Barn Talk

Hosted by Tork and Sawyer Whisler

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Oct 2026

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Barn Talk is a weekly podcast, hosted by father-son duo Sawyer & Tork Whisler. We exist to share content that educates, inspires, and makes viewers laugh out loud. From the Ag business world to investing, current events, entrepreneurship and much, much more, our vision is to promote agriculture in a positive light, while relating with everyday Americans in discussing kitchen table topics.

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October 26, 20261 hr 32 min

His Grandpa’s Jerky Recipe Made Dale Earnhardt Jr. A Partner

Dale Earnhardt Jr. liked Christian Koch's grandpa's no-sugar beef jerky so much he bought into the company. Grandpa never wanted to sell it, so Christian found the recipe in his mom's family cookbook and built the business himself, from a 12 tray dehydrator to 210 convenience stores. Christian chased music for 13 or 14 years before it ended. Getting USDA approved took 17 months, and his first food safety plan was a PowerPoint. At his first farmers market he brought 50 bags that took 3 weeks to make and sold out, and 9 out of 10 people who tried it bought it. When Dale talked it up on his podcast, close to 1,000 orders hit a guy who could make 25 bags a week. It took 3 or 4 months to fill them, and Christian called almost every customer himself. Then we got into what farm kids hear all the time: you had a head start. His dad, his brother and Dale are all partners, and Christian doesn't dodge it. He says the help is real and the goal is to turn around and help the next person start a business. We also got into why there's no work-life balance when you're building something, and what he learned from a dad who left Hollywood and never worked for anyone again. Also in this one: the new barn studio, why big jerky brands load the bag with sugar, the 90s comedy act with the same name and the call from their manager, pitching Dale when he barely looked at the numbers, a co-packer in Chattanooga, and new flavors with Grandpa this Thanksgiving. "Don't be afraid to fail. You have to put yourself out there. If you don't, you'll never see that one win." What family recipe in your house should be for sale? Drop it in the comments and we read them. JOIN THE BARN TALK NEWSLETTER & GET LIVE EVENT ACCESS: We're on a mission to get 10,000 subscribers, and once we do, we're hosting a live event at the barn! Sign up to get exclusive access to tickets and details.👇🏻 Help us get there: https://www.joinbarntalk.com TIMESTAMPS: 00:00 New barn studio, couch and all 04:16 Catch us in Kearney and Las Vegas 05:57 Grandpa's jerky came in the mail 07:50 No sugar, and why big brands add it 09:48 How jerky took over the gas station 11:11 Fake meat blew up in their face 12:53 The day music ended and jerky started 16:20 Bad at being an employee 17:09 Jim's Jerky in Mom's cookbook 18:15 Same name as the prank call guys 21:41 Chasing music from age 12 25:30 Nashville at 19, back in 2017 27:24 What music taught him about business 28:48 The USDA nightmare begins 32:58 His food safety plan was a PowerPoint 34:20 17 months of rent and zero sales 36:05 Working 8 farmers markets a week 37:50 9 out of 10 who tried it bought it 38:54 No blueprint, so pick up the phone 41:31 25 bags a week on a 12 tray dehydrator 42:47 How the jerky got to Dale Jr 43:50 1,000 orders he couldn't fill 46:15 Pitching Dale with no numbers 48:59 How Blake knew Dale from NASCAR 49:59 Telling Grandpa about Dale Jr 51:43 Scaling 3 pounds of beef to 3,000 53:39 Learning to manage people 55:30 Is it easier to start a business now? 58:57 Four partners, one day-to-day guy 1:00:29 You had a head start 1:04:28 Makers and takers 1:07:00 No balance when you're building 1:10:11 210 Refuel stores and a co-packer 1:12:15 New flavors with Grandpa 1:14:01 Dale's late model and Amazon Prime 1:18:43 What he's building it for 1:19:47 Advice to 19 year old Christian 1:20:34 What Dad learned leaving Hollywood 1:24:09 Tip of the Hat 1:25:17 Where to find Jerky Boys SUBSCRIBE TO THE PODCAST ➱ https://bit.ly/3a7r3nR SUBSCRIBE TO THIS'LL DO FARM ➱ https://bit.ly/2X8g45c LISTEN ON: SPOTIFY ➱ https://open.spotify.com/show/3icVr4KWq4eUDl7Oy60YMY APPLE ➱ https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/barn-talk/id1574395049 FOLLOW BEHIND THE SCENES 👇🏻 ● Barn Talk Instagram ➱ https://www.instagram.com/barntalkshow ● Barn Talk TikTok ➱ https://bit.ly/3qciekS ● Sawyer's Instagram ➱ https://bit.ly/3BtX0n4 ● Tork's Instagram ➱ https://bit.ly/3LGZJxS ● Sawyer's X ➱ https://x.com/SawyerWhisler ● Tork's X ➱ https://x.com/TorkWhisler ------------------------------- ⚠NO FINANCIAL ADVICE / DISCLAIMER⚠ Barn Talk is for educational, informational, and entertainment purposes only, with no warranty of accuracy or completeness. Nothing here is financial, investment, or trading advice, and none of it is specific to you. Do your own due diligence and consult a licensed professional before making any financial decision. Trading stocks, crypto, and NFTs carries real risk and is not suitable for everyone. You use this information at your own risk. #EP223 Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

October 19, 20262 hr 2 min

How A Craigslist Ad Turned Into A 350,000 Subscriber Business

Neil Koch walked away from a good job 4 miles from his house at almost 50 to go full time on YouTube. His channel, Dig Drive DIY, sits at 348,000 subscribers, and it started with videos of a backhoe he was trying to sell on Craigslist. He drove 6 hours from northeast Indiana to tell us the whole story. DIG DRIVE DIY ➱ https://www.youtube.com/@digdrivediy Neil was a farmhand at 14 on a culti-mulcher, then worked weekends on a 700 sow farrow to feeder operation. After that came three 10 year careers. He ran heavy equipment out of high school, spent about 10 years fitting some of the first hydraulic auto steer systems on tractors, then 10 more as an agronomist.  Years later, a clip of his buddy Jack side loading a dozer racked up 7 or 8 million views and had him monetized before he ever made a video on purpose. He has now posted 250 or 260 Sunday videos in a row without missing one. Then we got into why people actually watch. Neil says it’s a look at rural, blue collar, middle class life that mainstream TV quit showing, and foreign viewers tell him all the time they’re glad this America still exists. We also got into the hard parts: young people with no house to get started in, farmhouses getting leveled when ground sells, and 10 bad comments that outweigh 1,000 good ones. Also in this one: the backyard swimming pond that hit trending, why he heats with firewood when he has propane, small towns getting coffee shops and butcher shops back, a professor pitching Google in 1999, what he tells his 15 year old daughters, and running a John Deere scraper again after 20 years. “I finally decided I’m going to be an idiot if I don’t. Like, what am I waiting on?” What’s the project you’d buy a backhoe for? Drop it in the comments and we read them. JOIN THE BARN TALK NEWSLETTER & GET LIVE EVENT ACCESS: We’re on a mission to get 10,000 subscribers, and once we do, we’re hosting a live event at the barn! Sign up to get exclusive access to tickets and details.👇🏻 Help us get there: https://www.joinbarntalk.com THIS EPISODE IS BROUGHT TO YOU BY: ● Iowa Corn ➱ https://www.iowacorn.org TIMESTAMPS: 00:00 Hog sheds gone after 138 haul truck loads 03:44 Remembering Jonesy, trucker extraordinaire 05:16 Who Neil Koch is and why he drove 6 hours 08:09 Farmhand at 14 on a culti-mulcher 10:07 Weekends on a 700 sow farrow to feeder farm 11:45 No Google, no YouTube, just figure it out 14:07 Why kids are afraid to drive now 16:19 Dirt work in summer, hauling milk in winter 20:29 FFA kid, drummer, no idea what was next 22:38 Iowa Corn and the Farm Bill fight 23:45 A teaching degree he never used 28:33 Vinyl graphics and the first websites 31:18 Fitting the first hydraulic auto steer 34:00 Learning agronomy from scratch 37:35 She called him out of the blue 40:23 The kid who always had a camcorder 42:45 A phone video with 7 or 8 million views 44:21 Monetized before he ever tried 47:51 Why vinyl and VHS are cool again 55:24 Everybody ate fried bologna 59:05 348,000 subscribers and going full time 1:02:49 Buying a bulldozer for the channel 1:05:39 The backyard pond that hit trending 1:08:24 Walking away at almost 50 to bet on himself 1:11:24 Why people say this America still exists 1:17:29 No houses left for kids to start in 1:21:23 Small towns are getting their shops back 1:23:39 Who’s left to wire an outlet? 1:28:48 I live in New York but want a dump truck 1:33:52 Why he still heats with firewood 1:36:08 10 bad comments beat 1,000 good ones 1:37:36 He hit 100,000 and found no finish line 1:42:47 Ambition is a blessing and a curse 1:48:22 What he’s teaching his daughters 1:51:13 Advice to 20 year old Neil 1:54:24 Tip of the Hat   SUBSCRIBE TO THE PODCAST ➱ https://bit.ly/3a7r3nR SUBSCRIBE TO THIS’LL DO FARM ➱ https://bit.ly/2X8g45c LISTEN ON: SPOTIFY ➱ https://open.spotify.com/show/3icVr4KWq4eUDl7Oy60YMY APPLE ➱ https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/barn-talk/id1574395049 FOLLOW BEHIND THE SCENES 👇🏻 ● Barn Talk Instagram ➱ https://www.instagram.com/barntalkshow ● Barn Talk TikTok ➱ https://bit.ly/3qciekS ● Sawyer’s Instagram ➱ https://bit.ly/3BtX0n4 ● Tork’s Instagram ➱ https://bit.ly/3LGZJxS ● Sawyer’s X ➱ https://x.com/SawyerWhisler ● Tork’s X ➱ https://x.com/TorkWhisler ⚠NO FINANCIAL ADVICE / DISCLAIMER⚠ Barn Talk is for educational, informational, and entertainment purposes only, with no warranty of accuracy or completeness. Nothing here is financial, investment, or trading advice, and none of it is specific to you. Do your own due diligence and consult a licensed professional before making any financial decision. Trading stocks, crypto, and NFTs carries real risk and is not suitable for everyone. You use this information at your own risk. #IowaCorn  #EP222 Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

October 11, 20261 hr 28 min

Would You Sell Your Farm For $26 Million?

Corn is over $5 and beans are near $13, and a lot of farmers still won't make any more money than they did at $4.50 corn. Every time the grain price goes up, something takes it back, and the front half of this Hot Topics episode is about what's doing the taking. Diesel is $6.13 in Iowa. One Illinois farmer spent $1,000 filling a single semi. Anhydrous is close to $1,000 a ton, up 25% from a year ago. Refineries over there are putting out about 60% of the diesel they did before the Iran war, so more oil doesn't mean cheaper diesel. The White House is letting dyed diesel run on the road for the rest of the year with the federal tax deferred, about $640 million of relief by USDA's count. Deferred, not forgiven. Then the bigger point. Farming spent decades specializing, and that bill is coming due. We don't think 10,000 acres is big enough to win on scale anymore, and at that size you're a CEO, not a farmer. For everybody else the answer is diversity: livestock back on the ground, manure in place of high priced nitrogen, shared equipment. And China cut tariffs on corn, wheat, meat and dairy but kept 10% on soybeans, so bean marketing is about politics now, with Brazil getting better every year. Also in this one: 17,000 fewer cattle through the packing plants in one week, why immigration reform keeps dying with no middle left in politics, a Kentucky family turning down $26 million for 900 acres, 70 to 80 trucks showing up to pull a sick neighbor's beets, and a 2,598 pound pumpkin. Maybe that's why we don't just grow corn and soybeans on every acre. Maybe we need to diversify. What's taking the $5 back on your operation this fall? Drop it in the comments and we read them. JOIN THE BARN TALK NEWSLETTER & GET LIVE EVENT ACCESS: We're on a mission to get 10,000 subscribers, and once we do, we're hosting a live event at the barn! Sign up to get exclusive access to tickets and details.👇🏻 Help us get there: https://www.joinbarntalk.com THIS EPISODE IS BROUGHT TO YOU BY: ● Conterra Ag ➱ https://www.conterraag.com ● AcreEdge Soil NXT ➱ https://www.acreedge.com TIMESTAMPS: 00:00 Hot Topics before the pigs get chored 02:35 Why Tork came in fiery this morning 05:25 Tearing out Grandpa's 1970s hog barns 08:16 Market Update presented by Conterra Ag 10:30 $5 corn that pays no better than $4.50 11:28 The red diesel order and $640 million 14:46 Presented by AcreEdge Soil NXT 15:25 Diesel hauls everything you buy 18:43 We've hit the end of specialization 19:27 10,000 acres doesn't catch it anymore 21:43 Put livestock back on the land 23:02 No money behind you? Don't start in grain 23:34 The answer to high priced nitrogen 26:04 Red diesel vs green diesel, explained 29:31 Deferred, not forgiven. Who pays? 31:31 17,000 fewer cattle processed in a week 33:54 Why ag needs immigration reform 36:32 The death of the middle in politics 41:56 Packing plants were always the starter job 44:50 The post World War II order is ending 51:43 Why we want Peter Zeihan at the barn 52:55 China cut tariffs on everything but beans 54:05 Bean marketing is about politics now 57:27 Why Brazil worries every young farmer 1:00:20 100 year old locks and dams 1:02:44 Data centers are coming for farmland 1:04:40 $26 million for 900 acres, and they said no 1:08:59 Why Tork says they get built anyway 1:10:39 Great Grandpa would call me an idiot 1:15:56 Take the principles, not the assets 1:16:34 The good: College GameDay in Iowa City 1:17:52 70 to 80 trucks show up for Bill Cotton 1:18:41 The 2,598 pound pumpkin 1:23:09 Big plans for 2027 SUBSCRIBE TO THE PODCAST ➱ https://bit.ly/3a7r3nR SUBSCRIBE TO THIS'LL DO FARM ➱ https://bit.ly/2X8g45c LISTEN ON: SPOTIFY ➱ https://open.spotify.com/show/3icVr4KWq4eUDl7Oy60YMY APPLE ➱ https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/barn-talk/id1574395049 FOLLOW BEHIND THE SCENES 👇🏻 ● Barn Talk Instagram ➱ https://www.instagram.com/barntalkshow ● Barn Talk TikTok ➱ https://bit.ly/3qciekS ● Sawyer's Instagram ➱ https://bit.ly/3BtX0n4 ● Tork's Instagram ➱ https://bit.ly/3LGZJxS ● Sawyer's X ➱ https://x.com/SawyerWhisler ● Tork's X ➱ https://x.com/TorkWhisler ------------------------------- ⚠NO FINANCIAL ADVICE / DISCLAIMER⚠ Barn Talk is for educational, informational, and entertainment purposes only, with no warranty of accuracy or completeness. Nothing here is financial, investment, or trading advice, and none of it is specific to you. Do your own due diligence and consult a licensed professional before making any financial decision. Trading stocks, crypto, and NFTs carries real risk and is not suitable for everyone. You use this information at your own risk. #ConterraAg #Landus #EP221 Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

October 5, 20262 hr 13 min

Brazil Is Coming For American Corn

You can't out-yield your way to profit anymore, so Will Cannon is chasing margin with 2 or 3 bucks an acre of homemade compost instead of $40 an acre of bugs in a jug. Two Iowa corn farmers came to the barn this week: Will, an Iowa Corn Growers director from near Prairie City, and Paul Gieselman, president of the Iowa Corn Promotion Board, from near Morning Sun. Will has run cover crops on 100 percent of his acres for about 18 years. He has seen 0 to 10 bushels back from his compost, and 50 on one tough spot. Paul got out of hogs in 1998, farmed on his dad's money for 10 years, and went out on his own in 2008. Today he runs just under 1,000 acres and 25 British White Park cows. And Japan is now the number 2 buyer of American corn, behind only Mexico. Then Paul said the hard part out loud. He has watched a lot of his equity drain away, and if either of his boys came home today there would not be room for them. He doesn't figure he'll be the one doing the consolidating. He figures he's the one getting consolidated. Will sees the other side: the biggest handoff of farm assets in peacetime history, and real opportunity 5 to 7 years out for young guys who stay patient. Also in this one: the wettest fall either of them can remember, why cattle belong back on row crop ground, the USDA fertilizer hearing in Ogden, E15 in NASCAR, Brazil's 90 million acres it hasn't farmed yet, and what the checkoff actually pays for. Put it on just enough acres that it's a little painful, so you pay attention to it, but not so many it hurts you long term. What are you trying on 40 or 80 acres next year? Drop it in the comments and we read them. JOIN THE BARN TALK NEWSLETTER & GET LIVE EVENT ACCESS: We're on a mission to get 10,000 subscribers, and once we do, we're hosting a live event at the barn! Sign up to get exclusive access to tickets and details.👇🏻 Help us get there: https://www.joinbarntalk.com THIS EPISODE IS BROUGHT TO YOU BY: ● Iowa Corn ➱ https://www.iowacorn.org TIMESTAMPS: 00:00 Two guests and a harvest stuck in the rain 05:02 Out of hogs in 1998, farming on Dad's money 06:19 2008, buying the gear and going out alone 10:53 Why he runs British White Park cattle 13:18 A teacher's son goes full time farming 14:25 The bachelor farmer who handed over his acres 19:12 See us at Gateway Farm Expo and HayCon 20:58 A homemade strip-till bar for a couple grand 24:08 No paid-off land, but no ghosts either 27:01 Try it on enough acres that it hurts a little 29:34 You can't out-yield your way to profit 34:01 Do cover crops actually pay? 39:34 The resident hippie's homemade compost tea 41:57 $3 an acre vs $40 of bugs in a jug 45:25 Putting cattle back on row crop ground 48:23 $4.75 a day for hay out west vs stalks here 53:53 Stuck in the first 2 acres of harvest 58:22 How two farmers ended up on the Corn boards 1:03:13 Checkoff vs Corn Growers, who does what 1:05:53 Ethanol was Granddad's, bio-based is yours 1:08:20 Did the ethanol boom encourage bad habits? 1:11:10 Japan is now our number 2 corn buyer 1:14:43 Why buyers in Asia want to meet the farmer 1:22:12 NASCAR, E15, and the Cy-Hawk game 1:27:47 Mexico's GMO fight began in his machine shed 1:34:26 Most farmers just haven't been asked 1:36:24 Corn Growers is like going to church 1:40:28 Equity draining and no room for the kids 1:44:59 Fertilizer, the DOJ, and phosphate duties 1:48:13 Biggest farm wealth handoff in peacetime 1:50:00 What farmers want vs what they need 1:54:29 Brazil's 90 million acres it hasn't farmed 2:00:46 Tip of the Hat 2:05:58 How to join Iowa Corn SUBSCRIBE TO THE PODCAST ➱ https://bit.ly/3a7r3nR SUBSCRIBE TO THIS'LL DO FARM ➱ https://bit.ly/2X8g45c LISTEN ON: SPOTIFY ➱ https://open.spotify.com/show/3icVr4KWq4eUDl7Oy60YMY APPLE ➱ https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/barn-talk/id1574395049 FOLLOW BEHIND THE SCENES 👇🏻 ● Barn Talk Instagram ➱ https://www.instagram.com/barntalkshow ● Barn Talk TikTok ➱ https://bit.ly/3qciekS ● Sawyer's Instagram ➱ https://bit.ly/3BtX0n4 ● Tork's Instagram ➱ https://bit.ly/3LGZJxS ● Sawyer's X ➱ https://x.com/SawyerWhisler ● Tork's X ➱ https://x.com/TorkWhisler ------------------------------- ⚠NO FINANCIAL ADVICE / DISCLAIMER⚠ Barn Talk is for educational, informational, and entertainment purposes only, with no warranty of accuracy or completeness. Nothing here is financial, investment, or trading advice, and none of it is specific to you. Do your own due diligence and consult a licensed professional before making any financial decision. Trading stocks, crypto, and NFTs carries real risk and is not suitable for everyone. You use this information at your own risk. #BarnTalk #CoverCrops #IowaCorn #EP220 Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

September 28, 20261 hr 28 min

The Day I Lost My Dad And The Day I Almost Lost My Son

Tork's dad lived to 99, flew fighters, practiced law, and paid for a farm. In July 2018 he fell down the basement stairs, and Tork brought him home to die in the same house he was born in. No guest this week. Sawyer and Tork each picked three days that changed their lives, and this is all six. Tork sat up alone that night giving the hospice doses every few hours, and his dad passed around 5:30 in the morning. The first year he went to the gravesite about once a month, by himself, and bawled most times. He felt guilty grieving a man who had lived to 99. Sawyer was 12 when he rolled a four wheeler at 60 miles an hour, ruptured his spleen, and spent seven days at the University of Iowa. In 2001 Tork was out of hogs, setting trusses on a 2,400 head finisher near Wayland, when a phone call changed his whole life. The part most farm guys never say out loud is what comes after. When your dad goes, nobody is coming to save you. Every field and bin site has a memory. You don't want to be the generation that screws it up. And now Tork is tearing out the hog buildings his dad put everything into, and he feels guilty about it. Also in this one: how to know she's the one, the 10 percent days in a marriage, why it gets easier to quit the second time, 380 yards of concrete and a trip to Texas Roadhouse, the boss who taught Tork to stack equity, and the Market Update with copper near a record. Some may be bigger, but this'll do. What day changed your life? Drop it in the comments and we read them. JOIN THE BARN TALK NEWSLETTER & GET LIVE EVENT ACCESS: We're on a mission to get 10,000 subscribers, and once we do, we're hosting a live event at the barn! Sign up to get exclusive access to tickets and details.👇🏻 Help us get there: https://www.joinbarntalk.com THIS EPISODE IS BROUGHT TO YOU BY: ● Conterra Ag ➱ https://www.conterraag.com ● Propane Farm Research Program ➱ https://propane.com/farmfunding TIMESTAMPS: 00:00 Just Dad and I, and prayers for Dougo Larson 03:14 Breaking outside the ag echo chamber 04:30 7 inches of rain in 10 days, harvest on hold 06:14 Market Update presented by Conterra Ag 10:48 The fuel price trend is not your friend 11:51 We need term limits, whatever side you're on 12:40 Three days each that changed our lives 13:51 See us at Gateway Farm Expo and HayCon 14:47 12 years old, a four wheeler, and 60 mph 17:12 A ruptured spleen and internal bleeding 20:59 The nurse who tapped the doctor's shoulder 22:32 "Four wheeler injury? He'll be all right" 26:24 July 11, 2018, the day my dad died at 99 28:52 Bringing him home to the house he was born in 32:38 What they don't tell you in the brochure 33:47 Nobody's coming to save you now 35:59 Every field and bin site has a memory 37:43 Guilt over tearing out Dad's hog buildings 38:37 How a farmer is supposed to grieve 42:28 Great American Farmer at the funeral 44:21 Some may be bigger, but this'll do 45:06 Why I can't pick the greatest day of my life 49:22 Summer of 1991, the first "I love you" 53:13 How to know she's the one: make her mad 56:18 The 10 percent days in a marriage 59:29 Why it's easier to quit the second time 1:00:26 Trajectory days vs grind days 1:04:40 The first Shopify notifications 1:07:24 380 yards of concrete and Texas Roadhouse 1:10:19 A phone call on a hog barn roof in 2001 1:13:03 The crazy guy who took that job 1:15:55 The boss who saw opportunity in risk 1:22:23 What day changed your life? SUBSCRIBE TO THE PODCAST ➱ https://bit.ly/3a7r3nR SUBSCRIBE TO THIS'LL DO FARM ➱ https://bit.ly/2X8g45c LISTEN ON: SPOTIFY ➱ https://open.spotify.com/show/3icVr4KWq4eUDl7Oy60YMY APPLE ➱ https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/barn-talk/id1574395049 FOLLOW BEHIND THE SCENES 👇🏻 ● Barn Talk Instagram ➱ https://www.instagram.com/barntalkshow ● Barn Talk TikTok ➱ https://bit.ly/3qciekS ● Sawyer's Instagram ➱ https://bit.ly/3BtX0n4 ● Tork's Instagram ➱ https://bit.ly/3LGZJxS ● Sawyer's X ➱ https://x.com/SawyerWhisler ● Tork's X ➱ https://x.com/TorkWhisler ------------------------------- ⚠NO FINANCIAL ADVICE / DISCLAIMER⚠ Barn Talk is for educational, informational, and entertainment purposes only, with no warranty of accuracy or completeness. Nothing here is financial, investment, or trading advice, and none of it is specific to you. Do your own due diligence and consult a licensed professional before making any financial decision. Trading stocks, crypto, and NFTs carries real risk and is not suitable for everyone. You use this information at your own risk. #BarnTalk #perc #gateway #haycon #EP219 Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

September 21, 20262 hr 29 min

1.3 Million People Watch Him Pull Dead Trucks Out Of Iowa Fence Rows

He grew up with kiddie pools in the attic catching roof leaks and frost forming on the inside of his bedroom wall, and today 1.33 million people watch him drag dead cars out of Iowa fence rows. Kevin Brown runs Junkyard Digs out of Ames, two hours up the road from the barn, and this one is mostly about what being broke actually builds. The house sagged corner to corner and the ceiling collapsed while the family was gone for a weekend. Four of them lived in one room of an office building in town, no walls, three beds, for three years of his high school life. His dad pulled his entire 401k to put up a shell so they could finish the inside themselves. He paid for Iowa State by joining the National Guard as a Chinook mechanic, deployed to Kuwait and Iraq, and built the channel from a cot on government internet. He came home with 130,000 subscribers and two paychecks. His rule is the part worth sitting with. He would not quit engineering school until the channel paid double an engineer's starting salary. He says the first time in his life he felt safe was the day the math cleared, not the day the subscribers did. The farming is the cheapest operation in this state. Four and a half acres, a John Deere 620 with three gallons of gas in the oil pan, a $500 planter, and a 6600 combine he bought for $2,200 and drove home. He put $212 into inputs one year and sold the crop for $2,000. Also in this one: only 3 percent of channels ever crack 100,000 subscribers, a million Shorts views that paid $412, copper at a record and the wire in your grain bin, and why his dad said the 1980s sucked while his buddy's dad called them the best years of his life. His advice at the end sounds exactly like his dad: do not put your hands in your pockets. Learn to work hard and you will not fail in life. What do you want us to dig into next week? Drop it in the comments and we read them. JOIN THE BARN TALK NEWSLETTER & GET LIVE EVENT ACCESS: We're on a mission to get 10,000 subscribers, and once we do, we're hosting a live event at the barn! Sign up to get exclusive access to tickets and details.👇🏻 Help us get there: https://www.joinbarntalk.com THIS EPISODE IS BROUGHT TO YOU BY: ● Propane Farm Research Program ➱ propane.com/farmfunding ● AcreEdge Soil NXT ➱ acreedge.com TIMESTAMPS: 00:00 Cold open and guest introduction 04:25 800 shirts in three weeks for a stranger's roof 13:22 Sponsor break, Propane Farm Research Program 14:16 Kiddie pools in the attic, frost inside the walls 16:08 Four people, one room, three years 16:35 What being broke gave him that money never could 21:27 The Guard paid for college, so he fixed Chinooks 25:12 Building a channel on Army internet in Iraq 27:00 Home with 130,000 subs and two paychecks 30:47 Sponsor break, AcreEdge Soil NXT 33:15 No quitting until it paid double an engineer 35:13 His wife's 45 minute video got a million views 41:15 Get it running and drive it home, no trailer 58:26 Make it run, make it move, make it safe 1:04:19 The Junkyard Digs farming operation, laid out 1:07:15 A $2,200 combine with no reverser 1:12:45 $212 in, $2,000 out, most profitable farmer around 1:18:06 The part of being a creator nobody sees 1:25:11 Only 3 percent of channels ever crack 100,000 1:27:59 A million Shorts views paid $412 1:34:18 Can you build a whole life in rural America now 1:35:40 Nobody should ever move to Iowa, and he means it 1:40:46 What is actually killing small towns 1:55:12 His dad said the 80s sucked, his buddy's dad loved them 2:02:55 If 1995 did not get the hog guys, 1998 did 2:05:53 Is AI actually coming for the trades 2:12:17 25 CRT TVs, 15 VCRs, and 300 VHS tapes 2:16:26 The first time in his life he felt safe 2:21:47 Do not put your hands in your pockets 2:22:10 Tip of the Hat SUBSCRIBE TO THE PODCAST ➱ https://bit.ly/3a7r3nR SUBSCRIBE TO THIS'LL DO FARM ➱ https://bit.ly/2X8g45c LISTEN ON: SPOTIFY ➱ https://open.spotify.com/show/3icVr4KWq4eUDl7Oy60YMY APPLE ➱ https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/barn-talk/id1574395049 FOLLOW BEHIND THE SCENES 👇🏻 ● Barn Talk Instagram ➱ https://www.instagram.com/barntalkshow ● Barn Talk TikTok ➱ https://bit.ly/3qciekS ● Sawyer's Instagram ➱ https://bit.ly/3BtX0n4 ● Tork's Instagram ➱ https://bit.ly/3LGZJxS ● Sawyer's X ➱ https://x.com/SawyerWhisler ● Tork's X ➱ https://x.com/TorkWhisler ------------------------------- ⚠NO FINANCIAL ADVICE / DISCLAIMER⚠ Barn Talk is for educational, informational, and entertainment purposes only, with no warranty of accuracy or completeness. Nothing here is financial, investment, or trading advice, and none of it is specific to you. Do your own due diligence and consult a licensed professional before making any financial decision. Trading stocks, crypto, and NFTs carries real risk and is not suitable for everyone. You use this information at your own risk. #BarnTalk #RuralAmerica #perc #landus #EP218 Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

September 15, 20262 hr 22 min

Only $278 In The Bank And 550 Cows To Feed

He stacked every FSA beginning farmer loan he could get, went from about 100 cows to 550 in roughly a year, and when the balance sheet finally settled he was positive by $278. That is the number this whole episode hangs on. Luke and Natalie Kovarik run Kovarik Cattle Co., a first generation Angus seedstock operation out of Ord, Nebraska, selling around 100 bulls a year in a January sale that started at 30. Luke was a town kid with 160 acres and a dental school plan. Natalie is fourth generation Hereford out of Montana, and today she works four jobs off the ranch, including marketing and equity in Red Ants Pants. Almost everything they earn away from the cows exists to pay for the cows. The middle of this one is the direct to consumer beef autopsy, twelve straight minutes on why selling your own beef is so much harder than the internet makes it look, why she dreaded Sunday nights, and what happened to the freezer inventory. Then the influencing pivot, why she stepped back from putting her family online, and what she does with the audience now. Also in this one: custom AI and backgrounding somebody else's calves to make equipment payments, $5,000 of blackjack money wired for embryos, reading bull catalogs like a swimsuit edition, meeting at her family's bull sale, lab grown meat and consumer trust, putting cattle back on grain farms and the pasture that rural towns already lost, hiring and keeping good help, bricking their kids' phones and putting a landline back in the house, twelve landlords and not one under 68, and why they are not building this ranch for their kids. His line on who the ranch is for: no, we're doing it for us. What should we dig into next week? Put it in the comments. JOIN THE BARN TALK NEWSLETTER & GET LIVE EVENT ACCESS: We're on a mission to get 10,000 subscribers, and once we do, we're hosting a live event at the barn! Sign up to get exclusive access to tickets and details.👇🏻 Help us get there: https://www.joinbarntalk.com THIS EPISODE IS BROUGHT TO YOU BY: ● Propane Farm Research Program ➱ propane.com/farmfunding ● Iowa Corn Growers ➱ iowacorn.org TIMESTAMPS: 00:00 Cold open and guest introduction 04:29 A local airport, and a pilot's license he never finished 06:19 The operation, and the four jobs Natalie works 09:22 What subsidizes what, and blackjack money wired for embryos 11:21 Montana, fourth generation Hereford, how Natalie grew up 15:11 Sponsor break, Propane Farm Research Program 15:40 A town kid, 160 acres, dental school, and $278 in the bank 19:49 Custom AI, Genex, and a master's that paid for cows 23:46 First cows in '14, and bull catalogs like a swimsuit edition 26:57 They met at her family's bull sale 32:49 Market outlook, consumer trust, lab grown, Beyond Meat 42:35 Putting cattle back on grain farms, and the pasture we lost 50:01 Calving date, and developing two year old bulls 54:25 Sponsor break, Iowa Corn Growers 55:22 From 30 bulls to 100, growing the herd 59:07 Finding Duncan and Mitch, and keeping them 1:02:24 A bull sale as an event, social media as the marketing 1:06:45 If the podcast tripled, more cows or more time 1:08:14 The direct to consumer beef autopsy 1:19:56 Retiring from influencing, and craving privacy 1:27:00 Working with a spouse and a father 1:32:26 Bricking phones, landlines, parenting in the phone era 1:43:24 Twelve landlords, not one under 68 1:53:23 How the household actually runs 2:00:29 We're not building this ranch for our kids 2:05:39 Why the industry is still worth it 2:10:39 Tip of the Hat SUBSCRIBE TO THE PODCAST ➱ https://bit.ly/3a7r3nR SUBSCRIBE TO THIS'LL DO FARM ➱ https://bit.ly/2X8g45c LISTEN ON: SPOTIFY ➱ https://open.spotify.com/show/3icVr4KWq4eUDl7Oy60YMY APPLE ➱ https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/barn-talk/id1574395049 FOLLOW BEHIND THE SCENES 👇🏻 ● Barn Talk Instagram ➱ https://www.instagram.com/barntalkshow ● Barn Talk TikTok ➱ https://bit.ly/3qciekS ● Sawyer's Instagram ➱ https://bit.ly/3BtX0n4 ● Tork's Instagram ➱ https://bit.ly/3LGZJxS ● Sawyer's X ➱ https://x.com/SawyerWhisler ● Tork's X ➱ https://x.com/TorkWhisler ⚠NO FINANCIAL ADVICE / DISCLAIMER⚠ Barn Talk is for educational, informational, and entertainment purposes only, with no warranty of accuracy or completeness. Nothing here is financial, investment, or trading advice, and none of it is specific to you. Do your own due diligence and consult a licensed professional before making any financial decision. Trading stocks, crypto, and NFTs carries real risk and is not suitable for everyone. You use this information at your own risk. #BarnTalk #perc #iowacorn #EP217 Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

September 7, 20262 hr 39 min

The Big 4 Stole The Only Market Small Farmers Ever Built

Forty companies own 70 percent of the hogs in this country. Fewer than 100 plants slaughter 99.7 percent of them. Small farms running their own processing account for 0.3 percent of the pork on shelves, 2 percent of the beef. So when a menu names a farm, the math says it almost never is one. Greg Gunthorp is a fourth generation pastured hog farmer in Indiana, 400 sows on 275 acres, with a USDA-inspected plant on his own farm and pork sold by name at Rick Bayless restaurants, including inside Disney. In 1998 hogs were bringing 8 cents a pound minus trucking. He maxed his credit cards, pulled pennies out of his daughter's piggy bank for a school field trip, and drove a pig packed in ice in the back of his wife's Suzuki Swift into Chicago, where Wine Spectator had just named the restaurant he was selling to the best in the world. Then the big packers noticed. He calls it winning a few battles and losing the war, shadow brands priced 25 to 40 percent over commodity, selling the same conventional product the independent farmers built their name on. Until January of 2026, foreign meat repackaged here could legally say Product of USA on the label. Also in this one: why farmers get 14 cents of every food dollar, the JBS bribery scandal and the 97 day pause on Brazilian imports, why he ranks solar grazing above his own kill floor, why 70 percent of the lamb sold in America is imported, and the same four point reform pitch that landed the same way with a MAHA crowd and an antitrust crowd. His line on what these farms actually export: the topsoil and the kids. What should we dig into next week? Put it in the comments. JOIN THE BARN TALK NEWSLETTER & GET LIVE EVENT ACCESS: We're on a mission to get 10,000 subscribers, and once we do, we're hosting a live event at the barn! Sign up to get exclusive access to tickets and details.👇🏻Help us get there: https://www.joinbarntalk.com THIS EPISODE IS BROUGHT TO YOU BY: ● Propane Farm Research Program ➱ propane.com/farmfunding TIMESTAMPS: 00:00 Cold open and guest introduction04:45 In '94 his dad said the little guy was done05:29 40 companies own 70 percent of America's hogs06:20 600 acres, woven wire fence, hogs on pasture10:14 172 dollars an acre, and a 17,000 dollar silo that same year12:07 A home equity loan, a foreclosure notice, a piggy bank14:01 1988, an exchange trip, sheep farms selling straight to restaurants16:24 Sponsor break, Propane Farm Research Program17:04 Purdue, 1994, buying the family sow herd20:01 8 cent hogs, and nobody was cheap enough to survive22:21 A cold call to a chef who never answers25:30 A hog packed in ice in a Suzuki Swift to Chicago27:06 The best restaurant in the world, by accident28:17 Rick Bayless becomes his biggest customer32:01 Why he had to own the processing himself43:41 Built the plant, maxed the cards, went all in44:31 Farm to table dies, the big guys copy the label45:36 0.3 percent of pork, 2 percent of beef52:02 Box primals with somebody else's label on them58:38 A pallet of pig rectums bound for Thailand1:02:19 What greenwashing actually costs a shopper1:04:01 Product of USA meant nothing for over a decade1:15:09 JBS bribed up to 2,100 officials, then paused 97 days1:19:06 Argentina's beef, antibiotics, and a 25 percent discount1:23:00 Same four reforms, a MAHA crowd and an antitrust crowd1:26:07 275 acres, 15 employees, a USDA plant on the farm1:29:58 Two thousand ewes and a bet on solar grazing1:34:46 Why 70 percent of American lamb is imported1:37:42 Ranking every enterprise, slaughter dead last1:47:06 How to actually fight the USDA and win1:56:12 Farmers get 14 cents of the food dollar2:01:11 Term limits, campaign finance, a balanced budget2:04:21 Born on third base, cheering the home run2:11:23 Delegating, risk, and farming with his son2:23:54 Topsoil and kids, what we really export2:28:19 Tip of the Hat SUBSCRIBE TO THE PODCAST ➱ https://bit.ly/3a7r3nRSUBSCRIBE TO THIS'LL DO FARM ➱ https://bit.ly/2X8g45c LISTEN ON: SPOTIFY ➱ https://open.spotify.com/show/3icVr4KWq4eUDl7Oy60YMYAPPLE ➱ https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/barn-talk/id1574395049 FOLLOW BEHIND THE SCENES 👇🏻 ● Barn Talk Instagram ➱ https://www.instagram.com/barntalkshow● Barn Talk TikTok ➱ https://bit.ly/3qciekS● Sawyer's Instagram ➱ https://bit.ly/3BtX0n4● Tork's Instagram ➱ https://bit.ly/3LGZJxS● Sawyer's X ➱ https://x.com/SawyerWhisler● Tork's X ➱ https://x.com/TorkWhisler ⚠NO FINANCIAL ADVICE / DISCLAIMER⚠Barn Talk is for educational, informational, and entertainment purposes only, with no warranty of accuracy or completeness. Nothing here is financial, investment, or trading advice, and none of it is specific to you. Do your own due diligence and consult a licensed professional before making any financial decision. Trading stocks, crypto, and NFTs carries real risk and is not suitable for everyone. You use this information at your own risk. #BarnTalk #Perc #EP216 Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

September 4, 20262 hr 24 min

The $280 Collar That Doubled a Ranch's Grazing Overnight

A rancher outside Kansas City put collars on 30 cows and went from moving them every two days to every four or five days on the same ground, at the same cow condition. That is double the carrying capacity overnight, and we spent most of this episode on how virtual fencing works and what it costs. The collar runs $280 plus a subscription. Users report getting back 8 to 10 hours a week. The GPS is accurate to about 4 or 5 feet, which is roughly one fat cow in any direction. One challenger cow averaged 800 sound warnings a day for three weeks, about one every 30 seconds she was awake, while other cows in the same group got one a week. When a cow does get out, she is back inside 80 percent of the time within 5 to 10 minutes, because her friends are still there. There are around 6,000 of these collars in North America and they only started selling here in June. Then we put the skeptic hat on. What happens to your herd if the company runs out of money. Who owns the data. Why he tells customers to never trust a virtual fence alone along a highway, because the liability is too big. And what happens to cattlemen when Silicon Valley decides cattle are a robotics problem. Also in this one: an engineer who quit a VP title in Norway, visa on Monday and a plane on Friday, a farmhouse built in 1318 and the man who will not give it up, why so many farmers keep a town job for the insurance, and what a Norwegian thinks of American water, groceries, and youth sports. Low profit is the one problem every farmer in every country has in common. The other is that not one of them thinks he owns the land. What do you want us to dig into next week? Drop it in the comments and we read them. JOIN THE BARN TALK NEWSLETTER & GET LIVE EVENT ACCESS: We're on a mission to get 10,000 subscribers, and once we do, we're hosting a live event at the barn! Sign up to get exclusive access to tickets and details.👇🏻 Help us get there: https://www.joinbarntalk.com THIS EPISODE IS BROUGHT TO YOU BY: ● Propane Farm Research Program ➱ https://propane.com/farmfunding TIMESTAMPS: 00:00 Fencing cattle without building any fence 04:00 A Norwegian engineer lands in Kansas 06:24 The engineer who got pulled into sales 07:43 Back from paternity leave to 30% cuts 08:57 The gala dinner that changed everything 12:35 The news story that started a company 14:05 Seven engineers, a prototype in 2 months 18:57 Propane Farm Research Program 19:28 Their US hire quit before he ever moved 21:20 Dying broke with a bank of good stories 23:10 Visa on Monday, gone by Friday 27:32 A float trip with people who bought nothing 33:48 Kruger Dunning and the Mountain of Stupidity 43:18 So what is virtual fencing, exactly 44:18 A sound first, then a shock she remembers 51:46 One cow tested it 800 times in a day 54:42 Splitting 100 acres into 5 acre paddocks 01:00:19 Carrying capacity doubled overnight 01:04:01 Cell service, GPS, and 4 feet of drift 01:10:20 Most escapees walk back in within 10 minutes 01:14:53 $280 a collar and 10 hours a week back 01:19:22 Never trust it alone along a highway 01:22:34 Every farmer, every country, same problem 01:33:21 A farmhouse that was built in 1318 01:34:24 When Silicon Valley calls cattle robotics 01:49:16 The Skeptic Block 01:50:03 What if the company runs out of money 01:52:10 Who actually owns your cattle data 01:55:14 Only 6,000 collars, and why pick them 02:10:05 Raising robust kids on purpose 02:13:40 Rapid Fire 02:16:16 Tip of the Hat SUBSCRIBE TO THE PODCAST ➱ https://bit.ly/3a7r3nR SUBSCRIBE TO THIS'LL DO FARM ➱ https://bit.ly/2X8g45c LISTEN ON: SPOTIFY ➱ https://open.spotify.com/show/3icVr4KWq4eUDl7Oy60YMY APPLE ➱ https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/barn-talk/id1574395049 FOLLOW BEHIND THE SCENES 👇🏻 ● Barn Talk Instagram ➱ https://www.instagram.com/barntalkshow ● Barn Talk TikTok ➱ https://bit.ly/3qciekS ● Sawyer's Instagram ➱ https://bit.ly/3BtX0n4 ● Tork's Instagram ➱ https://bit.ly/3LGZJxS ● Sawyer's X ➱ https://x.com/SawyerWhisler ● Tork's X ➱ https://x.com/TorkWhisler ------------------------------- ⚠NO FINANCIAL ADVICE / DISCLAIMER⚠ Barn Talk is for educational, informational, and entertainment purposes only, with no warranty of accuracy or completeness. Nothing here is financial, investment, or trading advice, and none of it is specific to you. Do your own due diligence and consult a licensed professional before making any financial decision. Trading stocks, crypto, and NFTs carries real risk and is not suitable for everyone. You use this information at your own risk. #BarnTalk #perc #EP215 Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

August 23, 20261 hr 51 min

Ranchers Finally Got Paid So Washington Wants 300,000 Tons of Beef

Welcome back to Barn Talk! In today’s Hot Topics episode, the conversation focused on what’s really going on across the ag markets and beef industry. The discussion explored the effects of recent government moves to import more foreign beef, the ripple impact of packing plant closures, and what all of this means for ranchers, feedlots, and rural towns like ours. One concept discussed was how these short-term fixes and political decisions rarely touch the real, deep-rooted issues behind cattle shortages and rising grocery prices. A key theme that emerged was the vulnerability of independent cattle producers as big packers consolidate and government policies seem more aimed at quick wins than long-term solutions. Several points were raised, including how these structural problems are leaving producers with less leverage, what needs to change to keep rural America strong, and why supporting local, independent food systems matters more than ever. If you care about the future of American beef and the backbone of rural life, this episode is a must-listen. JOIN THE BARN TALK NEWSLETTER & GET LIVE EVENT ACCESS: We're on a mission to get 10,000 subscribers, and once we do, we're hosting a live event at the barn! Sign up to get exclusive access to tickets and details.👇🏻 Help us get there: https://www.joinbarntalk.com SUBSCRIBE TO THE PODCAST ➱ https://bit.ly/3a7r3nR   SUBSCRIBE TO THIS’LL DO FARM ➱ https://bit.ly/2X8g45c  LISTEN ON: SPOTIFY ➱ https://open.spotify.com/show/3icVr4KWq4eUDl7Oy60YMY  APPLE ➱ https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/barn-talk/id1574395049 Follow Behind The Scenes👇🏻 ● Barn Talk Instagram ➱ https://www.instagram.com/barntalkshow  ● Barn Talk TikTok ➱ https://bit.ly/3qciekS    ● Sawyer’s Instagram  ➱ https://bit.ly/3BtX0n4    ● Tork’s Instagram ➱ https://bit.ly/3LGZJxS ● Sawyer’s X ➱ https://x.com/SawyerWhisler  ● Tork’s X ➱ https://x.com/TorkWhisler  00:00 Promoting the Barn Talk Newsletter 05:28 Ethanol production in Indiana 14:01 Attending a well-organized event 16:18 Value of Live Experiences 24:46 Impact of Guns N' Roses on music 26:52 Trump's foreign beef import plan 34:11 Impact of cattle prices on consumers 39:01 American agriculture and political influence 44:10 Supporting rural America through livestock 50:41 Consolidation of beef packers 55:26 Challenges in the cattle industry 01:02:35 Challenges in cattle industry 01:06:31 Sterile fly program update 01:14:03 Childhood memories of lamb chops 01:18:56 US-Canada trade tensions 01:21:01 US-Canada trade negotiations stall 01:30:55 Global debt crisis concerns 01:32:08 Concerns about future entitlements 01:37:58 Longtime friendship and staying connected 01:44:40 Thanking the audience and supporters ------------------------------- ⚠NO FINANCIAL ADVICE / DISCLAIMER⚠  The Information discussed and shared on Barn Talk is provided for educational, informational, and entertainment purposes only, without any express or implied warranty of any kind, including warranties of accuracy, completeness, or success for any particular purpose. The Information contained in or provided from or through this podcast is not intended to be and does not constitute financial advice, investment advice, trading advice, or any other advice. The Information on this podcast and provided from or through our content is general in nature and is not specific to you, the user or anyone else. You should not make any decision, financial, investment, trading or otherwise, based on any of the information presented on this podcast without undertaking independent due diligence and consultation with a professional, professional broker or financial advisory. Understand that you are using any and all Information available on or through this website at your own risk. RISK STATEMENT– The trading of Bitcoins, alternative cryptocurrencies, NFTs, individual stocks, etc. has potential rewards, and it also has potential risks involved. Trading may not be suitable for all people. Anyone wishing to invest should seek his or her own independent financial or professional advice. #EP214 #perc Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

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