NEW SITES OFFER MORE THAN HEADLINES.

Publishers and advertisers have wasted no time in reaching out to farmers by adding Web sites to their arsenal of daily news and market information sources. But not all of them are taking the same approach to providing information to readers.

One of the primary ways to reach farmers with news, information and e-commerce opportunities is through what Sparks Companies' Bechdol refers to as multi-purpose Web sites. Such sites typically provide news, weather, market information, chat rooms, trading and retailing.

One such site is AgWeb.com from Farm Journal. Roger Randall, chief executive officer of the service based in King of Prussia, Pa., describes AgWeb.com as an "integral tool providing targeted community-based information, business tools and e-commerce opportunities." He says AgWeb.com delivers a variety of information products, which farmers and ranchers customize through registration for their "communities" of interest.

AgWeb.com includes such items as targeted news, market reports, closing daily commodity prices from local elevators and weather. Farmers can access marketing advisory services and an Internet-based training module on farm safety. They can also obtain customized wireless alert products from a menu of options that include market prices and weather conditions.

@griculture Online, from Successful Farming magazine, has another approach. Jim McGough, business manager, @griculture Online, Des Moines, Iowa, says, "Creating the Web site was a natural extension of our service journalism mandate."

@griculture Online provides ag news, weather and market information. The site has an international network where correspondents share perspectives about local agriculture, and the site has interactive features. "It has evolved into a `community' of people who make agriculture their life," he says.

In addition to creating a stand-alone news and information site, Farm Progress Cos., Carol Stream, Ill., developed a separate e-content division and currently provides different editorial content to two e-commerce sites, DirectAg.com and Rooster.com.

"Selling Farm Progress editorial content is a successful way to leverage our brands," says Sara Wyant, editorial vice president, Farm Progress Cos. "It allows us to use our expertise to serve our readers in several formats."

Wyant says creating daily editorial content is nothing new for Farm Progress editors because they have been contributing daily and weekly news bits for DTN and FarmDayta for more than a decade. Farm Progress provides DirectAg.com with such information as breaking news, market information and daily Washington, D.C., updates. Rooster.com receives targeted feature content, nuts-and-bolts articles and regional news.

"I encourage our editors to go into the field and think multidimensionally every time they cover a story. That means determining at an event what can be used as a news feed, for broadcast or as background for a print feature," says Wyant.

McGough says @griculture Online during the past 12 months has averaged more than 4 million page views per month. Great for business, McGough and others agree, but such volume also has its challenges.

"This endeavor takes a different level of commitment. Providing flesh content is like milking cows every hour," Wyant says. "To be successful we must change our content throughout the day, every day, including holidays and vacations, for both sites."

"We maintain a `fresh information feel' for users that come to the site multiple times per day by generating more than 100 news stories per day," says Randall. "We also have ongoing market research to ensure the site is intuitive to navigate and easy to use within the constraints of rural connectivity."

Generating a high volume of information also offers opportunity. "@griculture Online helps us keep our hand on the pulse of what is important to farmers and ranchers. Some print articles in Successful Farming enjoyed their birth as a result of online conversations," McGough says. "Our visitors have a passion for the site, and they feel like it is `their' site."

Likewise, Randall says their user feedback has been positive both qualitatively and quantitatively. "AgWeb.com is a neutral platform that producers receive very positively," he says. "Site metrics reflect positive growth in such measures as user sessions, registrations, page views and multiple-time visits."

Such statistics attract advertisers. "Internet advertising provides marketers a variety of opportunities," says Randall. "The immediacy of the medium allows marketers to obtain quick customer response and dialogue between customers and suppliers."