The foreign agriculture magazine Modern Farmer unexpectedly became a fashion magazine

“Hey dear, is this a good time to talk? So here's the thing, our family has this one chicken that's really special, and it fits your magazine's positioning perfectly! I was just thinking, could we do a feature interview with it? Or maybe a big photo shoot? I'd like to ask, usually for this kind of chicken interview, how many pages would it be? What section? Which month would it come out?”

If you work in the magazine industry, one day you might get a call that could be from a brand PR rep, and the content of the call is something you know all too well, but this time the subject might be an animal, like a chicken —— this is no joke, there really is a magazine in the world that makes such a conversation possible. (Okay, I know I said that so seriously, but that first paragraph was also a bit of a rant.)

This magazine focuses on global agriculture, modern farms, food and lifestyle-related topics, introducing you to the latest composting tools while also selling vegetable seeds, herbicides or rubber tall boots and herb garden fencing on its website. You may have already heard of it, its name is Modern Farmer——

Modern Farmer debut issue cover

The world of magazines is always colorful and diverse, but no agriculture magazine has risen to fame as quickly as Modern Farmer did over the past two years.

It is the kind of magazine that tells you keeping a rooster is more chic than keeping a hundred cats at home——if you still have a small farm in the Hudson Valley, or are planning to move from the Upper East Side to the countryside, you will be courted by Modern Farmer.

Coming from the Hudson River Valley, where American farm culture thrives, what makes this agriculture magazine different is also that it does not consider itself a magazine, but rather a brand that uses a magazine to sell a lifestyle of “closeness to food.” Modern Farmer often holds animal- and plant-related parties near its own farm. It excels at writing about the lives of gardeners or farmers for people who do not have farms.

Founder and editor-in-chief Ann Marie Gardner was formerly a founding editor of Monocle and served as an editor for the travel edition of T Magazine under The New York Times. Ann, who loves travel and had originally wanted to try making a television program, ultimately decided to publish a publication.

In April 2013, Ann and her eight staff members launched the first issue, a quarterly. By the third issue, Modern Farmer had beaten major publications like Vogue and GQ, winning multiple national best magazine awards in 2014.

Even in faraway Texas, you can see people carrying LV bags secretly discussing in coffee shops a pig that was photographed “as if it lived in Manhattan.”

The animals and people appearing in this magazine always carry a bit of a hippie sensibility, full of intriguing personality. The animals reveal their gazes and emotions, as if telling you, “We are not just your food, we are also a part of you.”

Every issue of Modern Farmer has a “Which Animal” column, tirelessly introducing each issue's cover “star” with text and images. It seems that if Modern Farmer were translated as “Modern Farmer” it would be less fitting than “Fashionable Farmer.” In fact, they do indeed release some clothing and items with a strong “agricultural flavor.”

Back to the magazine itself, Modern Farmer tends toward images of animals that “look like people” photos, for example in the first issue, Modern Farmer used those calm animals captured by South African photographer Daniel Naude as he carefully navigated among the rubble of the vast arid plateau (see below), and they are breathtaking.

To date, Modern Farmer has published eight issues. The cover of the first issue was a close-up of a rooster's head, followed by close-ups of a sheep, pig, dog, cow and horse appearing quarter by quarter in bookstores, grocery stores and small supermarkets. On the official website, the latest issue you can see is the eighth. Four weeks ago, after facing a crisis of suspension, Modern Farmer republished a summer issue with a “magpie” on the cover.

Along with the new issue of Modern Farmer came a new member, Sarah Gray Miller. The addition of this former editor-in-chief of a Hearst food magazine means that the editorial team, which had only two interns left half a year ago, is beginning to rally again. This summer issue includes 8P of content on mammals, as well as “how to collect tomato seeds, build a compost bin,” “the secret of the rapid vegetable grower found in most American homes,” and more.

Ann and her editors teach you how to plant in a winter garden, tell you where to buy the best gifts for your beloved farmer, recommend a winter crop that will surprise you, and also draw your attention to industry news like “the new food police,” and even serious topics like “the stress of climate change on cows and its impact on dairy prices.”

While Ann was working on this “doomsday prophecy” issue, the editorial department was also facing the crisis of suspension. While dealing with printing bills, she teaches you how to stock a root cellar, visits the world's most fashionable Greek underground nuclear-proof bunker, covers “growing flowers in Alaska,” “the hottest business in the world is jellyfish fishing,” and “why becoming a farmer is harder than you think.”

In the summer of 2014, this issue with the dog on the cover included “the death of the farm,” “Dutch farmers raise pigs without antibiotics,” “how California entrepreneurs are trying to solve the drought,” “teaching you how to save water,” “taking you to see the world's most playful game cave,” and, “why farming is still one of the most dangerous professions in the world.”

When they won the National Magazine Award, Ann and her colleagues were busy to the point of exhaustion working on that spring issue. Continuing to talk with farmers around the world, asking farm owners about their favorite tool, or introducing a farm from a small place.

In the magazine, Ann tries to avoid words people dislike, such as agriculture, health and nutrition, and instead uses words rich in story and romance like “farm, food and life,” trying to sketch the picture of “when agriculture meets pop culture,” just like this sheep photographed for the cover.

From vegetables grown on NASA to Cornell's latest dairy innovations, to agriculture in Slovenia in Europe, Mexico and the U.S. state of Michigan, Modern Farmer is preparing to introduce the agriculture you are unfamiliar with in a brand-new tone.

“When you give a chicken the freedom it deserves, it will repay you with extra deliciousness.” The first issue carried the slogan of “new food culture.” This magazine covered the story of organic food in China, so much so that desperate humans in the city sometimes have to hire their relatives in the countryside to help grow food and raise animals. There is also a story about two British boys and mangoes in Africa, recounting experiences of injury on farms, and more.