Barn Talk

By Tork and Sawyer WhislerBusiness

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114 min
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Barn Talk episodes

November 01 America Loses 3 Acres Of Pasture Every Minute
Garth Gatson is 33 years old and doesn’t own an acre of ground. He raises cattle for a living anyway, on his family’s place in Missouri, buying heifer calves and selling them as pairs into the biggest cattle market anybody alive has ever seen. And this summer, while walking his pastures, he wrote the book on how we got here. It’s called Abel’s Rally, it’s named after the first stockman in the Bible, and it took him about 100 days from idea to Amazon.
ABEL’S RALLY ➱ Search “Abel’s Rally” on Amazon. It’s A-B-E-L, E before the L. Leave him a review, there are two on there right now and our audience can fix that today.
We got into why cattle tripled and why that didn’t make every rancher rich. Garth’s argument is that cows worth twice as much is equity, and equity doesn’t pay the light bill, the sale barn check does. He walked us through the cycle from the 2014 crash to the 2025 run, when feeder steers went up $3 a day for almost 300 days, $800 a head without gaining a pound. He says this country is losing 3 acres of pasture every minute, and he triple checked the math.
Then we got into how he thinks. His mission statement is conscientiously creating and capturing value in cattle, and his line is that creating value without capturing it is charity, and capturing it without creating any is fraud. He writes an annual letter for his cattle business like Warren Buffett, he defines enough as a speed instead of a point, and he doesn’t use AI at all, because Johnny Cash and John Henry already explained what happens when something has all the power and none of the soul.
Also in this one: screwworm and why the border closed, the Cain and Abel feud that’s still going between farmers and ranchers, burning tallgrass prairie at K-State, his summer at Rock Hills Ranch, the compound interest math on growing a herd, what he wants his four kids to inherit that isn’t land, and his advice for the 25 year old with no ground who wants in.
CHAPTERS
0:00 Welcome and harvest wrap
2:56 Thanking the truckers who saved harvest
6:55 Why Tork spilled so much corn
9:34 Meet Garth Gatson
12:13 Why the book is called Abel's Rally
13:19 How the cattle cycle works
20:27 Why prices got this high
26:28 Screwworm and the Mexican border
29:04 Where are we in the cycle
34:50 Who won the most this cycle
39:26 How Garth got started in cattle
47:04 Why you can't count on 20 percent every year
49:39 Staying flexible without spreading too thin
55:01 Creating value and capturing value
1:00:46 Cash flow, scale, and why ranches run out of money
1:04:32 Work, life, and when a man loves a farm
1:18:14 Compound interest on the farm
1:27:52 How Garth learns
1:32:44 The annual letter
1:38:23 Writing a book in 100 days
1:54:20 Who the book is for
1:58:51 Selling steers two days after the peak
2:00:41 Cattle worth more than nickels
2:06:13 Garth's mission statement and what is enough
2:13:51 Raising kids and what to pass down
2:21:57 Advice for young cattle producers
2:26:49 Tip of the Hat: the local sale barn
2:31:44 Where to find Garth
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#EP224

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2 hr 41 min
October 26 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
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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

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1 hr 33 min
October 19 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
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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

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2 hr 3 min
October 11 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

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1 hr 29 min
October 05 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
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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
2 hr 14 min
September 28 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
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LISTEN ON:
SPOTIFY ➱ https://open.spotify.com/show/3icVr4KWq4eUDl7Oy60YMY
APPLE ➱ https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/barn-talk/id1574395049
FOLLOW BEHIND THE SCENES 👇🏻
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-------------------------------
⚠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

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1 hr 29 min
September 21 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.
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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
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FOLLOW BEHIND THE SCENES 👇🏻
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-------------------------------
⚠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

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2 hr 30 min
September 13 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.
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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
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⚠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

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2 hr 23 min
September 07 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.
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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 introduction
04:45 In '94 his dad said the little guy was done
05:29 40 companies own 70 percent of America's hogs
06:20 600 acres, woven wire fence, hogs on pasture
10:14 172 dollars an acre, and a 17,000 dollar silo that same year
12:07 A home equity loan, a foreclosure notice, a piggy bank
14:01 1988, an exchange trip, sheep farms selling straight to restaurants
16:24 Sponsor break, Propane Farm Research Program
17:04 Purdue, 1994, buying the family sow herd
20:01 8 cent hogs, and nobody was cheap enough to survive
22:21 A cold call to a chef who never answers
25:30 A hog packed in ice in a Suzuki Swift to Chicago
27:06 The best restaurant in the world, by accident
28:17 Rick Bayless becomes his biggest customer
32:01 Why he had to own the processing himself
43:41 Built the plant, maxed the cards, went all in
44:31 Farm to table dies, the big guys copy the label
45:36 0.3 percent of pork, 2 percent of beef
52:02 Box primals with somebody else's label on them
58:38 A pallet of pig rectums bound for Thailand
1:02:19 What greenwashing actually costs a shopper
1:04:01 Product of USA meant nothing for over a decade
1:15:09 JBS bribed up to 2,100 officials, then paused 97 days
1:19:06 Argentina's beef, antibiotics, and a 25 percent discount
1:23:00 Same four reforms, a MAHA crowd and an antitrust crowd
1:26:07 275 acres, 15 employees, a USDA plant on the farm
1:29:58 Two thousand ewes and a bet on solar grazing
1:34:46 Why 70 percent of American lamb is imported
1:37:42 Ranking every enterprise, slaughter dead last
1:47:06 How to actually fight the USDA and win
1:56:12 Farmers get 14 cents of the food dollar
2:01:11 Term limits, campaign finance, a balanced budget
2:04:21 Born on third base, cheering the home run
2:11:23 Delegating, risk, and farming with his son
2:23:54 Topsoil and kids, what we really export
2:28:19 Tip of the Hat
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FOLLOW BEHIND THE SCENES 👇🏻
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● 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

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2 hr 40 min
September 04 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

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LISTEN ON:
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APPLE ➱ https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/barn-talk/id1574395049

FOLLOW BEHIND THE SCENES 👇🏻
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● 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

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2 hr 25 min

About Barn Talk

From the publisher's feed

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…