Press Releases Doane launches AG PROFESSIONAL magazine ST. LOUIS, MO-Doane Agricultural Services Co. announced recently that it is launching AG PROFESSIONAL magazine. Beginning with its inaugural in July, the nationally circulated magazine will be sent to over 26,000 qualified retailers and distributors of crop inputs, crop consultants, Certified Crop Advisers (CCA) and professional farm managers. "AG PROFESSIONAL will combine the best of its predecessor publications AG RETAILER and CROP DECISIONS," said Doane President Lynn Henderson. "The new publication is the result of extensive research and discussions with our audiences about the opportunities they see in the future of their businesses," Henderson continued. "Clearly, we are entering a new, much more professional age in agriculture that marketers of products and services to this market must view in an entirely new light." Henderson cites the following trends, and the resulting opportunities that are shaping the new age of agriculture: The changing marketplace and special care required in the prescription, sale and service of biotech crops, The emergence of certification and accrediting requirements, The need to move from product margin-based to service fee-based revenues, Increasing government regulations, and Value-added crops and alternative uses. "AG PROFESSIONAL will be published 10x/year in the high quality format that Doane's publications are known," Henderson said. "The magazine will be published monthly from September through April with a combined Spring (May/June) issue and Summer (July/August) issue." The audiences served are critically important to marketers of crop protection products, plant nutrients, seed, machinery, facilities, site-specific equipment and other suppliers. "Now with one magazine, marketers can reach the all-important channel, those professionals who prescribe products, and the highest-end users in agriculture-the professional farm manager. The 18,000 retailers and distributors receiving the magazine represent the universe of those in the industry who sell, service, and apply crop inputs. The 2,560 independent crop consultants receiving the magazine are hired and paid a fee by ag producers to prescribe crop inputs on their farms. The 50 largest crop consulting firms, alone, provide service to over 8,700 farmers, representing 7.1 million acres of crop land. The 2,000 professional farm managers receiving the magazine are responsible for developing and implementing the crop plans developed for their absentee-owner farm owners. A recent USDA study reported that for the first time ever, over half of the U.S. farmland is now owned by non-farmers. The 75 largest management firms, alone, manage 13.5 million acres. "The editorial needs of the AG PROFESSIONAL audience are very complex," Henderson adds. "Their livelihoods depend on providing profitable crop production, marketing, and business management decisions for their clients, so they are intently interested in new products, services and successful methods of crop production and marketing." The mission of the magazine is to provide information and business solutions for this highly skilled audience of agriculturalists. Editorial content of the magazine will include: New products and services, Industry news, Agronomic updates, New business development and client retention, Personnel management, Legal/tax updates, Regulatory news, Company profiles, Market outlook, End-user relations, and many other topics of specific interest to each sector of the audience. Geographic and demographic breakouts will be available for advertisers. In addition, the magazine's database will be available to marketers for their direct marketing activities. The magazine's accompanying website, www.AgProfessional.com, will be launched on July 1, 2003. Doane is a leading provider of information and business solutions and has been serving the agricultural market for 80 years. Its other products include AGRIMARKETING and AG LENDER magazines, "Doane's Agricultural Report", AgServ Economic Forecasts, the AGRITALK radio program and "Doane's Commercial Advisor". For more information, contact: Doane Agricultural Services Co. Rick Patton Phone: 314.372.3512 e-mail:rpatton@doane.com DOANE ACQUIRES MAJOR AG RESEARCH AND ADVISORY SERVICE St. Louis, MO - May 3, 2002 - Doane Agricultural Services Co., St. Louis, MO, announced today the acquisition of the commercial market advisory service formerly part of AgResource Co., Chicago, Ill., from that company's former president Dick Loewy and its former Director of Research Dick Smetana. As a part of the acquisition, Messrs. Loewy and Smetana have joined Doane and will lead the new Commercial Market Advisor Division the company has formed with Mr. Loewy serving as its Vice President/General Manager and Mr. Smetana serving as its Senior Director of Research. The new division will expand Doane's already impressive research capability, providing weekly forecasts, special reports and consulting services for many of the Fortune 500 companies involved in all aspects of the $661 billion food industry, including food and beverage companies, flour millers, users of vegetable oils, processors, importers and exporters, and government agencies. The acquisition will allow Doane to enhance its product and service offerings by providing: A comprehensive and in-depth database of historical data covering feedgrains, oilseeds and wheat; A weekly newsletter previously published by Loewy and Smetana - renamed "Doane's Commercial Advisor" - focusing on the long-term fundamentals of markets and purchasing strategies; and Specialized consulting and custom research services. Lynn Henderson, President and CEO of Doane, stated, "Doane's new division will provide in-depth domestic and global research, analysis and advice with major emphasis on the commodity procurement function of our clients." Mr. Loewy stated, "This transaction will continue the tradition of providing high quality, independent analysis and research to our clients. Our clients especially appreciate the fact that neither we nor Doane are in the commodity brokerage or trading business, assuring that our analysis and advice are truly independent and include full disclosure of all the information that we have available for them on a timely basis. "Doane's staff of economists, led by their Chief Economist Rich Pottorff, is very highly regarded and has a combined 130 years of experience in analyzing the markets and advising clients," Mr. Loewy continued. "In addition, their Senior Economist Steve Nicholson has extensive experience and knowledge of our clients and their needs because of his prior employment in the food industry." "Providing in-depth commodity analysis, research and advice to the food and beverage industries is a natural extension of Doane's business," Mr. Henderson reported. "For the past 83 years, Doane has been the leading provider to the producer-input segment of the food chain. This is an opportunity to broaden our coverage further up the food chain to the consumer. Teaming Messrs. Loewy and Smetana with the Doane economists will provide our clients with the premier resource in the industry." Doane is a leading provider of information and business solutions to the agriculture industry. Its products include the weekly newsletter "Doane's Agricultural Report" and accompanying Web site www.eDoane.com; the trade magazines Ag Retailer, AgriMarketing, Ag Lender and Crop Decisions and their accompanying Web sites; radio programs including AGRITALK and the BOTTOMLINE REPORTS; the economic forecasting service AGSERV; computer software; and syndicated news to several of the leading ag-oriented Web sites. Doane Agricultural Services Co. was founded in 1919. For more information, contact: Doane Agricultural Services Co. Lynn Henderson President Phone: 314.372.3504 e-mail: lhenderson@doane.com Dick Loewy Vice President/General Manager Phone: 314.372.3552 e-mail: dloewy@doane.com Dick Smetana Senior Director of Research Phone: 314.372.3553 e-mail: dsmetana@doane.com