>> CATHY: FARMERS HAVE BEEN IN THE NEWS LATELY WITH TRADE AND TARIFFS.

ONE MINNESOTA PUBLICATION FOCUSES ON FARMING ON EVERY PAGE.

"THE LAND" NEWSPAPER HAS BEEN PUBLISHING FOR NEARLY FIVE DECADES.

REPORTER KAOMI LEE WENT TO SOUTHERN MINNESOTA TO FIND OUT MORE.

>> Kaomi: 71-YEAR-OLD FARMER GEORGE LIVES NEAR ST.

JAMES.

ONE OF HIS FAVORITE PAC TIMES IS READING THE LAND.

>> IT HELPS FARMERS KEEP UP WITH WHAT'S GOING ON, ANYTHING THAT'S NEW.

>> Kaomi: THE SAME YEAR THE LAND ALSO GOT ITS START.

IT IS PUBLISHED BY THE FREE PRESS MEDIA IN MANKATO.

ALL 24 PAGES FOCUS ON AGRICULTURAL LIFE, FROM CROP RESEARCH AND HUMAN INTEREST STORIES TO RECIPES.

>> IF YOU READ IT, AND THEN YOU SEE A NEIGHBOR, YOU SAY, DID YOU SEE THAT "THE LAND."

>> "THE LAND" REPRESENTS COMMUNITY.

>> I'VE DEFINITELY HAD CONVERSATIONS WITH READERS WHO REMEMBER OR PEOPLE THAT I'VE INTERVIEWED AND THEY'VE REMEMBERED SEEING "THE LAND" ON THEIR KITCHEN TABLE GROWING UP.

>> SHE SAYS SHE LOOKS FOR STORIES ABOUT WHAT'S GOING ON IN FARMING AND POSITIVE HUMAN INTEREST STORIES.

>> IN THIS ISSUE, WE HAVE A FEATURE ABOUT FOUR FARMERS FROM IOWA WHO CREATED AG SHARE, SO THAT THEY COULD KIND OF COMPETE ON A BIGGER SCALE.

THEY SHARED EQUIPMENT.

HEARING THEIR STORY, I HOPE, WILL GIVE MAYBE MORE SMALLER SCALE FARMERS AN OPTION OF MAYBE THERE IS A WAY THAT THEY CAN INVEST IN BIGGER EQUIPMENT FOR THEIR OPERATION IF THEY WORK WITH OTHERS IN THEIR COMMUNITY.

>> Kaomi: COLE SAYS THERE ARE ALSO THOSE CHANCE MEETINGS WITH EVERYDAY PEOPLE.

ONE OF HER MOST MEMORABLE STORIES CAME FROM RIDING IN A COMBINE WITH A 90 YEAR OLD FARMER LAST YEAR.

>> HE HAD BEEN FARMING HIS LAND HIS WHOLE LIFE.

HE SHARED STORIES ABOUT MEETING HIS WIFE, GOING DANCING, RAISING A FAMILY.

AND YOU COULD JUST FEEL HOW IMPORTANT FARMING WAS TO HIM.

>> Kaomi: THE LAND RUNS WITH A STAFF OF FOUR AND MANY CONTRIBUTORS.

OFFICE MANAGER DEB PETERSON IS THE DPLIEW THAT MAKES SURE EVERYTHING STAYS ON SCHEDULE.

>> IT KIND OF RUNS ITSELF AT THIS POINT.

IT'S JUST, WE SED TO GO OUT EVERY WEEK AND WE GO HALF OF OUR PUBLICATION WOULD GO ORTH AND HALF WOULD GO SOUTH.

BUT NOW WE COMBINED THEM A COUPLE YEARS AGO.

SO NOW WE'RE A BIWEEKLY PUBLICATION.

SO THAT'S KIND OF EASED UP THE BURDEN A LITTLE BIT.

>> Kaomi: THE LAND IS COMING UP ON ITS 50TH YEAR, BUT YOU MIGHT NOT HAVE EVER HEARD ABOUT IT, THAT IS UNLESS YOU GREW UP AROUND A FARM.

IT HAS A CIRCULATION OF 15,000.

THE PAPER GOES OUT FOR FREE TO HOME DELIVERY SUBSCRIBERS OF THE MANKATO FREE PRESS.

ANOTHER 8,000 COPIES ARE MAILED OUT TO PEOPLE WHO SUBSCRIBE DIRECTLY.

>> IT'S A PUBLICATION WHERE WE DON'T ACTUALLY CHARGE A SUBSCRIPTION RATE FOR IT.

IF YOU LIKE THIS PUBLICATION, SEND US THE MONEY.

>> Kaomi: THE SUGGESTED DONATION IS $59 A YEAR, BUT THEY'LL SEND IT ANYWHERE IN MINNESOTA REGARDLESS.

IT SURVIVES WITH $100,000 IN ANNUAL VOLUNTARY SUBSCRIPTIONS AND ADVERTISING.

AS MORE NEWSPAPERS EMPHASIZE DIGITAL "THE LAND" IS AN OUTLIER.

ITS READERS PREFER PRINTED COPIES.

READERS ARE OLDER, IT'S BECOME A TRUSTED SOURCE OF INFORMATION IN FARM COUNTRY.

>> WE DON'T SORT OF HIDE AWAY FROM THE NEWS OF HAT'S HAPPENING IN, YOU KNOW, IN THE AGRICULTURAL INDUSTRY.

IF THINGS ARE TOUGH OUT THERE, WE'RE GOING TO WRITE ABOUT THAT.

>> Kaomi: LIKE THIS EDITORIAL BY COLE.

SHE RECENTLY WROTE ABOUT TARIFFS AND MARKET PRICES.

>> WE SAW THAT WHEN THERE WAS A TRADE DEAL, SOYBEAN PRICES DID GO UP.

THERE WAS A LOT OF UNCERTAINTY FOR A WHILE FOR FARMERS.

AND I THINK THOSE CONVERSATIONS JUST, YOU KNOW, MADE ME THINK ABOUT THE VALUE, HOW WE PLACE OUR VALUES AND SOMETIMES THOSE VALUES ARE OUT OF OUR CONTROL.

>> HEAR ABOUT FARMERS WHEN THERE'S A CRISIS.

AND AGRICULTURAL MARKETS ARE ALWAYS UP AND DOWN.

THE GREAT THING ABOUT "THE LAND" IS THEY DON'T FOCUS ON THAT.

THEY FOCUS ON POSITIVES.

YES, THEY FOCUS ON THINGS GOING ON IN THE MARKETS, BUT THERE'S SO MANY OTHER THINGS.

>> Kaomi: KEN HAS BEEN A COLUMNIST SINCE 1989.

HE SAYS THE LAND HAS SURVIVED WHERE OTHER MINNESOTA AG PUB APPLY OCCASIONS HAVE FOLDED OR HAVE BECOME MORE NATIONAL IN FOCUS.

>> IN HIS ERA HAT WE'RE IN WITH A LOT OF INFORMATION THROUGH SOCIAL MEDIA AND THE INTERNET AND NOW A.I.-GENERATED INFORMATION, THINK "THE LAND" STILL REPRESENTS KIND OF A TRUSTED SOURCE OF INFORMATION THAT PEOPLE KNOW WHAT THE SOURCES ARE.

>> ALL RIGHT.

SO THIS IS WHERE THE OFFICE WAS BEFORE.

AND THESE ARE A LOT OF OUR NEWSPAPER ARCHIVES.

>> Kaomi: AN ARCHIVE OF THE NEWSPAPER IS KEPT UPSTAIRS.

EDITOR COLE SHOWS US OLDER -EDITIONS FROM THE '70s AND '80s.

>> SO HERE'S '82.

>> Kaomi: ITS COMMUNITY THROUGH YEARS, A FIFTH EDITION OF THE POPULAR COOK BOOK IS OUT, ALONG WITH THE NOSTALGIC CORN CASSEROLE, THERE'S ALWAYS SOMETHING NEW.

THAT IS THE RECIPE FOR "THE LAND'S" SUCCESS.

>> I LOVE THE IDEA OF SHIFTING WITH THE TIMES AND MAKING SURE WE ARE GIVING RELEVANT ARTICLES BUT AS FAR AS CHANGING THE STYLE OR ANYTHING, IT'S IMPORTANT FOR ME TO DO A REALLY GOOD JOB AND