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A podcast focusing on the perspectives, lives, and stories of Kansans to provide greater insight into the state we all call home.
AAK_Ep42
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Madeline's Photography Adventures
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[00:00:00]
Sydney Collins: So Madeline, my daughter, she's a hot topic of our opens lately 'cause she's just been a pill. She's five. So Madeline has a a tendency of just grabbing my phone and taking pictures 'cause she knows that you can press the picture button and then without unlocking it. we'll share these with the class, but her photography has gotten much better throughout the years.
'cause now there's actually stuff in the photos. So these are the ones she took lately. So we have Nala, our cat.
Gus Applequist: Okay. Yeah, that's fine.
Sydney Collins: Of the cat. And it's actually doing something.
Mm-hmm.
Sydney Collins: We have the cat bowls in the, the cat food area football
Gus Applequist: story going in.
Sydney Collins: Yeah. And then there's this lovely picture. Of me cooking and I'm not exactly sure what's happening.
Gus Applequist: There you go.
Sydney Collins: Yeah.
Gus Applequist: I'm glad my dogs don't film me.
Sydney Collins: Yeah. So if you [00:01:00] ever just wanna be humbled a little bit, give your child a phone or a camera and just you
Gus Applequist: kid a camera, like give your,
Sydney Collins: just see what happens. Happens.
Introducing Greg Peterson
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Sydney Collins: Welcome back to Ask A Kansan,
Gus Applequist: where we are connecting, uncovering, and amplifying Kansas.
Sydney Collins: So today we have a really cool guest, a fun guest, um, a popular guest. who has a YouTube following that has span over 13 years.
Gus Applequist: his name is Greg Peterson of the Peterson Farm Brothers.
Sydney Collins: Mm-hmm.
Gus Applequist: And, uh, it was a great conversation.
So we're excited to share it with you now.
Sydney Collins: So without any further ado, here's our conversation with Gr Hello. Hello. Welcome. We'll have you [00:02:00] come around. This way it'll be a little easier for you. How's it going?
Gus Applequist: Good. Good to see you. How are you
Greg Peterson: guys?
Gus Applequist: I'm good. You
Greg Peterson: pretty good.
Gus Applequist: Well, welcome to ask of Kansan.
Greg Peterson: Thank you. Yeah.
Gus Applequist: Would you mind introducing yourself?
Greg Peterson: Sure. Uh, my name is Greg Peterson, and, um, I live south of town here by Lindsburg, and, uh, Gus and I are second cousins.
Gus Applequist: Yeah, it's, it's fun to have an opportunity to, to catch up and talk and, uh, and yeah, to share with our audience kinda what you're up to.
Greg Peterson: Yeah, yeah,
Gus Applequist: yeah. So, uh, I guess maybe to start out, uh.
Greg's Musical and Farming Background
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Gus Applequist: You grew up in a farming family, but music was also a big part of your life, uh, for a long time, obviously. How did those two worlds show up for you early on?
Greg Peterson: So those two worlds have kind of been intertwined in my life for as long as I can remember. I mean, I grew up on a farm, family farm, uh, fifth generation farm. so I was helping my dad on the farm from a young age. Uh, there's not a time in my [00:03:00] life that I don't remember loving farming. I mean, that, that's just always been there.
And then music is, uh, kind of the same way. My mom, uh, used to tell the story of when I was three she would take me around to nursing homes and I would just sing on command. So, so there was always this. You know, just love for music and, and even just love for, performing music. Mm-hmm. Um, or just being involved in it.
And so, um, you don't always put farming and music together, I feel like, and I think that's a big part of my story is, is, uh, trying to kind of break the stereotype of that and, and put those two things together.
Sydney Collins: I feel like the nursing home circuit is such a niche thing.
Greg Peterson: There you go. Yeah,
Sydney Collins: I, well, I remember people like cut
Gus Applequist: their teeth in the nursing home.
Sydney Collins: Well, you're not wrong. So I remember, this is a very off topic, but I remember when I was in elementary school, Jenna Saber. He was like the only person that was nice to me in elementary school. She would, she invited me over and she had to do like so many volunteer hours for whatever organization she was in.
And one of 'em is, we [00:04:00] made God's eyes, which is with the yarn and the Popsicle sticks. Mm-hmm. And went to nursing homes and passed them out and we sung and we danced. What, I don't remember what we sang and danced to, but we certainly did.
Greg Peterson: Well, there we go. We have something in common.
Sydney Collins: Yeah, there we go.
Gus Applequist: Yeah.
I guess I've played bass in a few nursing homes, so Yeah. Yeah. We're all in the circuit. We're
Greg Peterson: all in the circuit.
Gus Applequist: So I remember, when you were at K State, uh, you started posting, uh, videos of yourself singing with like multiple. Multiple Gregs.
Greg Peterson: Multiple Gregs. Yeah. That's what, yeah, I called it the Greg Peterson Quartet.
I don't know, this was early social media. I mean, this was back before. I mean, YouTube was pretty new at that point. Pretty new. Yeah. This would've been in like 2009 or so. Mm-hmm. I had figured out on iMovie how to split screen, and so I'd record myself singing four different parts and I'd, I'd split the screen, put four Gregs up there, and, uh, called it the Greg Peterson Quartet.
Like a, like a [00:05:00] barbershop quartet basically. And, and, uh, my friends got a kick out of it, but then also it.
The Viral Success of Peterson Farm Brothers
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Greg Peterson: It got some external views and I think one of the biggest ones I did was I recorded the Wabash Cannon Ball in front of Bill Snyder Family Stadium and then K State Athletics actually shared it and so got a bunch of traction from that, but that was my original, original YouTube channel.
Yeah.
Gus Applequist: So how did you and your brothers kind of get started with Peterson Farm Brothers?
Greg Peterson: So it started basically out of that original channel, I had learned how to edit video, edit audio, um, just from producing those Greg, Peterson Quartet, as well as some other covers, those videos. And, uh, so I already kind of had the, the knowledge of how to make a quote unquote music video.
Um, and then I was a, a senior at K State. I was majoring in Ag Communications. So we were talking in class about the need to communicate what farmers and ranchers do what people in agriculture do where food comes from. Mm-hmm. All those different types of things. So [00:06:00] we were, we were actually talking about that in my classes and so, you know, that was running through my head.
This was not a class project, unfortunately. That would've been nice to get a, a grade on it. but it was inspired by those, those class discussions. Um, I came up with the idea to. Make a music video about farming, which eventually turned into a parody music video. Mm-hmm. Mainly 'cause I didn't think I could write a song that people would care enough about to, to listen to.
but the whole goal was to have, uh, something we could pull out of our pockets on our phones to show our friends, Hey, here's a music video about farming. Check it out. And, uh, we wanted that to be a tool to, to be able to show people what it was like. And how we, how we grew up and what we did on the farm.
[00:07:00]
Gus Applequist: so fast forward to today briefly, and your channel on YouTube has 311,000 subscribers as of a few days ago, and you've done 453 videos. That's a
Sydney Collins: lot of
Gus Applequist: videos.
Greg Peterson: That's a lot.
Gus Applequist: And your total views across all platforms are something like 250 million.
Greg Peterson: Is that something? Yeah, I haven't, I haven't added them up recently, but it's, yeah, it's, it's up there.
And, uh, if you'd have told us. 13 years ago back then, that that's what would happen. We would've never, never believed you. That's never what we set out to do for sure. And we certainly never thought we'd be going as long as we have.
So, uh, it's pretty amazing just to, to think back, I mean, anytime you do something for 13 years.
It really starts to add up. Like there's just a lot of, a lot of stuff. So,
Gus Applequist: so tell us about the moment where it all kind of [00:08:00] exploded and, and you found yourself on the world stage.
Greg Peterson: Sure. So, so at the moment was at the beginning, I mean, for a lot of content creators, a lot of YouTubers, you gotta work and work and work and work, and then you finally kind of catch your big break.
That was kind of what I'd done with my, my original channel is working work and working and work and finally caught some breaks that be it, on a much smaller scale. our first music video as the Peterson Farm Brothers YouTube channel, think it got 5 million views in one week.
So, so we went from zero zero to a hundred real fast we had filmed it. Just on our farm here, south of Salina, about 15 miles. we'd filmed it in May, like right after school had got out May and June. I'd had the idea, we'd recorded it, we'd filmed it, we'd told maybe five or six people, we were even making it like no one knew it was coming, and we literally just posted it on our personal.
You know, Facebook page is like, like we, we uploaded it to YouTube and then back then you could share a [00:09:00] YouTube link to Facebook, right? Things are much simpler now. Facebook doesn't like YouTube links, so, back then. We just shared it, and then just from our personal Facebook pages, it, it went viral.
I mean, completely organic, like no paid marketing, no nothing. So, I think we were, we were in New York City four days later getting ready to be four
Sydney Collins: days.
Greg Peterson: Yeah. Getting ready to be on, on, uh, Fox and Friends Morning Show. So, so we went from no views. I think at that point we had a million views and we were on TV to then by the end of the week, 5 million views.
And it was, it was, it was a whirlwind, to say the least.
Gus Applequist: Yeah. I remember my family, we were in, in Colorado where we sometimes go and, and uh, we were just kind watching on Facebook and stuff. You guys just like,
Greg Peterson: oh man,
Gus Applequist: it was crazy. Yeah. Cousin Greg is in Manhattan.
Greg Peterson: Yeah, the other Manhattan.
Gus Applequist: Yeah.
Greg Peterson: Yeah. It was like, uh, I don't know.
It was like a dream. You know, you, you, you can, you can just [00:10:00] put yourself in, in that situation. And I mean, we were just totally overwhelmed. We were, we could not believe that that was happening. And, and, and honestly, the whole week we were like, like, what are we even doing? We don't even know the answers to some of the, you know, people were asking us all sorts of things.
I was given. So many interviews every day. My phone was ringing off the hook and, it's, it's pretty crazy to think back on that week. It's been 13 years now. That was a long time ago.
Sydney Collins: Yeah. How old were you guys?
Greg Peterson: I was 20, so I had just. Was it my, it was my junior year of college, I think. Okay. And then, Nathan was 18 and Kendall was 15, if I remember right.
Oh, wow. Okay. So they, my two younger brothers were, they were in high school.
Sydney Collins: They were
Greg Peterson: like, uh, and I think Kendall had to, to call his football coach and say, Hey, I'm gonna miss. Morning waits. I gotta go to New York City to be on tv. So for them that, I mean, that's an even different experience. Yeah. For me at least.
I was a, an adult basically. Yeah. They, they were still kids essentially. I mean, it was,
Gus Applequist: did one or both of your parents go with you guys or did you go by yourselves?
Greg Peterson: Our dad went with us to New York City, [00:11:00] basically. Yeah. For the, just the wanting to have someone with us. 'cause, 'cause we were not that old.
Yeah. Yeah. Have
Sydney Collins: had you guys traveled a lot before then? Like extensively, like gone to New York or gone to those places? Been on planes or anything like that?
Greg Peterson: No. Um, I think it was Nathan and Kendall's first flight. Wow. I, I had flown once or twice. but we collectively, I think had only been to like, I mean, it was less than 10 states.
Mm-hmm. Between the, the three of us. And, and then, then ever since then I've, I've done nothing but travel. So it's, I I, I consider when I look at my life, sometimes I think, you know, pre I'm farming and I grow it, post I'm farming and I grow it is, is a pretty definite switch.
Gus Applequist: And what a fortuitous thing that you would major in ag communications.
It. Yeah. And I mean, it's not, it's didn't happen to vacuum obviously. Like, like those two things are related, but, but still, like you have done. A lot of ag communicating in the, in the interim.
Greg Peterson: Yeah. And, and you know, when I chose that major, [00:12:00] I had started in ag economics, I think, and I understood ag economics.
I just didn't think I was very passionate about it. Mm. And I felt like I was passionate about communication and writing, and I just didn't know exactly what I was gonna do with it. And then I was actually minoring in music performance. You know, when you think about like, I literally am using my major and my minor and people would, my friends would laugh at me in college.
They're like, well, what are you going to, what are you gonna do with a, whatcha gonna do with that ag comm major music performance minor. Go home and sing to your cows. And it's like, well,
Gus Applequist: well,
Greg Peterson: I mean, kind of that's what ended up happening. So.
It's hard to, hard to believe.
Gus Applequist: at some point you guys had to think, well, what's next?
You did this huge thing that went viral. Like how did you think about moving on from that to your next video?
Greg Peterson: I think, uh, right away that was, that was the question everyone had for us. And we of course had no plan and it was all we could do to just. Handle what had come from that first video. So we, we made a few, other little videos that summer [00:13:00] kind of just kind of as follow up.
but we had never set out to make a bunch of music videos. We were just gonna make. Well, people, people were kind of calling for another one a little bit and then this song Gangnam style came out. You guys remember that? Of course. I remember that
Sydney Collins: one. Yeah.
Greg Peterson: I mean, that was like a, a cultural revolution at the time.
And uh, and then we decided to do a parody of that over Thanksgiving break that same year in 2012 and filmed it, I think, I think we filmed that one in two days. So it was like a bang, bang type thing. And, we posted it right as Gangnam style was hitting a billion views. So it, it was like in the news.
Very relevant. And so our second video, I think doubled our, our first one 10 million views in a week. And that was, I still hold to this day that that was not so much. How good of a video it was. It was that it was right. The timing was mm-hmm. Could not have been better. And so it ended up becoming, that's one of the top five to 10 parodies of Gangnam style you'll [00:14:00] find on YouTube.
It's got like 20 million views. So that was actually, yeah, our biggest video. But I still to, you know, when I look back on it, I feel like I'm farming and I grow. It was more of the, mm-hmm. That was the, the goal, the success, and the yes. That was just totally organic. There was nothing really connected to it.
But
Balancing Farming and Content Creation
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Gus Applequist: fast forwarding again to today, you guys have learned how to. Balance your YouTube career with the rest of your lives. Describe for me what it was like, kind of, you know, as, as those things were going on and you still had school at K State and, and your brothers were still in high school and, you know, it wasn't, it wasn't figured out yet.
Greg Peterson: No, no it wasn't. And that. Yeah, that those first couple years were challenging because I was not a farmer. I was, I was in school, I was at K State. We would farm in the summer, we'd help dad. But that whole first year, you know, I was, I was at school after, after the summer was over. And so to come up with content while you're at school is, is hard.
so that was, that was a, a weird balance there. And [00:15:00] also. Content creation back in 2012, you didn't have to put out a video every week or every day, or, you know, it wasn't so intense like it is now. And so it was fine that we only posted on Facebook and YouTube once a month, you know? Mm-hmm. It was fine.
No, you know, there weren't that, there wasn't that many other creators to compete with for one thing. Um, but then, I graduated from K State. And that is when I was able to really start pushing more into content creation and, and especially the Facebook page, that really ended up becoming our number one platform, even above YouTube.
balancing that with farming. I think was, was tough early on. I think I was a bit of a workaholic, because I was, I was the first brother to come home and help my dad farm it. It was just him before that with help from the brothers. In the summer. so I was taking on this, this responsibility of dad's finally got a son home to help him farm and, and I was doing a lot of farming and then a lot of [00:16:00] social media and video production on the side.
And then the travel, the speaking engagements, the performances that was kind of starting that. That timeframe as well. So there was a time there where I was really, I loved everything I did, so that kind of fueled the, the workaholism a little bit. but thankfully my brother Nathan came home in 2016, he was able to share the, the farm the load, share the load, yeah.
As load of the rings would put it, uh, there 2016. Yeah. I, I gotta, I gotta
Sydney Collins: between get as many the high, the Lord of Yeah. You guys are. The music,
Greg Peterson: I'm definitely
Sydney Collins: dog man out.
Greg Peterson: So anyway, yeah, by 2016 Nathan was able to help me with the farming and then we just gradually, you know, Kendall came home after that.
But you know, there's been life changes. Since then as well. That was kind of the initial change of, of realizing that I can't farm full-time and do all this other stuff. I need to be kind of a halftime farmer. And then Nathan and Kendall can be more of the [00:17:00] full-time farmers. 'cause I was doing all the editing, all the, the storyboarding, all, everything pre and post-production.
So, so it was, it was a challenge there at the beginning. But, um, then of course the next challenge would've been. All of us getting married and then the next challenge would've been having kids. Yeah. And that's the stage we're in now. And it's, it's, uh, they've all had their, their share of how do we do this?
Mm-hmm.
Gus Applequist: how is it different today than it was when, when you first started?
Greg Peterson: Well, I talked about it a little bit when we first started. There just wasn't so much pressure. you know, compared to now you're expected to, to vlog basically once or twice a week you're expected to upload shorts and reels and, and of course when we started, I think it was just YouTube and Facebook.
In 2012 is all we had. And then now we have YouTube, Facebook, Instagram, TikTok, Snapchat, Twitter, everything, all the above. And it's like you're just posting on all, and you gotta edit your content to vertical and horizontal and all these different things. So I would say the the answer would be way more complicated.
Social [00:18:00] media is way more complicated now. It used to just be, if your content was good, you uploaded it to a couple platforms and it. Took off now. It's like algorithms. Algorithms, algorithms. Yeah. Yeah.
Sydney Collins: Do you have one person in your family that manages all of that or do you guys piece it out or?
Greg Peterson: I basically do most of the, the social media stuff and that's where like.
Like Nathan and Kendall deserve the credit for keeping the, the farm going because they, they work probably twice as many hours on the farm as I do. But then I do basically all of our booking, all of our, mm-hmm. Like I said, pre and post production. And so we've been doing probably. I don't know, 40 to 50 speaking events for the last 12, 11, 12 years.
And that in itself is a almost a full-time job just coordinating all that travel and emailing back and forth with people. So, I, I do not, I've never told anybody I'm a full-time farmer because I, I, I work full-time in the summer during harvest, during planting, I probably work more than full-time, but any of the rest of the [00:19:00] times of the year, I'm probably doing more of this stuff.
Gus Applequist: you know, the, the channel has taken you honestly all over the world, uh, talking about agriculture and, and I'm curious, how has that travel and that, that larger perspective you've gained, how has that affected the way you view farming?
Greg Peterson: Oh, it's definitely affected it. I, I talked a little bit before we felt like we weren't qualified to answer some questions about farming at the beginning.
'cause we hadn't been very many places. Um, we basically knew what Kansas Ag was and that was it. Mm-hmm. And so, um, over the last 13 years, I've been to all 50 states twice, and I've been to, I think it's like 10 other countries, almost every province of Canada. So. And basically in all those places we go and speak at these farming [00:20:00] events and you are connected with farmers and they'll take you out to your, their farm to give you a tour or at the very minimum, you're, you're seeing the landscape and you're asking questions, talking about what farming is like.
So I feel like now. From a global perspective, I have just so much more perspective on, on how it works. And the number one thing you learn is that farming is different everywhere you go. It, it can be different even from one side of the state to the other. Think about western Kansas, you're basically farming a desert.
And then eastern Kansas is, is almost Iowa, so it's like. It's basically totally different from one side to the other. And, there's hundreds of crops being grown. There's all sorts of different climates people are farming in. There's different infrastructures and different types of equipment. there's really small farms and then there's like farms bigger than you could even imagine.
the list goes on and on of just all the differences. it's, it's, it blows your mind. I mean, we, we went over to Germany for a, a farm show there, and, and we walked, walked around and it's like, I don't even know what any [00:21:00] of this stuff is. I mean, it's like you, you, you, you can learn American agriculture even.
Mm-hmm. And then you go to other countries and it's just, it's totally different.
Gus Applequist: Are there any commonalities that you see, you know, is there a, a specific mindset that farmers have or, or is it, is that really not the case?
Greg Peterson: I do think the commonalities lie in, yeah. The mindset or just the kind of the fabric that all of agriculture's woven in of.
You're producing food, you're producing fiber, you're producing fuel and, and different resources and products, and so you all have that in common and you're all working the. The land or, or animals. there's a lot of commonalities too. Uh, you know, I say it's, it's all different, but it's also kind of all the same.
There's, there's both of those aspects as part of it. I mean, we, we, we go to other countries and you're talking to a farmer and, you know, maybe there's an accent there or whatever, but the, the conversation feels like you're talking to another neighboring farmer here at home. So, pretty cool.
Living with Type 1 Diabetes
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Gus Applequist: So about [00:22:00] six years ago you learned you had type one diabetes.
Is that right?
Greg Peterson: Yeah. Yeah. It was when I was, yeah, about six, six years ago. And, and, uh, up until that point, I had never had a cavity. I had never had a broken bone. I had never had anything really wrong with my body. So to go from, from that to basically you have a chronic illness, that, that was really hard.
And I, I think, uh. That's a really, really something that shaped me and still shapes me to this day. Um, because, because it, it's a, it's a constant battle. It's every single day, every single hour, um, even throughout the night, you know, you gotta, you gotta be monitoring it. And so, um, that's, that's definitely been one of the challenges to keep doing everything I was doing when I was 28.
Mm-hmm. To, to, to add. type one diabetes onto it. The way I basically equate it to is it's like you're playing a video game all day long. You got your insulin pump, and you're just, you're playing that video game trying to. To match the carbs you eat. Mm-hmm. [00:23:00] With insulin plus about 15 other factors. And you can play the video game on easy mode just by sitting still and eating no carbs.
Or you can play the video game on expert level, which would be eating whatever you want. And playing sports and dealing with adrenaline spikes and essentially the travel lifestyle is what I would say traveling with type one diabetes is. Expert level and you don't always play the video game that good.
Gus Applequist: Wow. How has that changed your relationship with food? I mean, it's like the commonality I see between farming and your type one diabetes mm-hmm. Is food. Food, yeah. And what you eat.
Greg Peterson: Yeah, I think about what I'm eating a lot more, for sure.
Mm-hmm. and I think the temptation as a, a type one diabetic is to, to think of food as this is healthy for my blood sugar. Not necessarily this is healthy for me. 'cause what's healthy for me is the same as what's healthy for you. But the difference is it can be easier or harder on my blood sugar. And, and [00:24:00] so sometimes it's like, oh, I've, I've balanced my blood sugar really well today, but it's like I didn't eat that good.
And then other days you, I mean you can eat really healthy food and still have bad blood sugar. So, There's just a lot of factors and, and, uh, really with, with farming, I get my best numbers when I'm farming because I'm, uh, active moving around. Um, if anything, I have to eat throughout the day just to, to keep it up.
It tends to go low when I'm farming, whereas when I'm traveling, sitting in airplanes, sitting in hotels, sitting in rental cars, it tends to go high. So then you really have to watch what you eat.
Building a Community Around the Channel
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Gus Applequist: is there, has there been a community that has really been built around the channel and, and how do you see that community show up?
Greg Peterson: yeah, there's, there's definitely been a, a community of people. Um, and of course there's so many, hard to keep track, but you, you recognize names of people that comment like, I've never met these people before, but they comment a lot and, People have gone to bat for us in, in comment sections before and, [00:25:00] and, um, people have, have sent us messages of support.
you know, even like, uh, purchasing merchandise, you know, people will leave messages doing that and just, you know, so we, we feel that community for sure. Then when we go on the road and perform, you get to meet these people in person. And I think that's when you feel the impact. It's so hard to feel the impact through a screen, but when you, that's, that's one of my favorite parts of getting to travel and perform, you know, six states away and you meet, you know, these families are just, these kids.
These kids just think you're Michael Jordan. And, uh, and, and you just see like, oh wow, this, you know, here I am on the farm in the middle of nowhere in Kansas. Filming myself thinking, you know, does this matter? But here, here are these kids, six states away. And it, it, it matters more than anything to them.
And they, they watch our videos every day I didn't realize the impact until I had kids of my own and they start watching the videos and [00:26:00] it's like, wow, this is so cool. Like, they're learning about farming, like, like, this is why we do this. So. Pretty neat.
Sydney Collins: in your, like YouTube statistics. Have you figured out kind of what your age range is on who's viewing your channel? Or like what's your demographic that's usually watching?
Greg Peterson: Yeah, it's, it, it varies. cause we have a, I mean we have a lot of older farmers. I. Young, all farmers of all ages that watch our videos.
Mm-hmm. But then, I mean, it goes all the way down to kids, but kids typically can't have their own YouTube account,
Sydney Collins: right.
Greg Peterson: So like, I think our most popular age group is like, kind of those middle aged moms type of thing. 'cause they, it's their kids watching, they
Kids and Tractors: The Viral Video
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Gus Applequist: kids watching it,
Greg Peterson: watching through that. So, so it's like, man, we're, we're doing really good with those thirties and forties women.
But, but I think it's, it's kids and, and, uh, like my son Steele, he's two and he. His first word was tractor. He can, he can sing our tractor stuck song, but he, he can't even put phrases together. Like, like he's so obsessed with it. He watches it almost every day and, and makes me sing it to him before he goes to sleep at [00:27:00] night.
And so tractor stuck. That's our, our most viewed video now. Oh, wow. On all platforms. And I think it's because there's all these two year olds out there who just have to watch this thing every single day. So, uh, it's, it's pretty fun just to, to see that.
Gus Applequist: And thunder shuck is just such a catchy
Greg Peterson: Oh yeah. I was so
Gus Applequist: high energy.
Greg Peterson: When, when, when I, when we came up kind of with that concept, I was like so excited. I was like, there's no way we can screw this up like this. This is gonna be a great video.
Challenges in American Agriculture
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Gus Applequist: I don't think it's a, it's a secret that, a lot of American, uh, farmers are, are kind of hurting right now.
It's like a difficult time in the industry.
Greg Peterson: Mm-hmm.
Gus Applequist: you know what, for, for people that may not be aware of that, You know, can you kind of just help, help us understand, you know, what's going on in ag right now?
Greg Peterson: yeah, the kind of, the main thing that's going on in ag is the, uh, grain prices are depressed, and so farmers are doing the same amount of work and, you know, maybe getting even better yields than they would have, but because the price is so low, it's still below cost of production.
So [00:28:00] you're, you're basically. Doing all the work and not not making any profit. Now that that's different. I mean, we talked about it. Farming is different everywhere you go. So here in Kansas, you know, for the most part, if it rains, farmers make money. but obviously still affected by prices because you'd get paid more if the price was higher.
But if it rains, farmers make money. Whereas some other places, like the I states, they have, they get rain there typically, and they have all their margins, razor thin. And if the prices go down, they, they're outta luck. And so, and that, that doesn't just affect farmers, it affects everyone in ag because then farmers can't buy equipment.
They can't, you know, buy inputs. They can't pay on their bank loans. So right now all of ag is really feeling that, that stress and that pressure, I don't know if it's so much here in central Kansas mm-hmm. 'cause of kind of what I said. The other thing would be, uh, cattle, a lot of farmers around here have cattle and cattle.
Doing really good. So if you're a diversified farm, you have [00:29:00] cattle, and, and your, your inputs aren't so high like they are here, then, then you're doing okay. But there's a lot of places, and you see that on social media, you see it online, you know, I'm part of a lot of farming groups and everyone's not in a great mood.
They're, they're, uh, they're struggling. But, we've, we've been here before. Um, I, I tell people that's, that's the story of American agriculture is. Highs and lows, persevering through tough times. I mean, you think back to what people in this area went through when it was first settled and it's like, it was tough, but you gotta, you gotta work your way through it.
The Importance of Community in Farming
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Greg Peterson: And so that tractor stuck video, that's actually one of, when we do speaking engagements, that's one of the, the, uh, things we talk about is that tractor stuck video is a great illustration of you get stuck in the mud and, and you, you can't get out. It's so frustrating. That's kind of where farmers are at right now, right?
You're kicking your tires. My, I'm stuck. I don't know what to do. then I, I call my brothers for help and they come and they, we work together and pull the tractor out of the mud. That's the, that's the [00:30:00] concept of the tractor stuck video. And I think that, when, when I'm speaking to farmers, that's, that's what we say is, is, uh, you gotta be able to call somebody for help, whether that's just talking to a friend, um, or just having a community of people around you.
Farmers typically are. Very individualistic. Like, I, I'm tough. I can handle this by myself. I don't need to talk to anybody. Uh, and so I think that's a important message to, to get out there. Not just to not be afraid to ask for help, but to be a person who someone else can ask for help as well. And, and it's, it's everyone in ag that we've, we've gotta look out for each other.
It's a, it's a knit community, but sometimes, like I said, it's, it's tough for farmers to admit they're struggling.
Gus Applequist: There's a sign that I imagine a lot of, uh, more rural Kansans have seen, one Kansas farmer feeds, I think 133 people or something like that. I can't remember
Greg Peterson: exactly. Yeah, it, it keeps going up.
I think, I think it's over, I think it's 155 now.
Gus Applequist: Is it? Okay.
Greg Peterson: And, uh, I think it's, it's, it's probably quite a bit higher than that based on your definition of a farm. 'cause there's [00:31:00] a lot of pretty small. Farms that get put into that statistic, but mm-hmm.
Gus Applequist: When I think about that, I wonder how many of those people, are connected to farm.
How many of them understand the, the work that goes into the food that they eat? so if, if you were to have the opportunity to talk to the, let's say 120 people that don't, don't, you know, don't know a farmer well, what would you want them to know about farming and farmers?
Educating the Public About Farming
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Greg Peterson: well, I think the, uh, initial thing that we dealt with when we first started. Making videos was people just weren't even thinking about farmers, right? Mm-hmm. They just never even thought about where their food or my food comes from the grocery store, right? And, and so they don't even think about farmers.
So that was one of the first things that we really were, were pushing of, Hey, farmers make food and it takes a lot of work. This is what we're doing. there's also. Been some addressing over the years of people. People think farmers are trying to, you know, ruin the environment or trying to poison the food supply, whatever it is.
And not to say that farmers are [00:32:00] perfect because there are improvements that can be made all over the industry. I'm not, you know, and I'm not saying that, that, uh, it's not important to. To at least be aware of those things. But on the other hand, if a farmer is, is ruining their environment, then they're not gonna be farming for very long.
And if a farmer is poisoning the food supply, then they, they shouldn't be going to shop at the grocery stores, which is, you know, you can ask any farmer around, they're, they're going to shop at the same grocery stores as you are. And so there's a little bit of a disconnect of it. It doesn't, it doesn't make sense for farmers to.
To not take care of their animals, to not take care of their, their land. Um, that doesn't mean that we can't make improvements, and that doesn't mean that there aren't things that are wrong. But for the most part, I mean, after traveling and, and talking to farmers, I'm a big believer in the ag industry.
It's, it's not perfect, but there's a lot of things that it's doing right. And that, that people, people don't necessarily understand. Like it's, it's, it's a very complicated industry. There's, there's a reason. Why things [00:33:00] are the way they are. And, uh, it's kind of like these depressed grain markets.
There's a lot of people out there saying, well, you know, quit quit growing corn and soybeans and, and grow fruit and vegetables instead. And it's like, well, hey, I don't think that's gonna work very good in the middle of Kansas. I mean, good luck to you. Yeah, you can try. But, uh, it's, it's, it, it's easier said than done.
Yeah.
Gus Applequist: We recorded another episode this morning, and, uh, the, the guest, we, we were talking about how preconceptions people might have when they come to Kansas.
Greg Peterson: Mm-hmm. Mm-hmm.
Gus Applequist: And, and one, you know, people think they're gonna meet, A bunch of country bumpkins on tractors.
Greg Peterson: Right, right.
Gus Applequist: And I think what they find is a lot of really smart people on tractors.
Greg Peterson: Yeah. It's, it's, and that, you know, maybe has changed too from, from a hundred years ago. Mm-hmm. Not that those people, I would say those, they were more, maybe more tough than, yeah. Than smart. But today, ag has basically gotten to where you, you really have to have a lot of, of knowledge, um, and, and skill sets to, to do what's, what's required at the job.
my dad, when I was, when I was [00:34:00] little, he would always say, you've gotta learn mechanics, you've gotta learn how to fix tractors, turn wrenches, all these things. And I was never that good at that. Well, now here I'm back home working on the farm and, and you know what I'm doing all the time.
I'm trying to help my dad figure out the computers and all the tractors because I'm techie and he's not. And so it's almost, it's almost kind of. Flipped the, the script a little bit. Not that mechanics aren't important. That's, that's still a big part of it. But you, you need to know how to, how to use different things like that.
Gus Applequist: You gotta be a software engineer. Yeah. And an economist, and an accountant and a, there's a list goes on and on. List of jobs. Yeah.
Greg Peterson: Yeah. And I think, I think that is a, a, a cool part of the, the story on YouTube as well is people watch our music videos, and that's usually, typically their introduction to us.
But then our, our whole goal is to be able to funnel them to the vlogs where we're filming, what we're doing each day on the farm each week, and then to have them watch those vlogs for a whole calendar year, [00:35:00] because you just don't realize
Gus Applequist: mm-hmm.
Greg Peterson: All the different things that are going down. It's not just.
Driving a tractor and a combine. There's, there's so many things that are, that are part of it. And even even things beyond what we film, that, that we don't show. And so, um, it's, it's even just the family side of things. Working with family, you gotta have pretty good communication skills and, and, uh, conflict resolution skills for sure.
Mm-hmm. And so there's a lot of things.
The Role of Faith in Farming
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Gus Applequist: One thing we haven't touched on that I know is really important to you is your faith. Would you mind sharing about your faith?
Greg Peterson: Yeah, we talked about farming and music has always been a part of my life. Faith has always been a part of my life and, and, uh, is really the most important part of my life.
And, and I think that everything I do, faith is woven into, you know, that's definitely, you know, doing music that's just using the talents skills that God gave you and helped to, helped you develop. And, and then with farming, I mean, you see it. Taking care of God's creation, just being in God's creation, getting to, to, to witness that every [00:36:00] day.
and even traveling, it's the same thing like when you're, when you're up in an, in an airplane, you're looking out the window. It's like, man, world is big. and just getting to see different cultures, see different, um, parts of the parts of the world. Um, I always tell people like. If you can travel, do it.
'cause travel will, it'll open your eyes to, to just a lot more perspectives and, and, uh, and then of course, yeah, just with, with raising a family and, and trying to be a, a good husband and a good dad, um, faith is, is a, a really important part of that. And, um, just getting to, to serve in local church just with all my interactions with everyone I meet, just wanna, you know, treat them well and, and be a, a good example of, of how Jesus would've treated him.
So.
Gus Applequist: Hmm.
Love for Kansas: A Farmer's Perspective
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Gus Applequist: Well, because we are ask of Kansan. I'll bring it back to Kansas.
Greg Peterson: Yeah.
Gus Applequist: To kinda wrap up. you know, so you've, you've gone, I mean, you routinely go all over the country. what is it, you know, what does Ca Kansas mean to you? Like coming back here? Is this is your home?
Greg Peterson: Yeah, so I think a lot of people like [00:37:00] would think that if, if a a can, a guy who'd grown up in the middle of Kansas got to travel, he'd be like, ah, forget Kansas.
But I tell you, the more I travel the, the more I wanna. The more I'm looking forward to come coming home. And that's not necessarily because it's not more fun to go visit other places. I think, I think from a tourist perspective, it's great to go to other places, but from a, a place to live, Kansas is one of the best places to live.
And there's, there's tourism here as well. I'm not trying to throw Kansas tourism under the bus. Um, there's lots of great places to visit in Kansas. but, but from, from a living perspective, It's almost like you, you don't want to brag about it too much because then everybody's gonna come here and, and it won't be as good.
But, but just the, the low cost living, the friendly people, the lack of traffic you get, you learn a lot about traffic when you go to other states and then just, yeah, just being able to raise a family here and, and farm here. there's certainly challenges of, of farming in Kansas compared to maybe some other places.
Um, but I feel like that's part of the story of [00:38:00] Kansas farmers is that. It can be hard here. The weather is, is ACEC challenge and it, it makes you tougher and it makes you stronger. And, you know, that's the, the resiliency and the perseverance, uh, of Kansas farmers, especially here in, in central Kansas, I think is, that's a legacy that, that you feel when you farm.
And especially as a, a fifth generation of your family, you're, I want to continue that, pass it on. And so, yeah, I love Kansas. I'm a big. Big fan of the state,
Gus Applequist: Okay. Well thanks so much Greg for coming on today and talking about agriculture and videos and music and faith, all of it.
Greg Peterson: Yeah. Thanks for having me and appreciate what you guys do, appreci.
Gus Applequist: Thanks.
[00:39:00]
Gus Applequist: Well, we hope you enjoy that conversation with Greg Peterson.
Sydney Collins: it was kind of odd but weird because like, I remember those videos coming out and being like, this is so cool. This guy's from Kansas. It's like. And then you meet him and he is like the most chill dude. And I'm like, I probably shouldn't fan girl.
'cause that'd be kind of weird.
Gus Applequist: And to me, he is always been cousin Greg. So he is, yeah. He's, he's the nicest guy. And, yeah, he does a, he does a great job. He commits fate, everything he does and. Puts in a lot of hard work. So, um,
Sydney Collins: so if you haven't checked them out, uh, Peterson Farm Brothers on YouTube and all the socials that he mentioned, um, and we'll link 'em in below.
Cool.
Gus Applequist: there's a lot going on on the
Sydney Collins: screen.
TikTok Fun and Kansas Culture
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Sydney Collins: There's a lot going on right now, so we haven't done a Sydney TikTok session yet. Okay. So I've had a lot in the chamber and we just haven't pulled the plug yet.
Gus Applequist: Alright,
Sydney Collins: so this, the first one is by far my [00:40:00] favorite and it will just go downhill from here.
So, but this,
Gus Applequist: I'm gonna describe what I'm seeing. So I'm, there's, I'm, I'm guessing, okay, it says Prairie dog. So there's a prairie dog next to a cat looking out a window at another cat and a bunch of chickens.
Sydney Collins: Chickens. So this is, What do they put when you put a bunch of videos together?
Gus Applequist: super cut or,
Sydney Collins: sure.
A super cut of prairie dogs. And it's something that I did not know that you could have as a pet. And the more you watch it, the more you're like, I think I could do it. It's like a raccoon or a possum. You're like, yeah, you know what? I think I could do it. So here you go.
Gus Applequist: I am pumped.
Oh, he's so cute.
I've seen that one.
Oh, it's like
Sydney Collins: it's
Gus Applequist: a big song. Great dog Yoga.[00:41:00]
Sydney Collins: What was going on in his sometimes?
Two. Two prairie dogs.
Gus Applequist: Oh
Sydney Collins: yeah. Eating the plant. Poor succulent,
Gus Applequist: Uhhuh.
They have so much personality.
Sydney Collins: I think they're just judgmental in a way. Who are you staring at? So like,
Gus Applequist: fantastic.
Sydney Collins: I really want a prairie dog now. I feel like they've gotten a bad rap.
Gus Applequist: I, I, I'm sure there's a school somewhere in Kansas that has prairie dogs as a mascot.
Sydney Collins: Oh, I'm sure.
Gus Applequist: But I want their, like, cheer to be Woo.
It's so
Sydney Collins: [00:42:00] cute. Oh goodness. All right, well this one has, um, I. As, as most of the Kansas, uh, tiktoks that I find, it's usually someone driving through Kansas and they just don't understand Kansas.
Gus Applequist: Ah, mm-hmm.
Sydney Collins: Yeah. So here we go.
Gus Applequist: People this day before Christmas Eve, square footage I school,
another 30% of the town
Sydney Collins: was a great
all. We could probably stop her right there.[00:43:00]
So. He goes on to say, we don't have to watch the full minute 22 of this, but he goes on to Zow and says, that's pretty much what it's, it's graveyards and high schools, but no people.
Gus Applequist: I mean, it, it, there's communities where that description fits. Yeah.
Sydney Collins: Do you remember which city in Kansas is the number one?
Christmas City?
Gus Applequist: Oh, oh yeah. This, this is turnaround is fair play. I, I know Tanner's been there. I can kind of picture it in my head. I know it's Northwest
Sydney Collins: starts with a W
Gus Applequist: and it's not wa Migo. 'cause that's what you guessed. Yep. I don't know. Wac. Wac, of course. W.
Sydney Collins: To be honest,
Gus Applequist: serious town with a silly name.
Sydney Collins: So this is a good thought. This is another one. Okay. Um, A good thought by, uh, a guy living in Kansas City, Kansas.
Gus Applequist: Okay. Mustache is epic.
Sydney Collins: Yes. [00:44:00] What? Kansas City
TikTok: That I've never heard anyone talk about. It's glaringly obvious, but it's the fact that people wear merch for the city, not just the sport.
Sydney Collins: What?
Gus Applequist: He, he has such a vibe. He's, he has such a vibe. He's a McDonald's hat on a coat over a, a
Sydney Collins: sweater over a, it's a button up. It's like a vest. Yeah. And like a jean vest with a sweater over. A button up. And then, I don't know, he, he has a vibe
Gus Applequist: Uhhuh.
Sydney Collins: But he does, you know, have a solid point of, like, for Kansas City, people just wear, just like Kansas City t-shirts.
It's like Nashville. People wear like Nashville t-shirts all over. Mm-hmm. And here's what's even more funny is during Christmas, um, I had to go find something for my aunt, um, and, uh, who my is the mom of my cousin who lives in Nashville and. I was looking at it and looking at it, and I [00:45:00] went to Maurice's here in Salina and they just have Nashville t-shirts everywhere.
And I'm like, well, I can't get her a Nashville shirt because like she goes to Nashville all the time. To see your kid like that doesn't help me. But yeah, like Kansas City, like you do see a lot of KC
Gus Applequist: mm-hmm.
Sydney Collins: Shirts that are not just, you know, chiefs or royals or anything like that.
Gus Applequist: My, uh. This is just a silly story I feel compelled to share.
My nephew went to K State for school and a while back we were in Kansas City and, uh, we went into one of the maiden KC stores.
Sydney Collins: Mm-hmm.
Gus Applequist: And I guess he, he kind of knew the family that ran that. And so we're just going through the store and I see this picture of a kid about Johann's age, just like ticking up like a whole wall.
And I'm like, Hey, Johann. Do you know that guy? And it was, it was his friend from K State, like the whole wall.
Sydney Collins: Whoops.
Gus Applequist: Yeah, it was interesting.
Sydney Collins: Oh shoot. Okay. We've talked about Kathleen Madigan.
Gus Applequist: Yes. Yep.
Sydney Collins: Okay. Well, she has been in Kansas recently. This one [00:46:00] doesn't shed a lot of great light on us, but it is pretty funny.
This is a
Gus Applequist: famous sign.
Sydney Collins: This is a famous sign. Yeah.
We're a much more interesting shape. So for, for those you probably can't hear, um, it's artists. Remember you're in Missouri, not Kansas. So there's a comedy store or comedy. Um. What are they called? Club. Club. Thank you. Mm-hmm. Uh, on the Missouri side of Kansas City. Mm-hmm. And so there's a, um, sign that says Kansas No.
And has the shape of Kansas and the Shape of Missouri. And then Yes. And it says, um, our shape is much more interesting.
Gus Applequist: So like, like, I don't know why anyone would be listening to this podcast that don't already know kind of the Kansas, Missouri dynamic.
Missouri.
Sydney Collins: Yeah.
Gus Applequist: But I just feel compelled to.
Kansas City Chiefs and Kansas Pride
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Gus Applequist: To like ask you about your thoughts about, uh, the chiefs coming to Kansas.
We haven't talked about this. Well, I'm
Sydney Collins: [00:47:00] thrilled to be honest.
Gus Applequist: You're sorry, Uhhuh.
Sydney Collins: Um, mainly because it's gonna open a lot more doors than people think. So when you think of all of, and mainly on the film side is what I've been thinking about lately is because if you think of all of the. Behind the scenes kind of docuseries that have been coming out on all the, there's the ones on the cults.
There's the Chiefs had one. I think the Cowboys had one like all of these. Productions are coming out. Well now it's on the Kansas side, so are we gonna start getting more film incentives? Are we gonna start seeing more production in Kansas? Are we gonna start getting these things?
Gus Applequist: Yeah.
Sydney Collins: Now that we're on the Kansas side instead of the Missouri side,
Gus Applequist: I do hope it raises the auspices of the state of Kansas.
Mm-hmm. We're certainly paying for it. Like, oh
Sydney Collins: yeah.
Gus Applequist: Like there's, there's, it's not cheap, but, um, yeah, it's exciting. Mm-hmm. It's interesting that. We've always kind of been the underdog in this border rivalry. So it'd be cool,
Sydney Collins: and I hope that Travis [00:48:00] stays, like, here's the other thing is like
Gus Applequist: he will be a, a fairly old player if he's still here.
When they open that
Sydney Collins: stadium, he'll by the time that the stadium opens. But then we can say like, Taylor's kind of a Kansan. I know. I mean, I think technically his house is on the Kansas side, so I mean, technically she stays here a lot anyway, but.
Anyway,
Gus Applequist: okay, now this is up my alley.
Sydney Collins: This is up your alley.
I thought of you. Um, and this is probably gonna have to be a road trip for you.
Gus Applequist: Okay.
Sydney Collins: And Greg, did
A Hobbit-Inspired Pub in Kansas
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TikTok: you know there's a pub in Kansas that feels straight out of Lord of the Rings? This is Pilgrim's Cape in St. Mary's, Kansas. And the owner went all out on this place. Every inch is decorated so beautifully.
Wow. To really feel like you've gone back in time. They have a great beer list. And if you order a draft beer, it comes in this little tanker and it is truly what sold me off this place. Such a nice,
Gus Applequist: Ooh, they got bread.
TikTok: The basement is decorated like a dungeon, but you can't be locked up without a pool table and DARS to pass [00:49:00] the time.
Also pizza, this dark beer on Fridays, they have a full fish menu. So I ordered the fish and chips at Pub Classic and my dad ordered a steak off of their regular menu and everything was just.
Sydney Collins: Look at that. Ooh, that looked really good.
TikTok: And live music, it was the perfect place to stop. While on an adventurous journey.
I kept looking around for a certain ranger lurking.
Sydney Collins: But to know such luck,
TikTok: perhaps next time
Gus Applequist: she knows her stuff.
Sydney Collins: She knows her stuff. Yeah.
Gus Applequist: Very good. Lexi Brynn Jones. Thank you for that. I didn't know that
Sydney Collins: existed, so I'll have to be on your, on your bucket. A bucket list.
Gus Applequist: I, I. I hope I'm not getting this wrong, but I think, um, where was that?
Sydney Collins: St. Mary's,
Gus Applequist: St. Mary's. I think St. Mary's might be home or very nearby, is the Kansas Shakespeare Festival.
Sydney Collins: That makes sense.
Gus Applequist: And, uh, that would make a great pairing. Yeah. Like a day trip is to go and visit there and go to the Shakespeare Festival.
Sydney Collins: Wear your [00:50:00] collar.
Gus Applequist: My call. Okay.
Sydney Collins: Your sha, you know, Shakespeare collar.
Gus Applequist: Oh yeah. Big poofy thing. Big poofy thing.
Sydney Collins: Mm-hmm.
Gus Applequist: Mm-hmm.
Wrapping Up: Final Thoughts and Farewell
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Gus Applequist: Well, does that bring us to the end?
Sydney Collins: That's the end. That's all I got for you.
Gus Applequist: Thanks for tuning in to another episode of Ask A Kansan.
Sydney Collins: make sure to like, subscribe wherever you get your notifications. Um, leave us a review.
Gus Applequist: share with a friend. That's, you know, honestly, the best thing you can do is just tell somebody you like the podcast and maybe we'll get one more listener out of it. Um, and also check out the newsletter, Ken, uh, curious Kanon on our website. Ask a kon.com. Well, thanks for tuning in.
Sydney Collins: Yeah. See you later.