Kansas Farmer Magazine: History, Farm Progress Brand, Master Farmers and Editors
Profile updated November 2026
Kansas Farmer magazine dates to 1863, when Kansas was barely two years into statehood and the Civil War was still raging. Started in Topeka under the Kansas State Board of Agriculture, it has followed the state's farmers from sod houses to satellite-guided combines. Today it is the Kansas brand of Farm Progress, part of Informa, and it still runs the Kansas Master Farmer awards.
| Founded | 1863, Topeka, Kansas |
|---|---|
| Founder | Kansas State Board of Agriculture |
| Publisher | Farm Progress, part of Informa |
| Audience | 19.2K AAM audited subscribers |
| Newsletter | Kansas Farmer Morning Update, about 3,470 subscribers |
| Editor | Jennifer Latzke |
| Official website | Kansas Farmer on FarmProgress.com |
History of Kansas Farmer
Kansas Farmer began in 1863 in Topeka, founded under the Kansas State Board of Agriculture during the state's earliest years. Its back issues are an important record of Kansas farm history, and Kansas State University holds a collection of the magazine in its archives.
Over the following century and a half the magazine became one of the state titles of the Farm Progress group. Farm Progress itself grew out of Chicago's Prairie Farmer and passed through ABC, Disney, Australia's Rural Press and Fairfax before Penton Media bought it for $79.9 million in 2012, with Kansas Farmer named among the publications in that deal. Informa acquired Penton, and with it Kansas Farmer, in November 2016.
One of the magazine's oldest traditions is the Kansas Master Farmer and Master Farm Homemaker program, which honors outstanding farm families each year and announced its 2022 class in the magazine's pages.
Kansas Farmer Today
Farm Progress lists Kansas Farmer as one of its 14 state and regional brands and reports 19.2K AAM audited subscribers. Readers can also take the Kansas Farmer Morning Update, a weekday email with Kansas weather, markets and growing conditions that has about 3,470 subscribers, alongside the national Farm Progress Daily.
Jennifer Latzke, the Farm Progress journalist most closely tied to Kansas Farmer, also has a long byline list at BEEF, reflecting the magazine's strong cattle audience. Kansas Farmer publishes annual roundups of its favorite stories and covers events such as the winter wheat tour, which in 2022 produced a report on ten lessons learned in the field.
What Kansas Farmer Is Publishing Now
Wheat and row crops
Winter wheat, sorghum, corn and soybean production, crop tour coverage, and agronomy for dryland and irrigated Kansas farms.
Cattle and ranching
Beef cattle, feedyards and grazing coverage for the Flint Hills and western Kansas, with cattle stories that often also reach BEEF readers.
Master Farmers and farm families
The Kansas Master Farmer and Master Farm Homemaker awards, farm succession stories and features on families bridging the gap between producers and consumers.
Kansas Farmer Editors and Staff
Farm Progress author pages and brand materials name the Kansas Farmer editor:
- Jennifer Latzke - Editor, Kansas Farmer; also writes for BEEF
Kansas Farmer also shares stories with the wider Farm Progress editorial team and its broadcasters.
Who Reads Kansas Farmer
Readers are commercial farmers and ranchers in Kansas who need local information on weather, markets, growing conditions, production, equipment, technology and farm management. The Kansas Department of Agriculture publishes state and county reports on agriculture's economic contribution, which show how central wheat, cattle and agribusiness are to the state. Federal statistics from USDA NASS track the state's crop and cattle numbers year by year.
Kansas Farmer readers have stared at enough wheat fields to recognize a good joke when one blows in on the wind. farm.FM brings farm satire and farm humor for the wheat belt, ranch humor for Flint Hills cattle country and farm jokes that work just as well at the elevator as at a Master Farmer banquet. Read it while waiting for the custom cutters to arrive.
Readers who want the full experience can pair the jokes with Tractor Tunes, the country music for farmers that farm.FM, the nation's first satirical farm site, plays between stories. This author page is a fine starting point.
Kansas Farmer Sources and Agriculture Authority Links
- Wikipedia draft: Kansas Farmer - founding in 1863 by the Kansas State Board of Agriculture.
- Kansas Farmer: 12 favorite stories of 2023 - a sample of the magazine's recent coverage.
- Kansas Farmer: Master Farmers class of 2022 - the magazine's long-running award program.
- Kansas Department of Agriculture: Economic contribution reports - agriculture's impact on the Kansas economy.
- USDA NASS Quick Stats - Kansas wheat, cattle and crop statistics.
Kansas Farmer FAQ
When was Kansas Farmer founded?
In 1863 in Topeka, under the Kansas State Board of Agriculture.
Who publishes Kansas Farmer magazine?
Farm Progress, a division of Informa based in St. Charles, Illinois.
Who is the editor of Kansas Farmer?
Jennifer Latzke, who also writes for BEEF magazine.
Does Kansas Farmer run the Master Farmer awards?
Yes. It names a Kansas Master Farmer and Master Farm Homemaker class.
More than 160 years after its Topeka start, Kansas Farmer magazine is still reporting from the wheat fields and pastures of Kansas.