One of the keys in Farm Equipment’s journey was the day it became a “real publication.” Up until the mid-1980s, it was largely a new products vehicle and was edited by Johnson Hill Press (JHP) workhorse Butch Horn, who was juggling 5 publications single-handedly.
A young Willie Vogt was transferred from JHP’s custom-publishing division in 1985 to turn Farm Equipment, which up to that point had been a new products tabloid, into a “real magazine.” He recalls the JHP meetings with Mike Martin, Jim Rank and the newly arrived Rich Reiff and getting the message that they wanted to “do something different and important in the market.”
In this video, Farm Equipment Editor/Publisher Mike Lessiter continues his conversation with Vogt, who shares his memories of his time with the magazine.