Ag publishing house Issues Ink sold

Online ag information company Farms.com has taken another step into Canadian print media by buying ag publishing and consulting company Issues Ink.

Winnipeg-based Issues Ink publishes Germination, Spud Smart, the Alberta Seed Guide, European Seed and Seed World.

Its Seed World Group division also includes Seed World Create, a consulting unit providing marketing and communications services to the seed industry, including virtual events for seed organizations.

The Winnipeg firm’s “niche expertise in seed and its growing network of global customers deepens and complements our global relationships,” Farms.com CEO Graham Dyer said in a release Thursday.

Financial terms of the deal weren’t disclosed. Issues Ink, which has operations in Canada, the U.S., the U.K. and Switzerland, is to continue as a “self-contained” group within the wider Farms.com group.

Issues Ink president Shawn Brook, in the same release, said the two companies “will work together leveraging our strategic strengths to continue to provide outstanding levels of service to our global clients during these dynamic times.”

Farms.com, which operates out of offices at Guelph, Ont. and Ames, Iowa, already has several print assets in the Canadian ag sector. It took over Guelph-based ag journals Better Farming and Better Pork in 2016, and Victoria-based Small Farm Canada in September this year.

Farms.com’s online assets also include sites such as Agriville.com and AgCareers.com. — Glacier FarmMedia Network