Magazines we like: Small Farm Canada

The farm press generally has shrunk to a shadow of what it was even 40 years ago, reflective of the decline of the number of farms and the number of people who live off the land. Where, a generation ago, the majority of people lived on farms or made a living that was somehow connected to agriculture, now the majority of people are urban and live in three large agglomerations: greater Toronto, greater Montreal and the B. C. lower mainland.

So it might seem amazing that, in this environment, a magazine like Small Farm Canada would start, let alone prosper, but there you are. Like all niche titles, it has identified and is serving a largely untapped market segment which includes people so-called "lifestyle farms" where more than half the family's income comes from off-farm activity. Such lifestyle farmers have an average income of $96,000 a year, according to Statistics Canada. There is also a subset of people who, after a lifetime of urban work, retire to farms, and people who, for many reasons, are interested in organic farming and growing their own food and families in a sustainable way.

The magazine, published by Southern Tip Publishing Inc. out of Metchosin, BC and with a circulation of about 15,000 (and a claimed readership of about 50,000) is national in more ways than one. We've mentioned before the kinds of "virtual" operations that many smaller magazines can be, with the help of the internet. In Small Farm Canada's case, it is edited in B.C., art-directed in Newfoundland and printed in Calgary. Here's what the magazine says about its audience, drawn from a recent readership survey:

Overall, 44% of respondents reported themselves to be conventional farmers. Some 7% of readers responded that their farms are certified organic. The non-certified organic category almost invariably came with an explanation, “transitioning to organic”, “use some organic practices”, “like to be natural”. Only 8% of respondents indicated that they had a hobby farm. The “other” category is a composite of lots of smaller categories (tree farm, apiary, diversified livestock, acreage etc.) There is some variation in types of farms among provinces. For example, respondents from Alberta have a higher percentage of conventional (66%) and organic certified (9%) farms than other provinces, and comparatively fewer hobby farms or farms transitioning to organic. SFC readers from Ontario have a larger sector of non-certified organic/using organic practices and hobby farms than Alberta.

Each issue covers big issues, profiles and critical views of farm issues to small matters (how to carry a lemon meringue pie without messing it up; how to know if a bearing is going on your tractor). Editor Tom Henry writes a column each issue about some aspect of the farm life, whether it is why chickens escape to the fact that the "local food" movement is long on theoreticians and short on people who are willing to do the weeding.

One year (6 issues) is $21.95.