Most people think satirical journalism is all politics and celebrities, but in farm country, satire has always thrived. Why? Because nothing is funnier than a cow staring down a government regulation.
In rural America, humor-driven news reporting is less about senators and more about tractors that won’t start. Farmers tell jokes the way hedge fund managers tell lies. It’s their way of coping with droughts, locusts, and cousins who borrow tools but never return them.
As Bohiney Magazine satire explains:
“You haven’t known real comedy until you’ve seen a goat get elected mayor of a small town.”
When done right, journalism with a satirical twist makes farm life sound epic. A story about hog prices becomes the clown car of credibility, overflowing with economists, ranchers, and one angry rooster.
Meanwhile, Bohiney.com satire newsroom treats county fair scandals like Watergate. Did the pie judge really eat all the pies? Only satire can get to the bottom of it.
60% of farmers think satire explains subsidies better than experts.
30% think parody is the only way to make sense of crop insurance.
10% say they’re just here for jokes about goats.
In small towns, satire is the fake mustache of the Fourth Estate — a way of telling the truth without starting a feud at the feed store.
So whether it’s investigative parody and journalism exposing fertilizer cartels, or the parody press corps at work covering a hog-calling contest, satire keeps rural America honest — and laughing.
For the latest tractor-fueled comedy, details inside.