Outlet profile

The Packer

U.S. agricultural trade press (produce industry; business-oriented, no strong partisan lean)

Owned byFarm Journal (Farm Journal Media), a privately held U.S. agricultural media company. It acquired The Packer from Vance Publishing in December 2015.

FundingMainly advertising and sponsorships from produce growers, shippers, and retailers. It also earns money from events, marketing services, and its Produce Market Guide (PMG) buyer-and-seller directory and platform, plus some subscriptions and paid industry products.

On the administrationmostly neutral

Background

The Packer was founded in February 1893 in Kansas City by I.N. Barrick, originally as The Kansas City Packer, aimed at the meatpacking trade. Over the following decades its coverage shifted toward fresh produce, and it became a leading weekly source of news on the produce supply chain. It was long part of Vance Publishing, which sold it and other agriculture titles to Farm Journal Media in December 2015. The Packer is now based in Lenexa, Kansas. In April 2020 Farm Journal merged its Produce Retailer brand into the Produce Market Guide platform to create PMG, which The Packer produces in print and online. Its audience is growers, packers, shippers, retailers, and foodservice distributors, so its reporting stresses market prices, supply, regulation, and trade. As a trade outlet with industry advertisers, it tends to cover policy mainly for its business impact, such as tariffs, labor and immigration enforcement, and trade agreements. It generally reports administration actions straightforwardly and quotes industry groups. Its coverage is not known for ideological advocacy, though its framing reflects industry interests. I did not find a documented record of notable controversies. I also did not review its latest coverage in depth, so the current-stance rating rests on its general trade focus.

Sources

Profile compiled 2026-10-25; refreshed when ownership, funding, or the administration changes.

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