For decades, agri PR ran on a reasonably settled formula: build a relationship with the right editors and journalists, pitch a good story (possibly over a pint) add a good company quote and… bingo. Sit back and wait for the coverage.  

That all worked OK when the media landscape was stable. When print was still king, with some publications reaching around 100,000 farmers a week. But things have shifted considerably since. And it’s fair (and sensible) to ask whether the model our industry has relied on for so long is still fit for purpose today. 

Welcome to our peek ‘Inside the Agri Newsroom’  

Now, those print circulations across the farming press have fractured and declined. And digital readership, podcasts and short-form social content have become central to how farmers and growers consume information day-to-day. Editorial teams are smaller, busier and their resources are stretched. Audiences increasingly expect to engage wherever and whenever on a screen or through a podcast in the tractor cab. 

Staying ahead of the curve for our clients is something of an RDP trademark. Research, Develop, Position isn’t just a name, it’s how we work. A few years ago, that meant commissioning our own readership survey, going directly to farmers to understand how and where they actually consume media, so client media plans were built on evidence rather than habit. Today, it means building genuinely useful, client-centric AI tools. In other words, rather than wait for the industry to change around us, we go and find out what’s happening, then use it.  

‘Inside the Agri Newsroom’ is the latest expression of our approach. And why we sat down with editors, feature writers, podcast hosts and freelance journalists across the national weekly, specialist monthly and regional press to understand how the rules of agricultural PR are changing. To ask them, candidly, what works, what wastes their time and what they wish every PR agency understood. 

The result is a fascinating white paper built on their words, not guesswork. 

Not everything has changed  

Without undermining the value of the white paper here, let me give you a very brief outline.  What we discovered was the way a story needs to be found, shaped and delivered has changed. But what hasn’t, are the fundamentals of what makes a story matter to a farmer. To sum up one editor, every story has to justify the subscription or cover price, by reducing input costs or increasing yields.   

What also became clear is that there is no single template for a successful pitch. What lands with a national weekly won’t necessarily land with a specialist monthly, a podcast or a freelance writer. The way content is delivered matters too. Across nearly every conversation, the appetite for visual and audio assets came up unprompted. Strong photography is now a baseline expectation rather than a bonus. Short video, contributor interviews on camera, and natural conversational audio for podcast use, separates a pitch that gets used from one that gets filed and forgotten. The agencies thriving here build those assets into the story from the outset, rather than bolting them on once a journalist asks. Great imagery, video or audio content is as important as good writing.  

So, is the model broken? 

Not broken beyond repair, but certainly due a full service. The fundamentals of good agricultural PR – credibility, relevance and a genuine understanding of what helps a farmer do their job better – are all still important. What has changed is the packaging: the faces telling the story, the formats it needs to travel in, and the assets required to make it work across a fragmented, multi-platform newsroom. 

Agencies still rummaging through their old contact lists and working to the old rules will find it increasingly hard to sell their story in. Those willing to adapt will find newsrooms more receptive than ever. 

And the ultimate winner will be both clients and farmers.   

If you’d like to see our full findings, go to “Inside the Agri Newsroom” to download the white paper.