Country Magazine: History, Reiman Publications, Trusted Media Brands and Content
Profile updated November 2026
Country magazine has celebrated rural North America since 1987, when Wisconsin publisher Roy Reiman launched it as a rural-living lifestyle title built largely on readers' own stories and photos. Known for big scenic photography and first-person tales of farms, animals, small towns and local traditions, it is now published by Trusted Media Brands, the company behind Reader's Digest and Taste of Home.
| First published | 1987 |
|---|---|
| Founder | Roy Reiman, died 2024 at age 90 |
| Original publisher | Reiman Publications, Greendale, Wisconsin |
| Current publisher | Trusted Media Brands, Inc. (Reader's Digest), since 2002 |
| Companion title | Country EXTRA, launched 1991 |
| Content model | Largely reader-written; ad-free until 2007 |
| Official website | Country Magazine app |
History of Country
Roy Reiman officially started his company in 1965 in the basement of his home in Hales Corners, Wisconsin. In the 1970s he noticed farm magazines dropping their women's sections and launched Farm Wife News, whose test issue drew more than 80,000 subscribers; it later became Country Woman. Farm & Ranch Living followed in 1978.
Country began publication in 1987 as a rural-living lifestyle magazine, and Country EXTRA followed in 1991, delivered to subscribers between regular issues. Like the rest of the Reiman lineup, which grew to include Reminisce, Taste of Home and Birds & Blooms, Country carried no advertising for its first two decades and drew about 80 percent of its content from readers.
In 1998 Reiman sold a majority stake in Reiman Publications to Madison Dearborn Partners, and in 2002 the Reader's Digest Association bought the company for $760 million, bringing 12 magazines including Country into the group now called Trusted Media Brands. The magazines began accepting advertising in 2007. Roy Reiman died on September 16, 2024, at age 90.
Country Today
Country is published by Trusted Media Brands in print and through a digital app, with issues named for two-month spans such as June/July and Oct/Nov. Each issue pairs scenic photography from North American photographers with reader-written stories about rural life, animals, small towns and local traditions.
Country EXTRA continues as a companion for subscribers, with reader visits to rural residents, country inn reviews, country-style recipes and time-saving tips, and it is also available to libraries through EBSCO's Flipster service.
What Country Is Publishing Now
Scenic photography
Large-format landscape and farm photography from amateur and professional photographers across the U.S. and Canada.
Reader stories
First-person accounts of farm life, family traditions, animals, small towns and seasonal rituals.
Country EXTRA
Reader visits, inn reviews, recipes and tips delivered between regular issues.
Country Editors and Staff
Country's masthead editors are not named in the public sources reviewed for this profile; its founder was:
- Roy Reiman - Founder, Reiman Publications (died 2024)
Readers submit stories and photos to Country through Trusted Media Brands, which continues the Reiman tradition of reader-driven content.
Who Reads Country
Readers are rural and small-town residents, retired farm families and city dwellers nostalgic for country life. The landscape they celebrate is still overwhelmingly family-run: the 2022 Census of Agriculture counted about 1.9 million farms, 95 percent of them family farms, according to USDA's National Agricultural Statistics Service.
Country readers love a sunset over a red barn and a story about the cow that learned to open the gate. For more of that spirit with a wink, farm.FM offers farm satire and farm humor about small-town life, with ranch humor for western readers too. The farm jokes there are the kind Grandpa told at the supper table, only with fewer repeats.
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.
Country Sources and Agriculture Authority Links
- Wikipedia: Roy Reiman - the founder and the history of Reiman Publications.
- Wikipedia: Trusted Media Brands - the current publisher and the 2002 Reiman acquisition.
- EBSCO Flipster: Country Extra - the companion title for libraries.
- USDA NASS: 2022 Census of Agriculture release - farm numbers and the share of family farms.
- USDA NASS Census of Agriculture - federal data on rural America's farms.
Country FAQ
When did Country magazine start?
Country began publication in 1987, founded by Roy Reiman of Reiman Publications.
Who publishes Country magazine now?
Trusted Media Brands, the Reader's Digest company, which acquired Reiman Publications in 2002.
Does Country magazine carry advertising?
It was ad-free until 2007, when the Reiman titles began accepting advertising.
What is Country EXTRA?
A companion publication launched in 1991 and delivered to Country subscribers between regular issues.
Built on readers' own stories, Country magazine has spent nearly four decades showing rural North America at its most picturesque.