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Lancaster Farming celebrates
25 years of service
This week marks the 25th an
niversary of the first edition of
UNCASTER FARMING.
The first issue of the paper ap
> peared November 4, 1955 and
opened with letters of
congratulations to the paper’s first
Editor, Ernest J. Neill, from two
contemporary secretaries of
agriculture’ Pennsylvania’s Bill
Henning, and the redoubtable U.S.
Secretary of Agriculture, Ezra Taft
Benson.
Not without some pains, the first
edition came off the press.
The publication was set up to be “a
trade paper, devoted to the interests
M the farmer, to report his activities,
to help others, to keep the farmer
informed on what affects him,”
readers were told in the first issue
The first page of that historic paper
appears on page three of this an
niversary issue.
The tradition of serving farmers
has continued to the present day.
"Emphasis will be on meetings, on
sales, on crop and weather con
ditions, legislation state anc
national markets, marketing, a
clear, concise, condensed -fad
sheet," readers were promised
"There is no pledge to paint only a
rosy picture, for the policy will be tc
report the facts as they fall, to keep
the reader informed on what is a
factor in his business," The editor’s
promises have been kept to this day
► The paper was not born suddenly
Weeks of work and conferences
were held on the original idea
starting in August 1955
To do any job, men and equipment
were needed.
Octoraro Newspapers, which
included the Quarryville Sun and the
Christiana Public Ledger, published
by Alfred C. Alspach, was to be the
home of the new farming publication
Although those papers were
distributed in a farm area, LAN
CASTER FARMING was to be dif
ferent - it would be devoted solely to
agriculture
Over the months before the first
publication staff was assembled
Ernie Neill, the first editor, arrived
Robert G Campbell joined the staff
as the advertising manager and
became publisher in 1958 when he
purchased the paper Wallace Abel of
Octoraro Newspapers was Business
Manager.
Xhe Tom Godfrey advertising
agency art staff designed the “flag,”
the banner at the top of page one
which includes a typical Penn-
sylvania Dutch home, bank barn,
trees, and strip farming. It remains
unchanged to this day.
The first editions, all 16 pages of
them, were printed at the
ELIZABETHTOWN CHRONICLE
Cost 0f,3 year’s subscription to the
paper was $2, not too much less than
today’s price of $7.50 when inflation
is figured in. Charter subscribers
were allowed to sign up for a year’s
worth of issues for one dollar if they
were to‘act soon.’
There was a total of 24,000 of
those Volume 1 Number 1 issues
published. Of those, 22,000 were
mailed out to the .rural delivery
routes of Lancaster and surrounding
counties.
The news then was similar to the
news today . with some ex
ceptions. A farm in Earl Township
had sold for $Bl5 an acre Corn
support price was pegged at $1.75.
Abe Diffenbach banged the gavel on
the first All-Pennsylvania Feeder Calf
Sale champ at $43 per cwt Criticism
from packers over the use of DES as
a cattle fattening agent was dying
out, and County Agricultural Agent
Max M Smith had recently been
#APP S
25*h <
named one of the top 10 county
agents in the nation.
Smith’s co-workers included Harry
Sloat, the poultry and vegetable
agent: Victor Plastow, the youth and
DHIA agent; and Miss Ruth Kimble,
the home economist.
Several other stories of the period
appear inside this special an
niversary supplement.
In 1957 Max Smith started his
popular “Now is the Time” column
which appeared for a while on page
one before moving to the editorial
page where it still runs.
In 1958 the paper moved to offices
at 53 North Duke Street in Lan
caster. In mid-February 1962 the
paper’s offices were moved again,
this time to Lititz.
LANCASTER FARMING currently
is published at 22 E. Mam Street,
Lititz. It began to share office space
and production facilities with THE
LITITZ RECORD-EXPRESS when
that paper was purchased by Robert
G Campbell in January 1962.
Campbell currently is the owner and
publisher of both newspapers
Even into the late 1960 s LAN
CASTER FARMING contained a
S’ ” _ .
comparably anemic 16 to 20 pages
per issue. It was about that time the
paper began to run county DHIA
reports and the classified advertising
and mailbox market sections began
to grow.
Soon LANCASTER FARMING had
established its reputation among
farmers as the place to find any farm
related item which seemed im
possible to find. Increases in both
page numbers and circulation began
to snowball.
In the past decade, the paoer has
grown to be the largest farm weekly
in the nation. Its circulation has
expanded to almost 38,000 readers
and its thickness has enabled the
news staff to include a wider range of
up-to-date material of interest to
farmers than can -be found in any
other farm publication in the nation
LANCASTER FARMING has served
the Pennsylvania farm community
and surrounding states for a quarter
century one full generation.
With good fortune and continued
support from the finest farm com
munity in the world, we look forward
to serving agriculture for many
decades to come
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