The virtual magazine for the actual Atlantic farmer

DvL Publishing Inc. of Liverpool, Nova Scotia, is taking the plunge into web-only publishing by launching a new magazine entirely online. A story in mastheadonline (sub req'd) says publisher and editor Dirk Van Loon and his business manager wife Anne, are launching AtlanticFarmer.com. But for the daunting costs of paper and postage, it might have been a print publication called Atlantic Farmer, similar to the others they have launched over the past 30 years -- Rural Delivery, Atlantic Beef, Atlantic Forestry and Horse & Pony.

Van Loon acknowledges that farmers have been slow to adopt the internet, particularly in the Maritimes, where broadband is not widely available. That's one of the reasons why the format of the site is kept fairly simple and quick to load, even for dial-up.

"We are taking this route despite the fact that as many as two thirds of farmers don’t or cannot access the Internet. Every day more people are climbing on, however. If we are talking news, that’s where it is appearing, often before it finds its way into the morning newspaper or on radio or TV."

AtlanticFarmer.com will provide a farmer-to-farmer forum that’s unique to the region. It also provides a variety of links to other sites that give provincial market reports and weather.

This isn't the first online venture for DvL. It was an early adopter of websites for each of its titles and, at one point the company ran an online buy-and-sell site for used farm machinery. In fact, the new site has an extensive classified section where, for example, you can source a "portable forge with Buffalo Blower, some tongs and about 30 lbs of coal, $100."