Sharing the day-to-day details of life on a farm with those who are disconnected from farm life is a mission for the owners of Welker Farms. The Dec. 4 and final session of the week-long Indiana Corn and Soybean Forum featured YouTube sensation Welker Farms. Indiana Soybean Alliance (ISA) board member and Clay County, Ind., farmer Kevin Cox, who hosts the bi-weekly Movin’ The Pile podcast for ISA and ICMC, interviewed the owners of Welker Farms from their Montana home.
Welker Farms has hundreds of thousands of followers on YouTube, and their audience continues to grow. Located in North Central Montana, the farm has been in the family since 1912. Third generation farmer, Bob Welker, along with his two sons, Nick Welker and Scott Welker, strive to carry on the family legacy. Using large machinery and the latest in technology, the Welkers manage 10,000 acres and grow spring wheat, winter wheat, yellow peas and garbanzo beans.
Welker Farms has become a common name throughout the agriculture world due to their YouTube channel, which began when Nick Welker thought it would be entertaining to celebrate the 100 anniversary of their family farm with a video. Since then, Welker Farms has attracted many faithful fans. But their YouTube and social media work has consumed much of their time. “It’s like a very hungry child,” Nick said. “The more you feed it, the more it grows. So that’s what we do right now. We just keep feeding it.”
He estimated that about 60 percent of their audience are farmers or people who grew up on a farm. “I think the majority of our audience is definitely farmers,” Nick said. “We have a very large following in the farming community.”
A significant segment of the Welkers’ audience have no connection to a farm. Nick said some of those viewers are fans of large farm equipment, which they frequently feature in their videos. Other viewers, though, are curious about regular life on a Montana farm. “This has become a kind of reality show,” Bob said of their broadcasts. “The fact that there are two videos a week, people see highlights of what we’re doing through the week. And I think that is good for all of the agricultural community. Farming is complex. There are so many things going on throughout the year. It’s not just going out there and kicking the dirt, seeding the ground and covering it up.”
Nick said that they receive some interesting and uninformed questions about agriculture from those who comment on their videos. But, he said, that gives Welker Farms the opportunity to explain how a farm works.
The Welkers are most often asked about how many acres they farm.
“It’s kind of like asking how many dollars you have in a bank account,” said Nick, who added that he now tells people that they farm 10,000 acres without waiting for the question. “Land doesn’t transition into money unless you sell it. That why it’s often said that farmers are land rich but cash poor – broke in the bank, but wealthy in the land. No one want to sell it, though, because when it’s gone, it’s gone.”
Bob Welker said he has mostly transitioned the leadership of the farm to his two sons. He admitted that’s it’s not been easy for him, but it has been the right thing to do. “In fact, it’s been a good transition,” Bob explained. “When I finally decided to release control, which can be kind of difficult as some ‘Dad’ farmers know, I realized (my sons) are as capable – or even more capable – than myself. So, I backed away, Movin’ The Pile host Kevin Cox interviews Nick Welker, left, and Bob and it’s just been a joy to see them come in the fabric Welker, during the last session of the Indiana Corn & Soybean Forum. of the farm and put their ideas, their talent and their work into the farm and see the success.” Scott Welker, who is known for being able to repair
Bob said meeting farmers from across the country has machinery, said there is little conflict on the farm. He said been a highlight of their YouTube popularity. He said their everyone knows their role on the farm, and each person videos include content for education, entertainment and works to their own strengths. Scott believes that comes cinematic photography of sunsets, equipment in the field through in the videos. “We want to be genuine. We don’t and overhead drone footage of the farm. want to put up a front,” he said. “We don’t always get along,
Bob said parents don’t have to worry about allowing but most of the time we do.” children to watch their videos. “We have accountability to Nick said people interested in their videos can follow our Lord, we have accountability to our families and we have Welker Farms on YouTube, Instagram, Twitter and Facebook accountability to our audience,” Bob said. by going to their website welkerfarmsinc.com
