Barn Talk
Barn Talk
Tork and Sawyer Whisler
Brazil Is Coming For American Corn
2 hour 13 minutes Posted Oct 5, 2026 at 3:21 am.
Two guests and a harvest stuck in the rain
Out of hogs in 1998, farming on Dad's money
2008, buying the gear and going out alone
Why he runs British White Park cattle
A teacher's son goes full time farming
The bachelor farmer who handed over his acres
See us at Gateway Farm Expo and HayCon
A homemade strip-till bar for a couple grand
No paid-off land, but no ghosts either
Try it on enough acres that it hurts a little
You can't out-yield your way to profit
Do cover crops actually pay?
The resident hippie's homemade compost tea
$3 an acre vs $40 of bugs in a jug
Putting cattle back on row crop ground
$4.75 a day for hay out west vs stalks here
Stuck in the first 2 acres of harvest
How two farmers ended up on the Corn boards
Checkoff vs Corn Growers, who does what
Ethanol was Granddad's, bio-based is yours
Did the ethanol boom encourage bad habits?
Japan is now our number 2 corn buyer
Why buyers in Asia want to meet the farmer
NASCAR, E15, and the Cy-Hawk game
Mexico's GMO fight began in his machine shed
Most farmers just haven't been asked
Corn Growers is like going to church
Equity draining and no room for the kids
Fertilizer, the DOJ, and phosphate duties
Biggest farm wealth handoff in peacetime
What farmers want vs what they need
Brazil's 90 million acres it hasn't farmed
Tip of the Hat
How to join Iowa Corn
0:00
2:13:20
Download MP3
Show notes
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:
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 #IowaCorn #Gateway #Haycon
#EP220
Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices