2025 field work

CYdTracked

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I'll drop a link to my cousin's channel, also an ISU grad. Cole the Cornstar

Currently his channel is half renovation and construction, half farming. I enjoy it though. He's gained quite a following over the past few years.

Cole recently had a crossover video with the Hilberts, also learning to use a tile plow.
I follow him too. Thought he went to UNI not ISU?
 
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CYdTracked

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I'll drop a link to my cousin's channel, also an ISU grad. Cole the Cornstar

Currently his channel is half renovation and construction, half farming. I enjoy it though. He's gained quite a following over the past few years.

Cole recently had a crossover video with the Hilberts, also learning to use a tile plow.
It was late last night so didn't reply with much detail. His renovation videos have been more interesting than the farming videos lately. Although the "underground movie theater" he is building looks like a big overkill of concrete and rebar and a doomsday bunker. Would have loved to been a fly on the wall when the concrete trucks showed up to pour that as guessing it's not something they see every day. The final product when it's finished is going to be neat to see as it's going to be a massive home with the new addition on top of the renovation of the existing home.

He's got a helluva work ethic though and knack for learning DIY so the content is pretty good. Really interested in seeing what happens with his lawsuit over his Millon dollar bin site that has been a mess. I didn't really watch his channel much when they were constructing it but someone I know that did has an opinion that while they did hire a contractor to build it he essentially was the general contractor of the project and hired out the work and then all the filming he did of the construction where it looked like at times he was pressuring them to speed up the progress may put some of the blame on him too for the final product they got. Again not my opinion since I didn't watch much of the videos when they constructed it and all the problems they had with it either they went too cheap on the decisions made with how it was constructed or the contractor(s) they hired were just that bad. Surprised with all the social media influence he has he wasn't able to strike up a deal with Sukup to build it kind of like they seem to have something going on with Titan tires and other products they use that get a lot of screen time.
 
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nrg4isu

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It was late last night so didn't reply with much detail. His renovation videos have been more interesting than the farming videos lately. Although the "underground movie theater" he is building looks like a big overkill of concrete and rebar and a doomsday bunker. Would have loved to been a fly on the wall when the concrete trucks showed up to pour that as guessing it's not something they see every day. The final product when it's finished is going to be neat to see as it's going to be a massive home with the new addition on top of the renovation of the existing home.

He's got a helluva work ethic though and knack for learning DIY so the content is pretty good. Really interested in seeing what happens with his lawsuit over his Millon dollar bin site that has been a mess. I didn't really watch his channel much when they were constructing it but someone I know that did has an opinion that while they did hire a contractor to build it he essentially was the general contractor of the project and hired out the work and then all the filming he did of the construction where it looked like at times he was pressuring them to speed up the progress may put some of the blame on him too for the final product they got. Again not my opinion since I didn't watch much of the videos when they constructed it and all the problems they had with it either they went too cheap on the decisions made with how it was constructed or the contractor(s) they hired were just that bad. Surprised with all the social media influence he has he wasn't able to strike up a deal with Sukup to build it kind of like they seem to have something going on with Titan tires and other products they use that get a lot of screen time.

I don't know the details, and I didn't watch the videos of the bin site build either. Cole is a smart kid and twice as hard of a worker. He'll learn through the process and will make some mistakes along the way. My biggest concern is safety in some of the videos. It's fantastic that no one has had major injuries along the way. I definitely do enjoy his content, especially because I know them personally.
 

CYdTracked

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thats cool. ive watched him in the past and didnt realize he went to ISU

If you are talking about Cole when did he go to ISU because everything I have read about him says he went to UNI: From Corn Farmer to YouTube Star | Iowa Board of Regents

The Hilbert brothers both went to ISU. I find their content more interesting lately because they had no real life farming experience and started from scratch so has been interesting to watch them grow and learn over the years where Cole comes from a multi-generational farm so he's been around it all his life. The Hilbert brothers got a lot of their money to start farming from other business investments they have been involved with. Several years ago Grant had a video of one of the crypto mining operations he was part investor in and I know he and his brother have other income sources outside of YouTube too. I've heard Cole maybe was doing some of the crypto stuff at one point with Grant but that was just a rumor I heard. All 3 guys are incredibly hard workers and motivated to try new things to increase profit and productivity so I usually watch their videos when a new one drops. Grant and Spencer bought some steers to feed out which is another new to them thing that I am curious to see if that leads into them getting into some cattle too.

Another channel I like is Just a Few Acres Farm. It's quite a bit different content but I love this guy's tractor restoration videos and learning about how he does things on a small scale with old and small equipment. He's been restoring an IH 856 custom for about a year and a half now and just this week finally fired the more back up after putting it back together. I grew up spending a lot of time on our 756 so his current restoration is very interesting to me. I would not have the first clue on how to tear one completely down and build it back up so really enjoyed learning about all the components and how they work as he tore it down and rebuilds it.

Just a Few Acres Farm - YouTube
 
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CYdTracked

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Maybe I should give Cole another shot, his dramatics in the past drove me away.
He still talks way too much in some of the videos IMO. The videos he's done on his house remodel have been mostly good. Sometimes he probably could cut some of his videos to half the time if he would not talk about the same thing over and over or try to explain something in a complicated matter.
 
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wxman1

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Another good one I like is 10th Gen Dairy Man out of Pennsylvania, very different type of farming that a lot around here experience.

Anyway warm dry, hope everyone is making good progress!
 

WISCY1895

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Couple farming YouTubers that I like are Brian’s Farming Videos (farmers from southern Ohio) and Ivers Farms (Illinois). Both farm a ton of variable ground. I think it’s very relatable to the customers I work with in southern Wisconsin. I enjoy watching the Hilbert brothers as well. It’s fascinating to watch a couple young guys figure out how to farm by trial and error.
 
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CascadeClone

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Question for the ag folks-
what would be typical or range for cash rents and/or crop share?

I might have some family land that might be available, but not a farmer. Just trying to get an idea of what kind of income it might produce. The CSR2 varies; ~30% is 88+, 15% is about 80, 35% is 50-60 and ~20% is under 30.

Last time something like this came up, cash rents were like 2% and it made zero sense (plus I would have had to borrow a ton of money). This time is more feasible, but trying to mitigite my ignorance.
 

Iastfan112

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Question for the ag folks-
what would be typical or range for cash rents and/or crop share?

I might have some family land that might be available, but not a farmer. Just trying to get an idea of what kind of income it might produce. The CSR2 varies; ~30% is 88+, 15% is about 80, 35% is 50-60 and ~20% is under 30.

Last time something like this came up, cash rents were like 2% and it made zero sense (plus I would have had to borrow a ton of money). This time is more feasible, but trying to mitigite my ignorance.
Varies quite a bit by both location, csr2, and individual characteristics of the land(is it well tiled, how large is the piece, is it nice and square or oddly shaped?) Honestly your best baseline would the ISU cash rents survey. https://www.extension.iastate.edu/agdm/wholefarm/pdf/c2-10.pdf

Updated 2025 version should be out later this month. I would not anticipate big changes.

I'd lean against share cropping unless you have been or plan to in the future be heavily involved with farming. Just much more complexity there that can result in frustrations.
 
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ISU22CY

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Varies quite a bit by both location, csr2, and individual characteristics of the land(is it well tiled, how large is the piece, is it nice and square or oddly shaped?) Honestly your best baseline would the ISU cash rents survey. https://www.extension.iastate.edu/agdm/wholefarm/pdf/c2-10.pdf

Updated 2025 version should be out later this month. I would not anticipate big changes.

I'd lean against share cropping unless you have been or plan to in the future be heavily involved with farming. Just much more complexity there that can result in frustrations.
I agree.. had one landlord that wanted to crop share which was great to me but they hadn’t farmed before and after a couple years we decided a flex lease was beneficial for both of us.

They didn’t figure in the capital needed and then marketing their share.
 

FLYINGCYCLONE

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Any organic growers on here? They pay BIG bucks in my area. But it depends if you want a big farmer’s, 5-10,000 acres plus , they pay more then then the young beginning farmer. So $250-$400 an acre. Organic $500?
 

CIAFarmer

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I agree.. had one landlord that wanted to crop share which was great to me but they hadn’t farmed before and after a couple years we decided a flex lease was beneficial for both of us.

They didn’t figure in the capital needed and then marketing their share.
Crop share is fantastic with the right landlord.
 

CIAFarmer

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Anyone having beans struggle come out of the ground? I’ve got two fields that I might have to replant by the looks of it. Just not pushing through and starting to snap some heads. Hopefully it rains tonight.

They were planted no till on April 12. There is a small crust but it’s not remotely the worst I’ve seen.
 

FLYINGCYCLONE

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Anyone having beans struggle come out of the ground? I’ve got two fields that I might have to replant by the looks of it. Just not pushing through and starting to snap some heads. Hopefully it rains tonight.

They were planted no till on April 12. There is a small crust but it’s not remotely the worst I’ve seen.
One variety? Ask your seed rep. Get them there today see if they have a good answer.
 

Stormin

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Anyone having beans struggle come out of the ground? I’ve got two fields that I might have to replant by the looks of it. Just not pushing through and starting to snap some heads. Hopefully it rains tonight.

They were planted no till on April 12. There is a small crust but it’s not remotely the worst I’ve seen.

April 12 planting. Cold soil temps and challenging conditions put stress on the soybeans. Maybe some imbibing. That’s a little too early to plant IMO. Plants could be weak from stress and not getting good push from weakened plants to emerge.