World Grain - March 2022 - 28

SOSLAND PUBLISHING
years
dience. What has changed is how we deliver this information
to our readers with all the digital options we now
have to disseminate our news product. "
World Grain readers are managers, owners and operators
of major grain storage and handling concerns and
processing facilities responsible for manufacturing flour
and feed. The magazine's issues are delivered to six
continents: Africa, 10%; Asia, 15%; Oceania, 10%;
Europe, 22%; North America, 25%; and South
America, 18%.
" Morton recognized that the way grain is
stored, handled and processed is done much the
same way around the world, " Charles Sosland
said. " Milling is milling. Flour is flour. Feed
is feed. Grain merchandising is the same way.
And most of the managers in this field speak and
read English. "
Eric Schroeder
Managing Editor
Now it was up to the editors and correspondents
to bring compelling content to readers around the globe.
" We had to get out and address our talents to reporting
on grain on a worldwide basis, " Neil Sosland said. " World
Grain was a definite extension of Milling & Baking
News but also definitely a world publication. "
Fortunately, World Grain had more than
one ace in the hole. Because grain and milling
are lynchpin topics for Milling & Baking
News, World Grain has always been able to
count on strong participation within its editorial
and feature pages by key Milling & Baking
News editors.
Company president and editor of Milling &
Susan Reidy
Senior Editor
Baking News, L. Joshua Sosland, recalled writing
many articles for World Grain in the days that he served
as Milling & Baking News' markets editor. The August
2021 earthquake in Haiti brought to mind a trip he took
10 years ago a few months after an even more devastating
earthquake. He visited the country's largest
flour mill.
" It was a uniquely tragic story, " Josh Sosland
said. " The managers described how work to
clear the rubble was frequently interrupted to
listen for possible survivors. The seaside dock
that served the mill was the only operating port
facility in the country for quite a long time. "
Over the years, several editors and publishers
influenced the magazine's performance. Morton
John Reidy
Digital Media
Senior Editor
Sosland was World Grain's editor/publisher from 198293
and editor-in-chief from then until his death in 2019.
Neil Sosland was editorial director for much of the
magazine's first decade (1984-93). Tony Bush was managing
editor from 1982-84 and then moved full-time to
Agribusiness Worldwide.
Melissa Cordonier Alexander, recruited from vice president
of public affairs at the Kansas City Board of Trade,
28
headed the magazine and later managed its annual directories
(13 years, 1983-2011), exerting significant influence.
Others who held the role of editor or managing editor
included Susan Robinson (10 years, 1988-98), Stormy
Wylie (eight years, 1994-2002), Suzi Fraser Dominy (four
years, 2002-06) and Meyer Sosland (12 years, 2004-16).
Eric Schroeder, Milling & Baking News' managing editor
since 2004, added similar duties for World Grain in
2016. The longest serving, however, is World Grain's current
editor, Arvin Donley (17 years, starting 2005), nearly
matched by Susan Reidy (15 years, starting 2007) as senior
editor and, previously, editor of Biofuels Business.
The individuals who served World Grain in sales and
publishing roles have similar long tenure. Mark Cornwell
(20 years, 1994-2014), a World Grain sales rep, succeeded
Charles Sosland as publisher in 1999. When he left,
another veteran Sosland sales rep, Dan Flavin (23 years,
starting 1999), took over as publisher.
World Grain was launched as a bimonthly, but three
years later in 1985, it went to nine regular issues a year
and an international buyer's guide as its 10th. In 1985, it
was the first in its field of coverage to compile and publish
an international milling directory - 4,000 mills in
80 countries.
Regular issues rose to a full 12 monthly editions annually
in 1994. Addition of Grain & Milling Annual and
Spanish, Chinese and, most recently, Russian language
editions plus regional and international buyer's guides
brings the magazine to 18 separate issues in 2021.
It also has added coverage of feed.
" There was always a little bit of feed industry coverage
mixed in, but it wasn't until about eight years ago that
we made a concerted effort to significantly increase our
coverage of the global feed industry, " Donley explained.
Flavin explained further, " Consolidation within the industry
has given us the opportunity to expand our coverage
to include feed-related articles and readers. "
Circulation also was expanded to add producers of
grain-based biofuels.
" Basically, we're interested in any type of grain processing, "
Donley said. " I anticipate that specialty milling
is going to become a bigger part of our coverage as we
move forward because more companies are making it a
bigger part of their operation. "
Content that fits the market
" Above all, World Grain strives for diversity in its content, "
Donley said. " By that I mean we try to have important
news from every continent in each issue, as well
as meaningful content on each of the three industries we
cover. We also strive to include a nice mix of market news,
profiles on companies and individuals, new construction
projects, operations features, editorial commentary and
news from industry suppliers.
March 2022 / World Grain / World-Grain.com
http://www.World-Grain.com
World Grain - March 2022

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