Joe was born in Fulton, Missouri, and grew up on a family farm in central Missouri. He attended the University of Missouri in Columbia where he received a B.J. in Journalism in 1982. Joe began his journalism career in his hometown working for the Kingdom Daily News from 1976-1982. First, he served as its photographer and later as news editor. In 1982 he joined the staff of Missouri Ruralist as Managing Editor. In 1986, he received a Writer of the Year Award from the American Agricultural Editors' Association. Joe also won Photographer of the Year awards in 1985, 1986 and 1987. In 1989, Joe ventured south to Orlando, Florida, where he went to work for HBJ Farm Publications as Creative Director. He was later promoted to Group Managing Editor, and soon advanced to Editorial Director. In 1991, he joined The Progressive Farmer as a senior editor. In just over a year, Joe was promoted to Managing Editor of The Progressive Farmer and all of its commodity business news publications where he now oversees all planning, editing, and placement of articles in the magazines.