Top Producer Magazine: History, Audience, Top Producer Summit and Editors
Profile updated November 2026
Top Producer magazine is Farm Journal's business publication for the biggest commercial farms in the United States, the operations that farm thousands of acres and think like corporations. It began in January 1984 as Top Operator, a section inside Farm Journal, and became its own magazine a year later. Today it pairs a print and digital magazine with the Top Producer Summit and a national award program.
| First issue | January 1984, as Top Operator inside Farm Journal |
|---|---|
| Standalone magazine | 1985, renamed Top Producer |
| Publisher | Farm Journal |
| Audience | Farms with 1,000+ acres of corn, soybeans or other key crops |
| Circulation | 105,066 (2021 media kit) |
| Brand leader | Margy Eckelkamp, since June 2023 |
| Official website | Farm Journal and Top Producer magazine archive |
History of Top Producer
Farm Journal, founded in Philadelphia in 1877, introduced Top Operator in January 1984 as a section aimed at its largest farm readers. The idea worked, and in 1985 the section became a standalone magazine called Top Producer. Its mission was business strategy rather than production advice: finance, land, marketing, labor, technology investment and succession for large-scale operators.
In 2007 Greg Vincent joined Farm Journal as Top Producer's editor, and its print product scored high readership before he moved on to edit AgWeb in 2009. By 2021 the magazine, edited by Sara Schafer with art director Lori Hays, published nine issues a year to 105,066 subscribers, with an estimated 2.3 readers per copy. Those subscribers ran fewer than 15 percent of U.S. farms but controlled about 60 percent of farm acres, and about 96 percent were owners or operators.
In June 2023 Farm Journal named Margy Eckelkamp leader of the Top Producer brand, directing its editorial content in print and online and building the Top Producer Summit program, while continuing as editor of The Scoop for ag retailers.
Top Producer Today
Top Producer continues in 2026, with issues such as March/April, May/June, July/August and September/October 2026 posted in Farm Journal's magazine archive, which describes the title as business strategies for large-scale operators. The magazine shares its digital home with AgWeb and Farm Journal.
The Top Producer Summit, which the 2021 media kit described as a three-day business school in Chicago each January drawing more than 650 subscribers, remains the brand's flagship event, with speaker lineups published for the 2026 and 2027 summits. Farm Journal executives including Chris Seper, executive vice president of Farm Journal brands since 2024, oversee the company's editorial and events.
What Top Producer Is Publishing Now
Farm business strategy
Land, leasing, finance, tax, labor and succession planning for multi-generation operations.
Markets and risk
Grain marketing, crop insurance and risk management, with columnists such as Paul Neiffer blogging on AgWeb.
Awards and events
The Top Producer of the Year award, the Tomorrow's Top Producer Horizon Award, the EWA Trailblazer Award and the Top Producer Summit.
Top Producer Editors and Staff
Farm Journal announcements, media kits and event pages name these Top Producer editors:
- Margy Eckelkamp - Top Producer brand leader (since June 2023); editor, The Scoop
- Sara Schafer - Editor, per 2021 media kit
- Lori Hays - Art director, per 2021 media kit
- Greg Vincent - Former Top Producer editor (2007-2009)
Eckelkamp began her career covering agronomy, machinery and technology, led Corn College events and the Farm Journal Test Plots, and has focused on the business side of agriculture since 2016.
Who Reads Top Producer
Top Producer readers are large commercial crop farmers: in 2021 the subscriber base included nearly 40,000 corn growers and more than 36,000 soybean growers farming 1,000 acres or more. USDA's 2022 Census of Agriculture shows the concentration behind that model, with an average farm of 463 acres and $543 billion in sales nationwide, and USDA ERS farm income statistics track the returns large operators watch.
Top Producer readers manage balance sheets bigger than some small towns, so their humor tends to arrive in spreadsheet form. farm.FM offers an alternative: farm satire about land auctions, farm humor about succession meetings, ranch humor for the cattle side of diversified operations and farm jokes worth sharing at the Summit coffee break. No ROI calculation required.
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.
Top Producer Sources and Agriculture Authority Links
- Top Producer 2021 media kit - history, circulation and audience profile.
- AgWired: Margy Eckelkamp promoted at Farm Journal - the 2023 brand leadership change.
- Farm Journal and Top Producer magazine archive - recent Top Producer issues.
- USDA NASS: 2022 Census of Agriculture - farm size and sales data.
- USDA ERS: Farm income and wealth statistics - national and state farm income.
Top Producer FAQ
When did Top Producer start?
In January 1984 as Top Operator, a section of Farm Journal; it became the standalone Top Producer magazine in 1985.
Who is Top Producer magazine for?
Large commercial farms, typically with 1,000 or more acres of corn, soybeans or other major crops.
Who leads Top Producer?
Margy Eckelkamp has led the brand since June 2023.
What is the Top Producer Summit?
Farm Journal's business education event for large-scale farmers, held each January in Chicago according to the 2021 media kit.
Four decades after Top Operator, Top Producer magazine still speaks to the farms that run like businesses.