It’s a big year here at Prairie Farmer headquarters: we’re celebrating 175 years of covering Illinois agriculture, and we’re doing it with a special issue in December. And we need your help!

Do you have a special farm memory that includes Prairie Farmer? A special column or story that touched your family? A Prairie Farmer photo or a story from a grandfather that means a lot to you? Share it with us, and we’ll do our best to include it in our special 175^th anniversary coverage in December.

Looking back

THE BEGINNING: Prairie Farmer was founded in 1841 by John Wright. In December, Prairie Farmer celebrates 175 years of providing readers agricultural news and information.

Prairie Farmer was founded in 1841 by John Wright, who wrote that during the election season of 1840, he was met with discouragement as he coursed the prairies: “The nation was in the throes of its most turbulent, thrilling presidential campaign. The Whigs, blaming the long dominant Democrats for the prolonged depression, were staging gigantic rallies, with parades, log-cabin floats, barbecues and bottomless barrels of whiskey.”

Sound familiar, even in this election cycle? While the prairie resounded with cheers for “Tippecanoe and Tyler too!” Wright pressed the idea of a newspaper for the settlers – “one that would be as non-partisan and unpolitical as the established newspapers were fiercely and personally political.”

Wright did that and more, founding a magazine that still delivers agricultural news and information, 175 years later. It’s a fascinating history and we’re excited to bring you some of its stories this December.

Share your stories at [email protected], or mail them to 3369 E. Cucumber Hollow Rd., Marietta, IL 61459.