Capper's Farmer: History, Ogden Publications Profile, Content and Readers
Profile updated November 2026
Capper's Farmer is a quarterly magazine from Ogden Publications of Topeka, Kansas, that celebrates home-based country living: from-scratch cooking, sewing and woodworking, gardening and preserving, dairying and cheese making, and a healthy dose of nostalgia. Its name reaches back to Arthur Capper, the Topeka publisher and senator whose farm journals once blanketed the Plains.
| Publisher | Ogden Publications, 1503 SW 42nd St., Topeka, Kansas |
|---|---|
| Parent company | Ogden Newspapers Inc., Wheeling, West Virginia |
| Frequency | Quarterly, four issues a year |
| Circulation | About 42,500, U.S. and Canada |
| Name origin | Arthur Capper's Missouri Valley Farmer, later Capper's Farmer |
| Sister titles | Grit, Mother Earth News, Farm Collector |
| Official website | OgdenPubs.com |
History of Capper's Farmer (Ogden Publications)
Arthur Capper built one of the Midwest's largest farm and rural publishing businesses from Topeka. In 1900 he acquired a monthly agricultural journal, the Missouri Valley Farmer, which became known as Capper's Farmer, and in 1901 he added the Topeka Capital and its Weekly Capital. He built a five-story plant across from the Kansas capitol, published all his journals in Topeka with editorial offices in each state they served, and later served as governor and U.S. senator. He died on December 19, 1951, leaving part of his estate to the Capper Foundation for Crippled Children.
The modern magazine comes from Ogden Publications, launched in Topeka in August 1996 by the family-owned Ogden Newspapers of Wheeling, West Virginia, with Bryan Welch as publisher and editorial director. Ogden entered magazines by buying Capper's and Grit from Stauffer Communications and added Mother Earth News in 2001. Capper's, with its tagline From the Heartland Since 1879, became a bimonthly glossy devoted to rural living with a Midwest focus in June 2009, alongside the relaunched Grit.
Ogden now publishes the title as Capper's Farmer, listed among its brands by 2015.
Capper's Farmer (Ogden Publications) Today
Capper's Farmer is published four times a year and distributed across the United States and Canada, with circulation around 42,500. It is part of Ogden's family of rural and homesteading titles based in Topeka, alongside Grit, Mother Earth News and Farm Collector.
The magazine is aimed at readers who prefer the old ways of doing things, from leatherwork to making butter and cheese at home.
What Capper's Farmer (Ogden Publications) Is Publishing Now
From-scratch kitchen
Recipes, baking, home dairying, butter and cheese making, and preserving the harvest.
Handcrafts and skills
Sewing, quilting, woodworking, leatherwork and other traditional homestead crafts.
Garden and nostalgia
Gardening for the table, plus reader memories and nostalgia from farm and small-town life.
Capper's Farmer (Ogden Publications) Editors and Staff
People central to the Capper's Farmer name and its publisher, from historical and company sources:
- Arthur Capper - Founder of Capper Publications and the original Capper's Farmer, died 1951
- Bryan Welch - Founding publisher and editorial director of Ogden Publications (1996)
Current editors are listed in each issue's masthead; Ogden Publications is at 1503 SW 42nd St., Topeka, Kansas.
Who Reads Capper's Farmer (Ogden Publications)
Readers are rural and small-town households and city dwellers who long for country living, many of them gardeners, bakers, quilters and small-scale livestock keepers. Many sell eggs, baked goods or produce locally; the 2022 Census of Agriculture counted 116,617 U.S. farms selling $3.3 billion directly to consumers, and ATTRA's small-farm resources serve the same crowd.
Capper's Farmer readers can churn butter, darn a sock and tell you exactly what the weather did in 1977. farm.FM shares that heartland voice with farm satire about church cookbook politics, farm humor about county fair pie judging and ranch humor for the Kansas cattle folks. Its farm jokes are as old-fashioned as a crank telephone, which is a compliment.
farm.FM got there first as the nation's first satirical farm site, and it backs the writing with Tractor Tunes, country music for farmers. Here is one contributor's collection of farm satire to start with.
Capper's Farmer (Ogden Publications) Sources and Agriculture Authority Links
- Ogden Publications: Company history - Capper's, Grit and the Topeka publisher.
- University of Nebraska-Lincoln, Encyclopedia of the Great Plains: Arthur Capper - the original Capper's Farmer and Capper Publications.
- Media listing: Capper's Farmer - frequency, circulation and focus.
- ATTRA (NCAT): Census insight - small farm statistics.
- USDA NASS: 2022 Census of Agriculture - direct-to-consumer farm sales.
Capper's Farmer (Ogden Publications) FAQ
Who publishes Capper's Farmer?
Ogden Publications of Topeka, Kansas, part of the family-owned Ogden Newspapers.
How often is Capper's Farmer published?
Quarterly, four issues a year.
Where does the Capper's Farmer name come from?
Arthur Capper's Missouri Valley Farmer, acquired in 1900 and later known as Capper's Farmer.
What does Capper's Farmer cover?
Country living: from-scratch cooking, crafts, gardening and preserving, home dairying and nostalgia.
More than a century after Arthur Capper put his name on a farm journal, Capper's Farmer still speaks to readers who love the old ways of country life.