2026 Speakers

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.

Allison’s primary practice areas are estate planning, probate, agriculture, business formation, real estate, and water and natural resources.

Growing up on a farm outside of Henderson, Nebraska, Allison developed a love of agriculture early on, sparking her passion for farm and ranch succession planning. She understands that every farm and ranch operation is different and that there is no one-size-fits all estate or succession plan. Allison recognizes that farming and ranching presents unique estate and succession planning challenges due to family ties to the land and rising agricultural real estate prices. She works closely alongside her clients to learn what is truly important to them so she can help create a plan that will achieve their goals.

Allison has also represented clients who find themselves in the midst of family feuds that present difficult scenarios, such as how to divide their parents’ farm and ranch assets, particularly when parents pass without an estate plan or one that is poorly drafted. She uses these experiences to create successions plans for her clients that avoid the same pitfalls and potential family quarrels.

Allison joined the firm after receiving her Juris Doctor from the University of Nebraska College of Law, where she graduated with High distinction and received several academic and writing awards. She earned her Bachelor of Arts in Business Administration, with minors in economics and political science, from Hastings College in 2018.

Allison is actively involved in the Kearney community and serves on the Leadership Kearney Board, Kearney Area Children’s Museum Board, and is a graduate of Leadership Kearney Class #32.

Dan Lindstrom was raised on a family grain and livestock farm near Atlanta, Nebraska with family farmland in both Phelps and Buffalo Counties.He holds a B.S. degree in Agriculture (Animal Science) from the University of Nebraska at Lincoln and a Juris Doctor degree from the University of Nebraska College of Law.He returned to Central Nebraska in 1986 to begin the practice of law at the Kearney law firm now known as Jacobsen, Orr, Lindstrom & Holbrook, P.C. (“Jacobsen Orr”), where he continues to practice law as Senior Counsel, after previously serving for over a decade as the President and Managing Shareholder.

For over 40 years, Dan has represented farm and ranch families, agribusiness companies, other businesses and political subdivisions on agricultural, water, real estate, renewable energy, corporate, planning and development issues, including extensive litigation of those issues, and he has mentored other attorneys in Jacobsen Orr to develop similar areas of expertise.Notably, he has held a general corporate counsel role in KAAPA Ethanol from its outset startup stage through its present success, spanning more than two decades.

In his practice with farm and ranch families, Lindstrom spends an increasing amount of time working on family succession and estate planning issues.(See Dan’s more extensive bio here: https://jacobsenorr.com/dan-lindstrom/).

• Dr. Ray Ward is president and co-owner of Ward Laboratories, Inc.He is a certified Professional Agronomist (CPAg), certified Soil Scientist (CPSS), and certified crop advisor (CCA) with a PhD in Soil Fertility, South Dakota State University 1972.He has BS and MS degrees from University of Nebraska 1959 and 1961.
• Before founding Ward Laboratories, Inc in Kearney he served as lab division manager of Servi-Tech, Inc in Dodge City, KS; Associate Professor at Oklahoma State University; and Assistant Professor and Instructor at South Dakota State University.
• He holds numerous memberships in scientific and honorary academic societies and organizations.
• Ray has received many awards including the Soil Science Industry Award and Soil Science Professional Service Award from Soil Science Society of America in 2005 and 2007, respectively.He received the J. Benton Jones, Jr. Award that was presented to him at the 12th International Symposium on Soil and Plant Analysis, Chania, Greece, June 9, 2011.He received the Henry Beachell Distinguished Alumni Award from the Nebraska Ag Alumni 2016.He received the 2019 No-Till Innovator Award from No-Till Farmer.
• He received the 2022 Silver Eagle Award from Nebraska Farm Bureau, December 2022.
• He received the 2023 Honoree award from Nebraska Hall of Ag Achievement.
• His goals for agriculture and agronomy are to help production agriculture use its resources as efficiently as possible, to provide information and data for developing soil health for the best use of soil and water resources while maintaining environmental quality, to be involved in “value-added” agriculture and to provide accurate laboratory data for managing productions enterprises.