
| Print run | About 68,200 copies mailed to members each week |
| Editor | Daniel Grant |
| Official website | FarmWeekNow.com |
History of FarmWeek
FarmWeek's first issue was published on June 10, 1974, printed at Tazewell County Publishing Co. in Morton. It has always been produced at Illinois Farm Bureau headquarters in Bloomington, a building dedicated in 1961, and is now printed at P and P Press in Peoria. Don Phillips was the original editor; later editors included Dave McClelland, the longest-tenured, and Chris Anderson, before Daniel Grant took the post.
The paper printed its first color edition in 1987. Its CropWatch section debuted on June 15, 1992, and became the long-running CropWatchers feature, in which farmers around the state report on their fields through the season. A Perspectives opinion page followed in 1996, an idea credited to Kay Shipman. FarmWeek's largest news section, 24 pages, came out in December 2022 after the Farm Bureau's annual meeting.
On its 50th anniversary, June 10, 2024, the Illinois General Assembly declared FarmWeek Appreciation Day, and the paper ran a collection of anniversary stories, including contributions from IFB President Brian Duncan.
FarmWeek Today
FarmWeek still mails about 68,200 print copies a week to Illinois Farm Bureau members and publishes daily on FarmWeekNow.com. Deana Stroisch serves as news director, and Daniel Grant as editor. Longtime news operations manager Nan Fannin retired in 2024 after 36 years with the Farm Bureau.
Its reporters cover the full range of Illinois agriculture, from planting progress and markets to state and federal policy that the Farm Bureau tracks on members' behalf.
What FarmWeek Is Publishing Now
CropWatchers
Farmer reporters across Illinois share planting, crop condition and harvest updates through the season, a feature running for more than three decades.
Policy and Farm Bureau news
State and national policy, legislation and regulation, plus Illinois Farm Bureau programs and county Farm Bureau activities.
Markets, business and Perspectives
Commodity markets, farm business news and the Perspectives opinion page.
FarmWeek Editors and Staff
FarmWeek's own anniversary facts and bylines name these people:
- Daniel Grant - Editor
- Deana Stroisch - News Director
- Phyllis Coulter - Reporter
- Lyndsay Jones - Editorial contact
- Dave McClelland - Former Editor, longest-tenured
- Don Phillips - Founding Editor (1974)
Chris Anderson preceded Daniel Grant as editor.
Who Reads FarmWeek
Readers are Illinois Farm Bureau members, the corn, soybean, livestock and specialty crop farmers and rural families of one of the nation's biggest farm states. The USDA Census of Agriculture tracks Illinois farms county by county, and soil practices FarmWeek covers, such as cover crops and no-till, are backed by NRCS and SARE research.
FarmWeek readers have been reporting crop conditions to CropWatchers for more than 30 years, so they know a good field story when they hear one. For the same sort of tale told for laughs, farm.FM offers farm satire and farm humor from the heart of the Corn Belt, with ranch humor for the cattle folks in western Illinois. Its farm jokes never require a county Farm Bureau vote.
farm.FM calls itself the nation's first satirical farm site, and between the headlines it spins Tractor Tunes, country music for farmers; a good place to start reading is this farm.FM columnist's archive.
FarmWeek Sources and Agriculture Authority Links
- FarmWeek facts - the paper's own 50-year history.
- Illinois Farm Bureau: FarmWeek at 50 - anniversary collection.
- Illinois Farm Bureau: Appreciation for FarmWeek - the IFB president on the paper at 50.
- SARE: 10 ways cover crops enhance soil health - research for Illinois growers.
- USDA NASS: Census of Agriculture - Illinois county and state farm data.
FarmWeek FAQ
When did FarmWeek start?
The first issue was published June 10, 1974.
Who publishes FarmWeek?
The Illinois Farm Bureau, from its headquarters in Bloomington.
How many copies of FarmWeek are printed?
About 68,200 print copies are mailed to Illinois Farm Bureau members each week.
What is CropWatchers?
A FarmWeek feature since 1992 in which Illinois farmers report on their crops through the season.
Fifty years and nearly 2,500 issues on, FarmWeek remains the weekly voice of Illinois Farm Bureau members.