By: Virginie Boone

Farm4Profit Media is an agriculturally focused operation out of Iowa with a successful podcast under the Farm4Profit name. Their aim is to help farmers tell their stories through digital media in an effort to help promote their long-term success.

Their podcasts have more than 5 million downloads, 58 million-plus YouTube views, 73 million-plus impressions and 400,000-plus online followers, massive numbers. Last year, the podcast was named in the top 1% of all video podcasts on Spotify.

New episodes drop every Monday and Thursday; there are already more than 500 episodes in the can on such varied topics as Wealth Management, Off-Patent Genetics, Diesel Problems, Family Business, Tax Moves, Legal Mistakes, and much, much more. The info is entertaining and yet practical, real-world and dynamic.

Last October, in partnership with the Sonoma County Winegrowers, Sonoma County’s own Dan Rotlisberger, fifth-generation farmer and the Vineyard Manager for Robert Young Estate, sat down for a conversation titled, “The Blueprint for Great Wine: Farming with Heart and Precision.” That was just part one.

Part two brought on Kris Hicks, Vineyard Manager for Vimark Vineyard Management and Trione Vineyards and Winery, who also touched on issues around how multi-generational family farms adapt across decades of change and the parallels between Sonoma County’s sustainability goals and the Midwest’s regenerative agriculture movement, as well as the personal stories that keep family farming and passion for the land alive.

Describing the enterprise as “created by farmers for farmers,” Farm4Profit is run by co-hosts Corey Hillebo, David Whitaker and Tanner Winterhof, all of whom are active in agriculture. Hillebo was raised on his family farm in Polk City, Iowa and is the fourth-generation to serve as farm manager for the corn, soybeans, aronia berries and swine herd as well as the president of Big Creek Seed.

Winterhof was also born and raised in Iowa and got a degree in business administration and financial services, working in the banking industry for over a decade. His focus is on innovation in agriculture, helping farmers adopt tech and data-driven strategies for their farms to keep them sustainable.

Whitaker started out at Missouri Auction School and has a real estate license, active in Realtor Land Institute, the National Auctioneer Associations and many State Auctioneer Associations. He’s earned World Auctioneer Spokesman of the Year and is president of the Iowa Auctioneers Association, as well as the co-owner of Whitaker Marketing Group with his wife, an auction and real estate company.

Their backgrounds inform the wide range of conversations that include such compelling subjects as “Preserving Heritage Through Distilling: Cornfields to Cocktails,” “How a Colorblind Veteran Built America’s Most Scenic Tulip Farm” and even “Tough Enough to Talk About It: Mental Health in Agriculture.”

Sonoma County got into the mix again last summer with Jake Terrell, Director of Vineyards at St. Francis Winery and Glenn Proctor of Puccioni Ranch & Vineyards talking about “Tradition Meets Technology: Farming for Flavor.” Duff Bevill’s been on to talk about how Sauvignon Blancs express from different parts of Sonoma County.

The content is rich, detailed and endlessly interesting, in addition to being entertaining. In the year ahead, make it a point to add the Farm4Profit podcast to your rotation.

Photo By: Farm4Profit