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What’s popular on the web?

Deer, electric tractors and a round barn were hot topics in 2023.

Chris Torres, Editor, American Agriculturist

December 14, 2023

2 Min Read
 A photo collage of four photos: a tractor, hay with smoke, a deer in a field and a round barn
Photos by Monarch, Willam Thiele, Chimperil59/Getty Images and Kevin Knouse

Hundreds of thousands of readers scrolled the webpages of American Agriculturist, Michigan Farmer and Ohio Farmer in 2023.

Among the most popular topics were farm business and vegetable news, as well as information on commodities and cash grain bids.

Master Farmer stories were also popular on all three websites, along with stories featured in the Barn Spotlight series. Here’s a rundown of some of the most-read online stories of 2023:

Electric tractors set to roll off Ohio plant. The massive 6.2-million-square-foot FoxConn plant in Lordstown, Ohio — once the place where General Motors made 300,000 Chevy Cruze cars a year — is the manufacturing home of Monarch’s fully electric MK-V tractor.

Fire is reminder to check your hay. A fire this summer destroyed the hoophouse that stored William Thiele’s hay bales.

John Deere unveils 1 Series round balers. The company launched its new 1 Series round balers at this year’s Farm Progress Show.

The Round Barn is a rare gem. The Round Barn in Biglerville, Pa., made of hemlock, chestnut, oak and pine, was built in 1914 and is still in use today as a farm market and events center.

Wanted: More deer hunters. Today, many hunters are not hunting for meat, but rather for sport and the antlers.

Black vultures become threat to livestock. This story ran in 2022 but still got a lot of hits this year.

Farmers lose thousands to deer feeding. For many farmers, deer are their most expensive pests.

Calculate a reasonable price for corn silage. Corn silage in the field can be valued at eight to 10 times the price of corn per grain bushel.

2 more invasives to look for in Michigan. Michigan’s invasive species watch list was recently updated to include two new species and remove another.

About the Author

Chris Torres

Editor, American Agriculturist

Chris Torres, editor of American Agriculturist, previously worked at Lancaster Farming, where he started in 2006 as a staff writer and later became regional editor. Torres is a seven-time winner of the Keystone Press Awards, handed out by the Pennsylvania Press Association, and he is a Pennsylvania State University graduate.

Torres says he wants American Agriculturist to be farmers' "go-to product, continuing the legacy and high standard (former American Agriculturist editor) John Vogel has set." Torres succeeds Vogel, who retired after 47 years with Farm Progress and its related publications.

"The news business is a challenging job," Torres says. "It makes you think outside your small box, and you have to formulate what the reader wants to see from the overall product. It's rewarding to see a nice product in the end."

Torres' family is based in Lebanon County, Pa. His wife grew up on a small farm in Berks County, Pa., where they raised corn, soybeans, feeder cattle and more. Torres and his wife are parents to three young boys.

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