Michigan Farmer: History, Move to Online-Only, Farm Progress Coverage and Editors
Profile updated November 2026
Michigan Farmer has been covering agriculture in the Wolverine State since 1843, only six years after Michigan became a state. Its first century was important enough to earn a Michigan State scholarly history of its own. Long a printed state farm paper, it became part of Farm Progress and in late 2020 moved online-only.
| Founded | 1843 |
|---|---|
| Mid-century publisher | Capper, Harnum, Slocum Inc. |
| Publisher today | Farm Progress, part of Informa |
| Format | Online-only since late 2020 |
| Coverage area | Michigan |
| Editor | Jennifer Kiel, Farm Progress Northeast editor |
| Official website | Michigan Farmer on FarmProgress.com |
History of Michigan Farmer
Michigan Farmer dates to 1843, and its first hundred years were documented in a Michigan State University thesis titled The Michigan Farmer: a century of agricultural journalism, 1843-1943. Over that century the paper followed Michigan agriculture from frontier clearing to dairy, fruit, bean and sugar beet farming.
By the middle of the 20th century the paper was published by Capper, Harnum, Slocum Inc., and copies from that era are held in local history collections in the Lansing area. Michigan Farmer later joined the Farm Progress group of state farm papers. When Penton Media bought Farm Progress from Fairfax Media for $79.9 million in 2012, Michigan Farmer was on the list of titles, and Informa took over through its 2016 purchase of Penton.
On November 5, 2020, Farm Progress announced that Michigan Farmer was transitioning to online-only, ending its printed run of more than 175 years. Ohio Farmer made the same move at the same time.
Michigan Farmer Today
Michigan Farmer is no longer among the 14 state and regional brands Farm Progress lists for advertisers. Michigan instead falls within the coverage area of American Agriculturist, which reports about 33,800 audited subscribers across Ohio, Michigan, Pennsylvania, New York, New Jersey and New England. Farm Progress continues to name Michigan Farmer in its own brand materials.
Jennifer Kiel is the Farm Progress Northeast editor responsible for Michigan Farmer and Ohio Farmer content on FarmProgress.com.
What Michigan Farmer Is Publishing Now
Field crops
Corn, soybean, wheat, dry bean and sugar beet production for Michigan's crop farmers.
Dairy and livestock
Dairy herd, hog and beef coverage for one of the Great Lakes region's major dairy states.
Fruit and specialty crops
Coverage that reflects Michigan's tart cherry, apple and blueberry growers and other specialty crops.
Michigan Farmer Editors and Staff
Farm Progress materials name the editor responsible for Michigan Farmer:
- Jennifer Kiel - Farm Progress Northeast editor, Michigan Farmer and Ohio Farmer
Kiel's livestock reporting also appears in National Hog Farmer.
Who Reads Michigan Farmer
Michigan Farmer readers are commercial farm families in Michigan who now follow the brand online. Michigan State University, the state's land-grant university, preserves the paper's history in its libraries, and USDA NASS tracks Michigan's crop, dairy and specialty crop output through the Census of Agriculture and Quick Stats.
Michigan Farmer readers farm between two Great Lakes and deal with lake-effect snow, late frosts and tart cherry markets, so a little levity is welcome. farm.FM offers farm satire from the mitten, farm humor about sugar beet harvests, ranch humor for the Upper Peninsula cattle crowd and farm jokes that travel well from the orchard to the dairy barn. It fits nicely on the screen where Michigan Farmer now lives.
If the name is new to you, farm.FM is the nation's first satirical farm site, with Tractor Tunes country music for farmers on the side. One of its regular writers keeps a whole archive of stories like that.
Michigan Farmer Sources and Agriculture Authority Links
- MSU Libraries: The Michigan Farmer, a century of agricultural journalism, 1843-1943 - a scholarly history of the paper.
- Farm Progress: Michigan Farmer transitioning to online-only - the November 2020 announcement.
- Michigan Memories: Michigan Farmer - a mid-century Capper, Harnum, Slocum issue.
- USDA NASS: Census of Agriculture - Michigan farm census data.
- USDA NASS Quick Stats - Michigan crop and livestock statistics.
Michigan Farmer FAQ
When was Michigan Farmer founded?
In 1843.
Is Michigan Farmer still in print?
No. Farm Progress moved Michigan Farmer to online-only in November 2020.
Who publishes Michigan Farmer?
Farm Progress, part of Informa.
Who edits Michigan Farmer content?
Jennifer Kiel, Farm Progress's Northeast editor for Michigan Farmer and Ohio Farmer.
More than 180 years after its first issue, Michigan Farmer carries on online for the farmers of the Great Lakes State.