The Press: Trouble at the Farm

Into the orderly merger between Farm Journal, No. 1 U.S. farm magazine, and Country Gentleman, No. 2 (TIME, June 20), the Federal Trade Commission last week dropped a monkey wrench. In a complaint filed under the Clayton Antitrust Act, FTC charged that the merger would give Farm Journal-Country Gentleman “approximately 51% of the total net paid circulation among the six largest competitors in the farm magazine field”—though only 24% of total farm magazine circulation—thus “lessen competition” and “tend to create a monopoly.” The news surprised Farm Journal President Richard Babcock, who said that the FTC made a routine investigation but gave no indication that anything was wrong. The merger will go ahead. Said Babcock: “We are confident . . . that we have not violated the Clayton Act.”