RFD Celebrates 50 Years

This issue of the RFD celebrates it's 50th anniversary. 50 years of being a respected symbol of the farming community. 50 years of sharing home cooked recipes, household tips, and 4H activities. 50 years of delivering farming news to Ohio's farming families.

The RFD was founded June 12, 1958 by Harold and Eileen Detlefsen. Harold had been an employee of The Bellevue Gazette when he and his wife decided to establish the Rural Farmers Daily News. In it's early years the RFD was a small local publication with a circulation of around 6,000. The RFD had to contract with the Gazette Publishing Company for printing services and type set.

When the Detlefsens owned the paper it was truly a family affair. Their three daughters each had a role to fulfill. Their oldest, Suzi, wrote the Teen Talk column which was later passed on to their middle child, Jeanie. The youngest daughter, Julie, had a Julie's Jokes column.

The RFD is a paper fit for a local farmer. The topics range from county fairs, recreational parks, hunting, cooking, boating, farming technology, and Ohio historical landmarks. It contains tips for raising cattle and growing corn. It discusses relevant Ohio farming legislation and its impact. By reading the RFD, rural farmers have a newspaper that is made especailly for them.

When the paper was young, its charm came from being able to be personal. There used to be mulitiple columns such as With the Veteranian, Travel Talk, Personality Portrait, Looking into Your Mirror, Echoes, and The Sportsman. These columns were targeted to the direct surrounding area. Personality Portrait featured a local reader's picture and story every issue. Looking into Your Mirror was a beauty tips column. With the Veteranian gave helpful tips for keeping livestock healthy. Everything of interest in the Four-County Area.

The RFD newspaper contained an element of entertainment in it as well. There was a jokes section, poetry sent in by readers, a Dear Judy column for advice, a series of photos labeled "Interesting Area Mailboxes", and a game for readers to guess "Whose Doggie?" was in each picture. Series like these helped show readers how locally focussed the paper was. It drew in its readers to form a community.

Today, the paper looks only slightly different. Graphics have improved and some sections have changed: A classifieds section instead of the old trading post. The Farm Market Report where the RFD Ramblings used to be. Replacing the small column RFD Recipe is the much larger Kitchen Corner. There are articles on ethonal and the Ohio Farm Bureau Foundation. These changes have occured as the paper evolves with the times. Though the look of the paper has changed, the spirit remains the same. The spirit of Ohio farmers.

In 1975 the RFD was bought by the Gazette Publishing Company. At this time it was still only a small local newspaper. Tom Smith, who would become the RFD General Manager in 1978, believed the Gazette bought the RFD knowing it would become a huge success. "The Gazette bought it for what it could become," Smith said. They sure had it right. Shortly after the purchase, the Firelands edition was created. Next came the Indian Mills county edition.

Currently, there are seven editions of the RFD: Firelands, Colonal Crawford, Black Swamp, Portage River, Ottawa/Napoleon, Scioto River, and Indian Mill. An 8th edition, Morrow and Knox county, will be added this year. Current General Manager, Ronda Hess, hopes to add two more editions next year. Hess is optimistic about the newspaper's future. "There's no stopping us," she said. The RFD is the largest agricultural based newspaper in the state. This narrow focus makes it unique to readers as well as to advertisers. It began as a small local paper with a circulation of 6,000 and has grown into a 20 plus county regional paper with a circulation of over 70,000. There is no reason why the paper can't continue its spread across Ohio.

Ronda Hess took over as General Manager of the RFD in January of 2006. She had began her career as a sales rep for the paper, but she said her heart has always been in the RFD. She remembers as a young girl being excited to receive her family's issue of the RFD twice a month. "We had horses on our farm and I would look at all the ads of bridles and boots," Hess said, "We didn't have a TV and this was our entertainment." Hess understands what the RFD represents to its readers. She works hard so that each issue is as anticipated for readers today as it was for her as a young farm girl.

In October of 2007, Brown Publishing Company took over the production of the RFD. Though the transfer is still in it's adjusting phase, the differences are already being seen by readers. Coloring options are more readily available and each issue's front page is now sporting a color photograph. Being a larger company, Brown Publishing offers more resources and contacts for more in-depth and a greater variety of articles. Also, Brown has a more efficient delivery system which is useful as the paper continues to grow. "It's like having a larger family to be involved with," Hess said. After the buy, all RFD issues are printed and distributed by News Color Press in Mt. Gilead.

All layouts are sent electronically to Brown Publishing for print. Hess remembers when layout was done manually. Every article or advertisment would be glued onto large white pages by hand. "We would have to walk the giant pages over to the Gazette and hope nothing blew off," said Hess. The large layout tables still sit in the Bellevue RFD office today, their origianl use now obsolete. The RFD would never have been able to make it this far without all the support they receive.

Throughout the years, advertising has played a huge role in the success of the RFD. With such a focussed newspaper, advertisers know exacty who they are advertising to: farming families and businesses. This has helped create a huge group of loyal advertisers who want to reach the readers of the RFD.

Originally, most of the advertisments were for local shops, but as time went on, local stores were absorbed into larger companies. Now most companies are further away from most of their customers. Depending on their location, each business can advertise in as many editions of the RFD as they wish. They could want Firelands and Black Swamp, but not Portage River. It all depends on who they are trying to reach. They use the RFD to reach as far into northcentral and northwest Ohio as they want, all the while supplying funds to keep the paper running.

A lot of the advertisers of today have been around since the founding of the paper. Streacker Tractor Sales, one of the oldest and largest advertisers for the RFD, advertised in the very first issue of the RFD. Their advertisments can still be found on its pages today. Other advertisers include Spallinger Combine, Carmar Gardens, Link's Country Meats, Ned Gregg Farm Auctions, Ben Higgins Auctioneers, Morton Buildings, Kalmback Feeds, Billy Inmonn Motor Sales, Renieke Ford, Burkhart Tractor Sales, and many others who have been longtime suppporters of the RFD. Other newer advertisers, such as JD Equipment, fall right in line with the old seasoned ads. Without this advertiser support, the RFD could not exist.

Having advertisers funds the publication of the paper for the readers and the paper spreads word to the readers of the advertisers. According to Ronda Hess, "It's one of the best business relationships I've seen." Mutual dependence. This relationship evolves as time goes on and will continue to benefit both sides for years to come.

The future for the RFD looks bright. New editions are being added, spreading the paper further across Ohio and out to more readers. New advertisers are discovering the opportunities that the RFD has for them. And management is considering having electronic versions of the paper to be available online. No matter where it spreads, across countys or into cyberspace, it will be enjoyed by devoted readers.

With its current success and the signs of even more growth, it's safe to say the RFD will be read in the homes of rural Ohio for another 50 years.