HFW keeps tabs on dairy business

CNY Business Journal (1996+), Aug 29, 2003 by Kropf, Annemarie

EAST SYRACUSE - You might not think it, but the world of dairy publishing is fierce.

"For a smallish industry, there are a lot of publications," says Joel P. Hastings, president and publisher of HFW Communications, Inc. d.b.a. Dairy Business. Along with regional publications, there are also three major national magazines. "They all try to serve the market by telling stories to the same audience," he notes.

That's how Dairy Business tries to distinguish itself from the competition. "We provide regional editorials with editors in those markets," Hastings says. "While there are some similar challenges, there are a lot of local [factors] like the weather, housing, who buys the milk, etc. There is a real need for this approach."

Dairy Business publishes four monthly magazines HolsteinWorld, Western Dairy Business, Midwest Dairy Business, and Northeast Dairy Business - and one weekly newsletter, Dairy Profit Weekly. Dartmouth Printing Co. in New Hampshire prints all the publications.

The company began publishing HolsteinWorld in January 1904 and serves the breeders of purebred Holstein cattle. Ninety-five percent of the U.S. milk market is produced by Holstein cows. "That cow has become the globally predominant dairy cow," Hastings points out. Purebred breeds represent only 10 percent of the cattle market. Circulation of the monthly publication is 7,500, and subscriptions cost $25 per year.

In 1985, the company purchased a magazine called The Dairyman in California. The name was changed to Western Dairyman, and now it is known as Western Dairy Business. The publication recently began a section in Spanish, now the native language of many dairy-farm workers. The 12,000-circulation publication targets breeders with at least 500 cows.

In 1995, the company started up Midwest Dairy Business, which goes to 12 Midwestern states and targets breeders with at least 65 cows. Its circulation is 19,000. In 1998, the company began Northeast Dairy Business with strong support from professional dairy specialists at Cornell University. The "pro-dairy" specialists initially provided all the content for the now-monthly publication. Northeast's circulation is 16,000.

All the regional publications are distributed by controlled circulation, meaning they are sent to readers for free as long as they remain breeders'. They are geared toward commercial milk producers, and include topics such as herd health, pharmaceutical companies, milking equipment, and products and services for sale, such as frozen cattlesperm and embryos. Since all the magazines are monthly, the company's Web site has become an important toot in informing readers about breaking news in the industry, Hastings says.

All of the regional magazine's editorial and advertising department are located elsewhere, but all pre-press production work is done at the 1,150-square-foot, East Syracuse headquarters. The office even has 250,000 photos of Holstein cows on file in its production department. Advertisers include Pfizer Animal Health, DeLaval, and Agway Food and Nutrition.

Though the dairy business might sound like a limiting topic, Hastings says that the editors never have a lack of ideas for the different publications. "Our editors always have more material than space for all the stories," he notes.

One reason for this is that the role of dairy farmers is so varied today. "Dairymen have to be business managers, personnel managers, and agricultural engineers," Hastings says. "The owner/manager has to have a lot of information," This information includes dairy-cow nutrition, the science of raising crops and selecting seed genetics, and the issue of waste management.

Hastings' grandfather started the business in 1904, and his father and uncle took over in the '70s and '80s. Hastings joined the business in 1968 as an editor; he became president in 1982. In 1998, Hastings saw a "good business opportunity" and sold the business to Multi Ag Media, LLC, the owner of Farm MarketiD, an agricultural database marketing firm with offices in Frankfort, Ill. Hastings is a partner at Multi Ag Media, and therefore still makes decisions about Dairy Business.

"We're always looking at other publishing opportunities and are open to growth," Hastings says.