2026 Keynote Speaker

Sawyer Whisler is a sixth-generation farmer from Washington, Iowa, and the host and founder of Barn Talk. He grew up on This'll Do Farm working alongside his father Tork, learning the realities of hog finishing and row crop farming from the ground up. Today he and Tork farm together, with Sawyer managing his own contract finishing barn as part of the family operation.

He is also a partner in DVI, a first-of-its-kind manure separation technology company the Whisler family helped bring to life on their farm. On the media side, Sawyer built Barn Talk from the ground up into one of the largest agricultural and rural American podcasts in the world, with over one million followers and an 83 percent engaged listener rate. But he is quick to tell you the show only works because of what he and Tork do together. The farming is real. The relationship is real. And that is what the audience connects with.

Tork Whisler has spent his life farming the same ground his family has worked for six generations in Washington County, Iowa. He owns and operates three contract hog finishing barns, row crops 400 acres, and is a partner in both Barn Talk and the This'll Do Farm YouTube channel. He is also part of the DVI partnership, a manure separation technology venture built on the Whisler farm.

Tork is the kind of farmer who has seen markets crash, equipment fail at the worst possible moment, and every kind of challenge rural agriculture can throw at a family operation. He has navigated all of it, and when he talks about it, you can tell. His steady, no-filter perspective and dry sense of humor are a big part of what makes Barn Talk feel like a real conversation in a real barn rather than a polished production. Tork is the backbone of the farm and the heart of the show.