Agrian Inc. and Farm Press Publications, a member of Penton Media, Inc.’s Agricultural Group, have announced an agreement in which Farm Press will become the national sales arm of Fresno, Calif.-based Agrian’s advertising division.

Agrian, founded in 2004, enables growers, crop advisors and pesticide manufacturers to manage the mountainous volume of information now required by many states and food safety programs nationally.

The privately-held company provides the only web-based agridata tracking and reporting system that’s comprehensive, easy to use and designed for the entire agricultural-food supply chain. Agrian recently completed an agreement to provide an application reporting system for the Arizona Department of Agriculture.

“We are extremely pleased to have this opportunity to work with Agrian to help bring its services to a larger number of growers and agricultural chemical manufacturers across the United States,” said Greg Frey, vice president for Penton Media’s Agricultural Group. “Agrian is truly a state-of-the-art operation when it comes to managing agricultural data.”

“This strategic partnership joins the nation’s leading agricultural food safety and agronomy data provider with the industry leading publisher,” said Joe Middione Jr., chief operating officer for Agrian and a 30-year veteran of the agricultural chemical industry. “It presents a unique advertising opportunity for advertisers, as they can reach people in real-time, and provides relevant information to our users.”

Unlike its main competitor, Agrian provides its basic services to growers, crop advisors and manufacturers free of charge. Its revenue model is based on charging for advanced services and for advertising on its Web pages.

“Agrian helps everyone in the food supply chain meet the growing demand for data addressing food safety, traceability, organically-grown and environmental sustainability issues,” says Middione. “At the field level, the demand for crop data can seem overwhelming. Agrian makes it easy to collect vital crop data, quickly and efficiently, and distribute it to those who need it.”

The company has a team of programmers in Fresno who are “extremely adept at turning challenges into opportunities,” said Middione. “They can go from a concept or an idea to a usable tool in a matter of days.”

With its rapid growth, Agrian now has over 2,400 registered crop advisor users who make recommendations on more than 14 million acres. It also has agreements with more than 185 supporting manufacturers and more than 4,100 EPA-approved product labels in its database.

Among the tools offered by Agrian:

Agrian Advisor — Recommendation writing tool

Agrian Applicator — GIS mapping with map notes

Agrian Grower — Recordkeeping tool

Agrian Processor — Pesticide reporting/food safety and compliance

“We also offer advanced products with added features, many of which have been suggested by our users,” Middione notes. “With these products, Agrian offers the only system that connects growers, crop advisors and applicators in their own private — and secure — data-sharing network.”

For more information about Agrian, go to http://www.agrian.com. For more information about Penton, go to http://www.penton.com.

Agricultural Publications — BEEF, Corn and Soybean Digest, Delta Farm Press, Farm Industry News, Hay and Forage Grower, National Hog Farmer, Southeast Farm Press, Southwest Farm Press, Western Farm Press

About Penton Media, Inc.

As a leading, independent, business-to-business media company, Penton knows business and how to create and disseminate the vital content that moves markets. Penton serves the information needs of more than six million business professionals every month in industries ranging from Agriculture and Aviation to Electronics, Natural Products, and Information Technology. With the majority of the company’s properties ranked the #1 or #2 information source for their respective industries, Penton is where professionals turn to gain the critical insight, expert analysis, and relevant connections needed to compete and succeed. Headquartered in New York City, the privately held company is owned by MidOcean Partners and U.S. Equity Partners II, an investment fund sponsored by Wasserstein & Co., LP, and its co-investors. For additional information on the company and its businesses, visit www.penton.com.