October 27, 2022 • 33 mins
In this episode, Topcon host, Dan Hendricks, and TikTok influencer, Mike Burkhart, discuss the evolution of social media in the agriculture industry, and how growers can use the platform to build stronger relationships with consumers.
Mark as Played
Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:00):
When the world shut down nearly three years ago, we
had to find a way to stay intouch with you, our customers.
Our Topcon Talks Agriculturepodcast became one of the most
important means for us to keepup on what's happening in your
fields, your barns, and in manyways, the best way for us to
share with you how our solutionscould keep you running through
(00:21):
things even more efficiently.
That's where Dave or jumped in,He became the voice of our
podcast.
Other hosts stepped in asneeded, but Dave has been the
constant As host, he sharesstories, expertise, and more
about the ag industry.
He helped keep you in touch withtechnology and the solutions
(00:42):
your farm needs.
The times come for Dave to stepaway from podcast hosting as his
role within Topcon Headcontinues to expand.
Dave, we can't thank you enoughfor your passion, your
expertise, and your leadershipin taking the podcast, the
levels we never thought evenpossible.
You shared our story and that ofour customers and our partners.
(01:03):
Again, thanks Dave.
It means a lot to all of us.
Speaker 2 (01:29):
Hello, welcome to the Topcon Talks Agricultural
podcast.
We are thrilled that you arehere to join us today.
My name is Dan Hendricks, and Iam your host for today's
podcast.
As you heard of the top of thepodcast, the great Dave, or has
moved on to some otherresponsibilities here at Topcon
Agriculture, and he will nolonger be the regular host of
(01:50):
this podcast.
I have to say I'm grateful toDave for his leadership, his
passion, his knowledge sincethis podcast started, and I'm
sure Dave is somewhere in thegreat white north in Canada
listening to us.
So, uh, Dave, we love you.
We appreciate you and thanksbrother.
We have a great podcast todayand a great episode for you.
(02:12):
We are talking about theevolution of social media and
agriculture.
Without a doubt, social mediahas become such a big part of
our lives.
Now, you'll find us Facebook andTikTok and Instagramming
tweeting.
We post on LinkedIn.
Um, I even remember the dayswhen I had a MySpace account
(02:32):
just to show you how old I am.
But, uh, it's hard to deny thatsocial media plays such a big
part of our lives today.
But on today's podcast, we wannafocus in on the evolution of
social media, in agriculture,how our growers are using it,
how ag companies are leveragingit, and is there a benefit to it
for farmers?
(02:53):
And maybe you're listening todayand you don't use social media
to follow farming related topicsor social influencers.
You just might learn or hearsomething today that might pique
your interest to go in and, uh,check it out.
We have a very special guesttoday joining today's Topcon
podcast, and his name is MikeBurkhart.
Mike Burkhart is the pride ofPlainville Indiana.
(03:16):
He's a husband, a father, alifelong farmer, an Indiana
Hoosier fan, and a longtimepersonal friend of mine.
Mike, welcome to the podcast.
Speaker 3 (03:28):
My thank you and quite the introduction.
I'm impressed.
.
I don't know that I can hold upto that.
Speaker 2 (03:33):
The, well, the pride of Plainfield, Indiana.
That's, that's correct.
Right?
That is you.
Speaker 3 (03:40):
That's it.
I live in the suburbs rightthere where it's all good,
buddy.
Speaker 2 (03:43):
Well, yeah, I, I was going to include former athlete
into the introduction, but Ididn't wanna show your age.
Speaker 3 (03:50):
Yeah, that might be, Yeah, that might be a little
rough, but by the gray hair, youcan kind of figure that out real
quick.
Speaker 2 (03:56):
Yeah.
Well, Mike has joined us todaybecause he has a passion for
agriculture, number one.
But there's also something veryinteresting about Mike that may
surprise you.
A couple years ago, uh, Miketook out his iPhone, downloaded
an app called TikTok, created anaccount, and started making
TikTok videos.
(04:16):
So, uh, Mike, tell us how longago was it that you started
doing that?
Speaker 3 (04:21):
Well, through, you know, whenever we had the
pandemic, uh, in 2020, like Istarted watching TikTok, um,
that was about all we had to do.
We had to find something to do.
Everybody was just pretty muchcooped up and nowhere to go.
So, uh, in May of 2020, startedwatching ticks, and after about
six months, actually today isthe anniversary date of the
(04:44):
first TikTok that I ever posted.
So I told my wife after watchingfor six months, I said, You
know, everybody's told us thatwe kind of have a story to tell
and that we need to write abook, but I think that this is
probably where we should startthat.
Um, I think that this is a quickway to get that information out
there and, and try to do thebest we can to maybe even help
(05:07):
other people along the way.
Speaker 2 (05:08):
And what did your kids have to say when you told
'em you were doing this?
Speaker 3 (05:12):
Well, that's the interesting part.
So after a couple weeks, why ithad grown to like, uh, 15,000
followers.
And so I told my wife, Wow.
I said, We probably should callour son in Colorado and let him
know that because he's got kidsthat are probably on TikTok.
So whenever I called, um, totell him, I said, um, Hey, just
(05:35):
wanna give you a heads up Dad'son TikTok.
And the response was, Oh mygosh, Dad, what are you doing on
TikTok?
You know, that's just wheregirls go and, and they do all
this stuff on there and what areyou doing?
And I said, Well, I'm not reallynot doing anything all that
special, just telling our story.
Right.
His mother spoke up and said,Well, you must be doing
something right, because he'sgot 15,000 followers and he is
(05:58):
only been on there two weeks.
And, and he's like, Well, youpeople don't understand.
That's 15.
That, that, that's not 15,000.
That's 150 followers.
And she said, No, it's 15,000.
He said, Well, maybe 1500, butnot 15,000.
And she said, What does 15 Kmean to you?
And his response was, And, andthis kid's got a PhD in, in
(06:19):
psychology, so his response was,Holy smokes, dad, What have you
done?
So yeah, kids, my kids have beena little surprised that dad can
pick that up and run with it.
Speaker 2 (06:30):
Right.
Yeah.
Give it to the old man.
He's doing it, shaming the kids.
So, uh, how many videos have youuploaded to date?
Speaker 3 (06:40):
Sometimes it's one a day here, recently, it's only
been like a couple a week.
Mm-hmm.
, uh, we've beenreally busy, but I don't, I, I
would hate to even guess, Dan.
I don't even have a clue.
Uh, without, you'd have to goback and count'em because it
doesn't count'em for you.
So I don't have a clue.
I, I'm satisfied.
It's after two years, it's gottabe approaching a thousand.
(07:01):
I don't know.
Speaker 2 (07:03):
Wow.
Okay.
And help the listenersunderstand all what the content
is for some of the social mediaposts that you make on TikTok.
Speaker 3 (07:11):
Well, in the beginning I just started telling
stories of things that'shappened on the farm, and then
mm-hmm.
, then I alsostarted talking about our son
Travis.
And, uh, his accident, uh,started talking about some of
the things that we learned alongthe way, uh, and then started
talking about our foundationthat we put together to help
(07:31):
families, you know, wheneverthey're going through some type
of medical emergency.
And, uh, that has grown, uh,tremendously since we've gotten
on TikTok, and it has, uh,exploded.
It's been amazing to, to watchthe people on TikTok and how
they have wrapped their armsaround our foundation and have
really gathered what we do andsupported what we do with the
(07:55):
foundation.
It's been been an amazingprocess.
But along the way, also, we wasgetting ready for, uh, an
equipment sale.
So I was climbing into the cabof every piece of equipment and
given the details on everythingwe had.
And then prior to the auction,which was January 16th, 2021,
prior to that about Christmastime, had had a buddy call, his
(08:17):
name's Grown Corn 2020, and hesaid, Hey, I think we've got a
group of TikTok folks that wannacome support you for your sale.
Next thing I know, we've got 50people in our garage after a
sale doing a big fish fry and,and just throwing the food out
on the table.
And that's kind of how that allhas evolved, but it's gotten
right, but also along the waytoo is trying to help younger
(08:41):
farmers and other farmersunderstand the good and the bad
that comes along with theagriculture.
I'll be, I'm not afraid to talkabout the bad stuff that's,
that's out there, uh, becausefarming has changed over the
last 40 years mm-hmm.
and maybe moreaggressively since 2005.
Speaker 2 (08:58):
Okay.
So you use it for a lot ofdifferent things.
Uh, you use your account, soyou're talking about
agriculture, you're talkingabout your foundation.
You said you, you used it whenthe farm was up for sale and you
sold the equipment.
So that, that's interesting thatit's found a lot of different
ways for you to use it.
Speaker 3 (09:17):
The funny thing about that was with like our equipment
sale, TikTok was the best formof advertisement I could have
ever had, uh, because wecouldn't figure out where do you
advertise this stuff at, youknow, newspapers or mm-hmm.
, uh, Ag magazines,where do you go?
But what we soon found out wasthe place to go was TikTok,
(09:39):
because there is thousands offarmers on TikTok.
And it ended up that through oursale, why we ended up 41% above
appraised value.
And I have to credit, probably80% of that was through TikTok.
And probably 85% of all theequipment we sold went outside
of about a 40 mile radius.
(10:00):
I, I mean, we had equipmentgoing clear to the state of
Washington.
Speaker 2 (10:03):
Now, the auction company, is that something that
they've seen other customers do,or were they kind of surprised
of you using TikTok?
Speaker 3 (10:11):
No, um, our auctioneer was a local
auctioneer and, and part of the,the requirements that we had was
, uh, we wanted to do, uh,several different ways, which at
the time, keep in mind we'restill going through a pandemic,
but we still wanted to be anonsite auction.
We wanted to be an onlineauction, and then we needed to
know what his percentage was ofwhat he was gonna charge.
(10:35):
Um, and, you know, and hisability to advertise was, was a
big part of that.
And so we ended up, you know,we, we attacked on Facebook.
Um, we got some response fromthere, but he was totally amazed
at the response that was comingfrom outside of the area, um,
just because of the influenceoff of TikTok.
Speaker 2 (10:56):
That's amazing.
That's an amazing story.
So, uh, let's transition now andtalk about your experiences, not
just with TikTok, but withsocial media kind of in general
as it relates to agriculture.
You know, communication with inagriculture has never been more
accessible than it is right now.
And with the rapid increase, youknow, in smartphones, and all of
(11:19):
us have the internet, socialmedia's become a player in the
way that agriculture companiesand growers communicate and
market.
So explain how social media hasaffected farming in your
opinion.
Well,
Speaker 3 (11:33):
It's, it's interesting for me, through and
through what we experienced withTravis, we probably still would
be kind of in a bubble, but whatmm-hmm.
what we'veexperienced, even in through
YouTube watching YouTube videosmm-hmm.
, and there's somevery good influencers out there
that do a very good job.
(11:54):
And, and, and my part of that isthat I wanna be a big advocate
for agriculture and mm-hmm.
, but yet I also, Iwanna promote what is good.
But that's the thing is thatthere, there, it's, there's such
a channel that you can reach somany people, but what most
people don't understand is thatwhen you farm in a certain area,
(12:15):
you stay within your 25, 30 mileradius.
But the things that I've learnedsince I've been on TikTok at my
age, has been astronomical to beable to pick up something where
someone's setting a combine orsomething different.
But, but the other thing thatfarmers have a problem with is
understanding too, is that thereis a world outside of their
(12:37):
area, and that through TikTok,they, they're able to experience
what somebody in Montana does,or the state of Washington or
Iowa.
And, and you get that experienceof being able to see it
firsthand.
You know, there, there's a lotof the, the negativity stuff
that comes out, but if farmerswill handle it, right, there is
(12:58):
the greatest avenue for, forthem to be able to promote what
they do in agriculture, becauseI still today have not found
anybody that is involved inagriculture that's not doing it
the best economically they can.
And for the environment also.
And, and what a lot of peopledon't understand is that if the
(13:20):
farmers are mistreating the waythat they handle their
fertilized or pesticideschemicals and so on, well then
it, it cuts into their profit.
So that's the thing that peopleneed to understand.
And, and I got into a discussiona couple years ago.
Uh, we was in Boulder, Colorado,and we happened to have some
kids there that was promotingthat, uh, family farms was ruin
(13:43):
their drinking water.
And what I found out was thatthey was not, they was just
being given some information, uhmm-hmm.
, it was aninternship that they was being
paid to do, but they didn'trealize that their information
was wrong because, uh, what Itold'em was, I said, Listen,
what you gotta understand is Ilove my family very much and
(14:07):
mm-hmm.
, my family'seating outta the same food
source that you are.
So why would I do somethingthat's gonna damage the food
source that you're eating out of, or my family?
And, and that's what is hard forpeople to kind of understand.
And, and, you know, the folks,um, that I see taking the
biggest hit, um, on any socialmedia is the dairy industry.
(14:30):
Um, there's some really goodpeople out there that's
promoting dairy, and those folksjust love their cows and, and
love what they do.
Cause that is a tough industryto be in.
And, and it's hard for people tokind of grasp what that looks
like on a daily basis.
Speaker 2 (14:48):
Yeah.
So it sounds like for you, youfeel like social media in
agriculture has expanded yourhorizons.
It's, it's connected you withother people, like-minded
people, and it's, it's educatedyou in some ways to see what
other growers are, are doing.
Speaker 3 (15:05):
Oh, absolutely.
Um, and, and I got to experienceit kind of firsthand.
Uh, last year, uh, there was agroup out of Iowa that did a
auction, uh, for our foundation.
So what ended up happening was,uh, I told him, I said, Well,
this may be a silly thing, buthow about I go somewhere for a
week?
You guys auction me off to gosomewhere for a week and help
(15:29):
somebody with harvest?
And so I ended up in twolocations.
I ended up in central Illinois,uh, helping one farmer with his
harvest last year for a week.
And then I ended up in Montanahelping another farmer up there.
And, and it was, you know, to beable to do that and, and
especially into Montana and getto see, um, uh, pe green peas
(15:52):
being harvested, and to see howthey harvest wheat and in the
windrow and then barley.
But it, it's been an experiencefor me to learn what's in
different parts of the country.
And that's what a lot of peopledon't understand too.
And if you talk to differentfarmers is that for Montana, for
instance, they get 11 inches ofrain a year.
We get 42 inches of rain here ayear.
(16:13):
And so it's hard for them tofathom why they farm different
there than what we would farmdifferent here.
So yeah, it has definitelyopened up, uh, my eyes to see
what else is out there.
Speaker 2 (16:23):
That's exciting.
Let, let's talk about socialmedia and in agriculture as it
relates to maybe other agcompanies.
Do you use social media tofollow ag companies or
manufacturers to find outinformation?
Speaker 3 (16:38):
Yeah, and I, and I think this is a great place for,
uh, companies to, to be able toget their message out quickly.
And I think it's, um, it'sbetter than in a ag magazine or
newspaper, social media.
We all have it and it's allwithin our fingertips because
we've all got a phone mm-hmm.
and right thenthat's what we we're all we're
(17:03):
doing now, you know, way backwhen, whenever the internet
first started and had that realweird sound coming onto it, that
eaw,, whatever you wannacall it, but you know, the only
way you could get it was sittingat a, at a desktop.
Right.
Well, now it it's all at yourfingertips.
Mm-hmm.
, and, and I seethis as a way, but I I, I also
(17:23):
have to tell companies too, becareful.
Um, and it's the same thing withfarmers that get ready.
You need to be, um, you need tohave alligator skin because
there's gonna be some truth.
You know, there's gonna be somepeople that's gonna come at you
and you need to be prepared, uh,that, you know, you need to have
an open discussion of whymm-hmm.
(17:45):
, uh, you promotedwhat you promoted and why you
think it's a, a better productbecause it will happen and it
will happen quickly.
Uh, that's, that's the thingthat I see is that I see that as
an avenue for companies that canmove quickly and, and can grow
quickly.
Speaker 2 (18:01):
So, Mike, do you use social media around your farm or
personally to help solve aproblem or figure out how to
accomplish something?
Speaker 3 (18:09):
Yeah.
You, you can learn so much fromthe social media side of it.
Um, if you've got something thatyou really, and, and it's a,
you've got a couple differentquick ways to, to resolve a
problem mm-hmm.
, when it comes tosocial media, uh, you can put
something on TikTok out realquick, and I'll guarantee you,
you will get a response very,very rapidly.
(18:30):
You can go to Google.
Um, but you know, the, the thingis with farming, uh, don't ask
Google, ask a farmer, um,because that's, that's your,
your guys that are in the field,those are the ones that are
gonna give you the resource, uh,that is what's working today.
Mm-hmm.
, uh, and, and it'swhat they have that they've seen
(18:52):
that's been successful.
Speaker 2 (18:54):
What would you say are some of the main barriers
that keep some farmers,producers, growers from getting
the most out of social media
Speaker 3 (19:03):
Time, uh, would be a big one.
Uhhuh.
.
Um, yeah.
I mean, putting, putting videostogether is, is not that
difficult, but sometimes you'rejust in a rush all the time and
it, and it's hard.
Yeah.
Uh, I know some social mediafolks that are, are making a
good living with their socialmedia that have went so far as
(19:24):
to hire a video crew to come inand then have somebody do the
editing because they don't havethe time to go through that
entire process.
Age is not it.
I've had farmers call me intheir seventies and ask opinions
and ask for advice, and, andI've had all the way down to 18
years old same way mm-hmm.
(19:45):
.
So that, that's been one thingfor me is that I've kind of been
able to be an outreach to where,you know, and if I don't know
the answer, I won't, I won'tgive you the wrong what I think
is the wrong answer.
And, you know, if you ask myopinion, I'm gonna give it to
you, but if you don't ask myopinion, you probably won't get
it.
You know, there's no age gaphere with this stuff.
(20:06):
It, it's been amazing to me thatI think most farmers feel pretty
comfortable, but yet there's alot of them too, that if, if you
go in and look, there's a lot of'em that just watch.
I mean, I've had a lot of guyscome up to me at different farm
places and they'll tell me theirname and I'm like, I don't
recognize it.
Well, I don't never postanything.
(20:26):
I'm just kind of a creepermm-hmm.
.
And so that's kind the way thatgoes.
Speaker 2 (20:30):
Sure.
Do you find that there arepeople maybe in agriculture that
have a certain level of fear orintimidation just about these
apps or platforms?
And if so, I mean, what wouldyou say to someone like that
about how to overcome that?
Speaker 3 (20:46):
Yeah, I've seen some guys, guys that start out, you
can tell they're real nervouswith it.
Uh, and then, uh, after being onthere a couple months, you can
see that they loosen up and it,it's just a thing, just jump in.
Don't feel like you'reintimidated by it, uh, just
mm-hmm.
, just be yourself,you know, and just talk about
what, you know.
It's kinda like anything you doas far as public speaking or
(21:08):
anything.
As long as you talk about whatyou know and what you have
experience and what you feellike you're somewhat an expert
at, then just run with it.
And, and don't, don't worry toomuch.
You can, That's the good thingabout social media, like with
TikTok, is that you don't likeit.
You can delete it and startover.
And, and that's a good part ofthis.
(21:29):
You can do all the editing inthe world to get it the way you
want it to be.
I, I mean, I've had some thatI've done 5, 6, 7 times and, and
I'll go back and pull it backout and, and then, uh, start
over.
Speaker 2 (21:41):
So how did you decide to use the TikTok platform
instead of YouTube or Instagramor Facebook?
Speaker 3 (21:48):
I, I really, I don't know.
I just kind of stumbled onto it.
Yeah.
Because there was nobody in, in,in my close circle that was
using it.
I really don't even know how it,it was just that, you know, we
was all pinned down and didn'thave nothing to do, and so you
were just kinda searching forthings to do.
And so I, I don't even know howit come about.
I really don't even know howthat got started, but Sure.
(22:11):
It, it seemed to be somethingthat was easy to acclimate
myself to.
Mm-hmm.
didn't seem likeit was all that difficult once
you, once you learn.
And, and there's still a lot ofit that I see guys doing certain
things and I'm like, How didthey do that?
And so there's still a lot on itthat I still don't know.
Speaker 2 (22:28):
Yeah.
What are some of the trends thatyou see in social media from, in
agriculture or ag agribusinessmarketing?
Like what are the things thatyou see that, that companies or
individuals that are beingsuccessful in this arena are
doing?
Well,
Speaker 3 (22:43):
They, they get an audience and, and they get a
group of followers.
And I think that a lot of timesit's, it's how the topic that
you're gonna talk about, is itintriguing enough that
somebody's, I mean, some of thecraziest stuff that, that I've
put out there has had the mostviews on it.
I, I did one a few weeks ago wasat our local golf course and had
(23:05):
a company there that was pullinggolf balls with a machine.
Now, the bottom of all thelakes, I did a short clip video
on that, and it ended up with, Idon't know, close to 125,000
views on that.
And so it, it depends on ifyou've got a topic I think that
is revelent, but yet, you know,like I touched on earlier with,
(23:28):
uh, the fact about manufacturersis that, you know, you're gonna
get, you're gonna find out realquick if you've engineered that
correctly.
Because that's the thing is thatwith farmers, they, they,
they're in in the mix of thatand, and they're working on say,
a piece of equipment every day,and some of the things that they
(23:48):
come across just doesn't makesense why it may have been
engineered that way.
And so, you know, a lot of timesengineers need to really be in,
in the trenches to understandthe product that they've got
out.
There may not be, it may haveseemed like it made sense on an
assembly line, but when it cometime to service it or put it
(24:09):
into motion, then it, it may nothave been anything that was
beneficial.
Speaker 2 (24:14):
Right.
So the, a grower or a customermay use it in a slightly
different way than what theydesigned it for or how they
thought it was going to be used.
And you're saying with socialmedia, you'll get some honest
feedback.
Speaker 3 (24:26):
Yeah.
You're gonna get a lot of honestfeedback.
But the other thing you gottaremember too is that we, as an
agriculture society, they saywe're 2% of overall population,
but I think we're probablycloser to 1%.
And so every generation thatgoes by gets further removed
from the farm.
So we need educate them of whywe do what we do and the way we
(24:49):
do it, and do it in a way thatis not confrontational, but do
it in a way that is educational.
And I think sometimes we, wehave a tendency to overlook that
because there's a lot that, thatfarmers do that people, it does
not have a clue.
There's a lot of people that goto the store, buy the food that
thinks their food's manufacturedin the back room, and, and they
(25:11):
need understand where it allstarts at and why it starts the
way it does.
And, um, and, and the reason whyfarmers do what they do and how
they're able to do it in a wayto be profitable and be
successful.
Speaker 2 (25:24):
So as it relates to agriculture equipment companies,
the ones that you find yourselfwatching, maybe YouTube videos
or Instagram, what kind ofcontent are they putting out you
find helpful or useful as agrower?
Speaker 3 (25:40):
I think you gotta kinda remember too is that we
all have a very short attentionspan.
If, if you're putting out a,like a video, let's say, of a
piece of equipment mm-hmm.
, it needs to bepretty compact and pretty much
to the point and, and it needsto be educational along with it.
It, it needs to be to a point towhere that it makes sense to put
(26:04):
in somebody's operation to whereit, it's something that can help
them make money, that can helpthem be more efficient.
Those are two big items withfarmers.
We was probably one of the firstones in the area that had any
GPS on, on our equipment alongwith yield data.
And then, you know, we, wetransformed over then into soil
(26:25):
data and, uh, then auto trackstuff.
But it made sense.
Uh, that was the reason why wewent with it, was because it
made sense that made it moreefficient, uh, and it gave us
information that we couldtangibly use to help us make
decisions to be more efficientand more profitable.
(26:48):
And so, yeah, if, if, if you'rea, a company that's putting
something out there, if you canput it in the hands of a farmer
and, and you can see how it'sworking, um, that is, is really
beneficial.
Really quick.
Speaker 2 (27:00):
Well, Mike, you've given us some great insights and
, and feedback into your storyand how social media in
agriculture, you know, is kindof working and encouraging
people to, to use social mediaas a way to help them understand
farming and agriculture.
Is there anything else that youwanna share with our listeners
today?
(27:20):
Anything else I've skipped over?
Speaker 3 (27:24):
Yeah.
Um, there, there's a couplethings that, you know, that I
think that probably needs to betouched and, and that is the
fact, which one, which socialmedia, you know, which one is
connecting with people?
I don't think that, um, I have astack of magazines over here
right now that I, I just don'thave time to go through and, and
(27:46):
I just think that that day andage, Yeah, when the snow's
flying, you might pick one upand, and see it, but figure out
what avenue works for you,whether it be YouTube or Twitter
or TikTok, whatever is theeasiest for you to be able to,
to convey what you're trying toaccomplish, figure out what
you're trying to accomplishfirst.
And, and some of it is justhaving a good time.
(28:07):
You know, we, we've made somegreat friendships throughout the
United States through TikTok.
We've been in 22 states in thelast 18 months, um, and it has
grown to a point to where we'vegot people doing fundraisers for
our foundation.
And, and that's the main reasonwhy is that, you know, we found
a platform and, and found peoplethat trust what we're doing and,
(28:28):
and how we're trying to takecare of people and, and educate
'em and what we do.
And I can't thank that part ofit enough.
But yeah, you just gotta jump inthere both feet and don't be
bashful because you may have alandowner that doesn't really
know what you do every day, andmaybe you can educate that
landowner.
Maybe you can use your socialmedia platform in a way that
(28:51):
maybe some other neighbor seesit and you help them.
Or maybe you even, you know,you're able to communicate with
a landowner that's close in yourarea that, you know, there's
different ways that it can bebeneficial for you that, um, if
you're not in it, it's not gonnamake a difference, but you gotta
get in it.
Speaker 2 (29:10):
Sure.
Well, that's great wisdom.
Thank you for sharing that.
And Mike, tell us a little bitabout the Travis Burkhart
Foundation that you mentionedearlier.
Speaker 3 (29:20):
We, we started the foundation because, or son was
involved in the car accident in2008.
And we ended up that we was inthe hospital for five and a half
months.
And it was, uh, a prettytraumatic experience on our
family.
Changed the whole aspect of, ofour future for our family.
At the time, we did not think itwould, we thought it would be a
short term thing where, uh, wewould be in and out, but we
(29:44):
ended up, uh, in the first 16months, we, one of us, either my
wife or I lived out of a hoteland we had so much help from the
community, uh, churches, peoplethat we didn't even know.
And so after the dust had kindof settled from all that, we
became a legal foundation in,uh, 2009, started helping
(30:04):
families, uh, assisting them,uh, with things such as maybe
their deductible, maybe it's gasto get back and forth to
appointments.
Maybe it's a hotel stay.
We've bought, uh, 21 iPads forautistic kids.
So we've done a whole realm ofdifferent things over the period
of time.
We have a a 13 person board thatmakes these decisions.
(30:25):
Um, and it's been to the pointnow to where we are.
We have gave out$335,000, havehelped families almost 1400
times.
And, and it's a thing of whereit's not just a one time help,
it's can be monthly.
We've got families that we'vehelped since 2015, and here we
are seven years later.
(30:45):
So it's a continuous process,but we've seen the need and, and
the financial strain that it canput on a family.
So we decided that, hey, let'sjump in this thing and see if we
can get back, because God hadkind of guided us in a way that
we couldn't understand, uh, whatwe was trying to accomplish.
And, and we was very blessedwith the fact that we, we had
(31:07):
the ability and the flexibilitybecause I farmed that I could
still help with our son'srecovery.
And, and a lot of people don'thave that flexibility.
So we was very fortunate thatway.
But we had some things thathappened here on the farm, and
it was just kind of God's way ofjust tapping us in the head with
a hammer and saying, We need, Ineed you to be more involved
(31:27):
with what you're doing with yourfoundation and less involved
with the other things in yourlife.
And so, yeah, we was managing aconvenience store and we had a
farm and we basically ended upretiring from the farm and
that's when everything kind ofreally grew, uh, with what we
was doing.
We was helping in southernIndiana and now we're helping
families all over the UnitedStates.
Speaker 2 (31:49):
Hmm.
That's an amazing story.
And, and I know personally thefoundation is, you know, making
a big difference in the lives ofso many people.
So our listeners can find you onFacebook, Just do a search for
Mike Burkhart and they can alsofind the Travis Burkhart
Foundation on Facebook as well.
You could follow Mike Burkharton TikTok at Farming tbi.
(32:14):
Dad, if you enjoyed thisepisode, remember to, like,
share, subscribe to Topcon TalksAgriculture on Spotify, Apple
Podcasts, Amazon Music, orwherever you get your podcasts.
Please like us, follow us,interact with us.
We're always striving to createcontent that benefits growers
and the agricultural community.
(32:36):
I want to thank Mike Burkhartfor joining us today.
Mike, it's always a pleasure.
Please give your wife our bestand the rest of your family.
I also wanna say a huge thanksto each of our listeners.
We appreciate you taking thetime to join the Topcon Talks
Agriculture podcast.
When the world shut down nearly three years ago, we
had to find a way to stay intouch with you, our customers.
Our Topcon Talks Agriculturepodcast became one of the most
important means for us to keepup on what's happening in your
fields, your barns, and in manyways, the best way for us to
share with you how our solutionscould keep you running through
(00:21):
things even more efficiently.
That's where Dave or jumped in,He became the voice of our
podcast.
Other hosts stepped in asneeded, but Dave has been the
constant As host, he sharesstories, expertise, and more
about the ag industry.
He helped keep you in touch withtechnology and the solutions
(00:42):
your farm needs.
The times come for Dave to stepaway from podcast hosting as his
role within Topcon Headcontinues to expand.
Dave, we can't thank you enoughfor your passion, your
expertise, and your leadershipin taking the podcast, the
levels we never thought evenpossible.
You shared our story and that ofour customers and our partners.
(01:03):
Again, thanks Dave.
It means a lot to all of us.
Speaker 2 (01:29):
Hello, welcome to the Topcon Talks Agricultural
podcast.
We are thrilled that you arehere to join us today.
My name is Dan Hendricks, and Iam your host for today's
podcast.
As you heard of the top of thepodcast, the great Dave, or has
moved on to some otherresponsibilities here at Topcon
Agriculture, and he will nolonger be the regular host of
(01:50):
this podcast.
I have to say I'm grateful toDave for his leadership, his
passion, his knowledge sincethis podcast started, and I'm
sure Dave is somewhere in thegreat white north in Canada
listening to us.
So, uh, Dave, we love you.
We appreciate you and thanksbrother.
We have a great podcast todayand a great episode for you.
(02:12):
We are talking about theevolution of social media and
agriculture.
Without a doubt, social mediahas become such a big part of
our lives.
Now, you'll find us Facebook andTikTok and Instagramming
tweeting.
We post on LinkedIn.
Um, I even remember the dayswhen I had a MySpace account
(02:32):
just to show you how old I am.
But, uh, it's hard to deny thatsocial media plays such a big
part of our lives today.
But on today's podcast, we wannafocus in on the evolution of
social media, in agriculture,how our growers are using it,
how ag companies are leveragingit, and is there a benefit to it
for farmers?
(02:53):
And maybe you're listening todayand you don't use social media
to follow farming related topicsor social influencers.
You just might learn or hearsomething today that might pique
your interest to go in and, uh,check it out.
We have a very special guesttoday joining today's Topcon
podcast, and his name is MikeBurkhart.
Mike Burkhart is the pride ofPlainville Indiana.
(03:16):
He's a husband, a father, alifelong farmer, an Indiana
Hoosier fan, and a longtimepersonal friend of mine.
Mike, welcome to the podcast.
Speaker 3 (03:28):
My thank you and quite the introduction.
I'm impressed.
I don't know that I can hold upto that.
Speaker 2 (03:33):
The, well, the pride of Plainfield, Indiana.
That's, that's correct.
Right?
That is you.
Speaker 3 (03:40):
That's it.
I live in the suburbs rightthere where it's all good,
buddy.
Speaker 2 (03:43):
Well, yeah, I, I was going to include former athlete
into the introduction, but Ididn't wanna show your age.
Speaker 3 (03:50):
Yeah, that might be, Yeah, that might be a little
rough, but by the gray hair, youcan kind of figure that out real
quick.
Speaker 2 (03:56):
Yeah.
Well, Mike has joined us todaybecause he has a passion for
agriculture, number one.
But there's also something veryinteresting about Mike that may
surprise you.
A couple years ago, uh, Miketook out his iPhone, downloaded
an app called TikTok, created anaccount, and started making
TikTok videos.
(04:16):
So, uh, Mike, tell us how longago was it that you started
doing that?
Speaker 3 (04:21):
Well, through, you know, whenever we had the
pandemic, uh, in 2020, like Istarted watching TikTok, um,
that was about all we had to do.
We had to find something to do.
Everybody was just pretty muchcooped up and nowhere to go.
So, uh, in May of 2020, startedwatching ticks, and after about
six months, actually today isthe anniversary date of the
(04:44):
first TikTok that I ever posted.
So I told my wife after watchingfor six months, I said, You
know, everybody's told us thatwe kind of have a story to tell
and that we need to write abook, but I think that this is
probably where we should startthat.
Um, I think that this is a quickway to get that information out
there and, and try to do thebest we can to maybe even help
(05:07):
other people along the way.
Speaker 2 (05:08):
And what did your kids have to say when you told
'em you were doing this?
Speaker 3 (05:12):
Well, that's the interesting part.
So after a couple weeks, why ithad grown to like, uh, 15,000
followers.
And so I told my wife, Wow.
I said, We probably should callour son in Colorado and let him
know that because he's got kidsthat are probably on TikTok.
So whenever I called, um, totell him, I said, um, Hey, just
(05:35):
wanna give you a heads up Dad'son TikTok.
And the response was, Oh mygosh, Dad, what are you doing on
TikTok?
You know, that's just wheregirls go and, and they do all
this stuff on there and what areyou doing?
And I said, Well, I'm not reallynot doing anything all that
special, just telling our story.
Right.
His mother spoke up and said,Well, you must be doing
something right, because he'sgot 15,000 followers and he is
(05:58):
only been on there two weeks.
And, and he's like, Well, youpeople don't understand.
That's 15.
That, that, that's not 15,000.
That's 150 followers.
And she said, No, it's 15,000.
He said, Well, maybe 1500, butnot 15,000.
And she said, What does 15 Kmean to you?
And his response was, And, andthis kid's got a PhD in, in
(06:19):
psychology, so his response was,Holy smokes, dad, What have you
done
So yeah, kids, my kids have beena little surprised that dad can
pick that up and run with it.
Speaker 2 (06:30):
Right.
Yeah.
Give it to the old man.
He's doing it, shaming the kids.
So, uh, how many videos have youuploaded to date?
Speaker 3 (06:40):
Sometimes it's one a day here, recently, it's only
been like a couple a week.
Mm-hmm.
would hate to even guess, Dan.
I don't even have a clue.
Uh, without, you'd have to goback and count'em because it
doesn't count'em for you.
So I don't have a clue.
I, I'm satisfied.
It's after two years, it's gottabe approaching a thousand.
(07:01):
I don't know.
Speaker 2 (07:03):
Wow.
Okay.
And help the listenersunderstand all what the content
is for some of the social mediaposts that you make on TikTok.
Speaker 3 (07:11):
Well, in the beginning I just started telling
stories of things that'shappened on the farm, and then
mm-hmm.
Travis.
And, uh, his accident, uh,started talking about some of
the things that we learned alongthe way, uh, and then started
talking about our foundationthat we put together to help
(07:31):
families, you know, wheneverthey're going through some type
of medical emergency.
And, uh, that has grown, uh,tremendously since we've gotten
on TikTok, and it has, uh,exploded.
It's been amazing to, to watchthe people on TikTok and how
they have wrapped their armsaround our foundation and have
really gathered what we do andsupported what we do with the
(07:55):
foundation.
It's been been an amazingprocess.
But along the way, also, we wasgetting ready for, uh, an
equipment sale.
So I was climbing into the cabof every piece of equipment and
given the details on everythingwe had.
And then prior to the auction,which was January 16th, 2021,
prior to that about Christmastime, had had a buddy call, his
(08:17):
name's Grown Corn 2020, and hesaid, Hey, I think we've got a
group of TikTok folks that wannacome support you for your sale.
Next thing I know, we've got 50people in our garage after a
sale doing a big fish fry and,and just throwing the food out
on the table.
And that's kind of how that allhas evolved, but it's gotten
right, but also along the waytoo is trying to help younger
(08:41):
farmers and other farmersunderstand the good and the bad
that comes along with theagriculture.
I'll be, I'm not afraid to talkabout the bad stuff that's,
that's out there, uh, becausefarming has changed over the
last 40 years mm-hmm.
Speaker 2 (08:58):
Okay.
So you use it for a lot ofdifferent things.
Uh, you use your account, soyou're talking about
agriculture, you're talkingabout your foundation.
You said you, you used it whenthe farm was up for sale and you
sold the equipment.
So that, that's interesting thatit's found a lot of different
ways for you to use it.
Speaker 3 (09:17):
The funny thing about that was with like our equipment
sale, TikTok was the best formof advertisement I could have
ever had, uh, because wecouldn't figure out where do you
advertise this stuff at, youknow, newspapers or mm-hmm.
But what we soon found out wasthe place to go was TikTok,
(09:39):
because there is thousands offarmers on TikTok.
And it ended up that through oursale, why we ended up 41% above
appraised value.
And I have to credit, probably80% of that was through TikTok.
And probably 85% of all theequipment we sold went outside
of about a 40 mile radius.
(10:00):
I, I mean, we had equipmentgoing clear to the state of
Washington.
Speaker 2 (10:03):
Now, the auction company, is that something that
they've seen other customers do,or were they kind of surprised
of you using TikTok?
Speaker 3 (10:11):
No, um, our auctioneer was a local
auctioneer and, and part of the,the requirements that we had was
, uh, we wanted to do, uh,several different ways, which at
the time, keep in mind we'restill going through a pandemic,
but we still wanted to be anonsite auction.
We wanted to be an onlineauction, and then we needed to
know what his percentage was ofwhat he was gonna charge.
(10:35):
Um, and, you know, and hisability to advertise was, was a
big part of that.
And so we ended up, you know,we, we attacked on Facebook.
Um, we got some response fromthere, but he was totally amazed
at the response that was comingfrom outside of the area, um,
just because of the influenceoff of TikTok.
Speaker 2 (10:56):
That's amazing.
That's an amazing story.
So, uh, let's transition now andtalk about your experiences, not
just with TikTok, but withsocial media kind of in general
as it relates to agriculture.
You know, communication with inagriculture has never been more
accessible than it is right now.
And with the rapid increase, youknow, in smartphones, and all of
(11:19):
us have the internet, socialmedia's become a player in the
way that agriculture companiesand growers communicate and
market.
So explain how social media hasaffected farming in your
opinion.
Well,
Speaker 3 (11:33):
It's, it's interesting for me, through and
through what we experienced withTravis, we probably still would
be kind of in a bubble, but whatmm-hmm.
YouTube watching YouTube videosmm-hmm.
that do a very good job.
(11:54):
And, and, and my part of that isthat I wanna be a big advocate
for agriculture and mm-hmm.
But that's the thing is thatthere, there, it's, there's such
a channel that you can reach somany people, but what most
people don't understand is thatwhen you farm in a certain area,
(12:15):
you stay within your 25, 30 mileradius.
But the things that I've learnedsince I've been on TikTok at my
age, has been astronomical to beable to pick up something where
someone's setting a combine orsomething different.
But, but the other thing thatfarmers have a problem with is
understanding too, is that thereis a world outside of their
(12:37):
area, and that through TikTok,they, they're able to experience
what somebody in Montana does,or the state of Washington or
Iowa.
And, and you get that experienceof being able to see it
firsthand.
You know, there, there's a lotof the, the negativity stuff
that comes out, but if farmerswill handle it, right, there is
(12:58):
the greatest avenue for, forthem to be able to promote what
they do in agriculture, becauseI still today have not found
anybody that is involved inagriculture that's not doing it
the best economically they can.
And for the environment also.
And, and what a lot of peopledon't understand is that if the
(13:20):
farmers are mistreating the waythat they handle their
fertilized or pesticideschemicals and so on, well then
it, it cuts into their profit.
So that's the thing that peopleneed to understand.
And, and I got into a discussiona couple years ago.
Uh, we was in Boulder, Colorado,and we happened to have some
kids there that was promotingthat, uh, family farms was ruin
(13:43):
their drinking water.
And what I found out was thatthey was not, they was just
being given some information, uhmm-hmm.
paid to do, but they didn'trealize that their information
was wrong because, uh, what Itold'em was, I said, Listen,
what you gotta understand is Ilove my family very much and
(14:07):
mm-hmm.
source that you are.
So why would I do somethingthat's gonna damage the food
source that you're eating out of, or my family?
And, and that's what is hard forpeople to kind of understand.
And, and, you know, the folks,um, that I see taking the
biggest hit, um, on any socialmedia is the dairy industry.
(14:30):
Um, there's some really goodpeople out there that's
promoting dairy, and those folksjust love their cows and, and
love what they do.
Cause that is a tough industryto be in.
And, and it's hard for people tokind of grasp what that looks
like on a daily basis.
Speaker 2 (14:48):
Yeah.
So it sounds like for you, youfeel like social media in
agriculture has expanded yourhorizons.
It's, it's connected you withother people, like-minded
people, and it's, it's educatedyou in some ways to see what
other growers are, are doing.
Speaker 3 (15:05):
Oh, absolutely.
Um, and, and I got to experienceit kind of firsthand.
Uh, last year, uh, there was agroup out of Iowa that did a
auction, uh, for our foundation.
So what ended up happening was,uh, I told him, I said, Well,
this may be a silly thing, buthow about I go somewhere for a
week?
You guys auction me off to gosomewhere for a week and help
(15:29):
somebody with harvest?
And so I ended up in twolocations.
I ended up in central Illinois,uh, helping one farmer with his
harvest last year for a week.
And then I ended up in Montanahelping another farmer up there.
And, and it was, you know, to beable to do that and, and
especially into Montana and getto see, um, uh, pe green peas
(15:52):
being harvested, and to see howthey harvest wheat and in the
windrow and then barley.
But it, it's been an experiencefor me to learn what's in
different parts of the country.
And that's what a lot of peopledon't understand too.
And if you talk to differentfarmers is that for Montana, for
instance, they get 11 inches ofrain a year.
We get 42 inches of rain here ayear.
(16:13):
And so it's hard for them tofathom why they farm different
there than what we would farmdifferent here.
So yeah, it has definitelyopened up, uh, my eyes to see
what else is out there.
Speaker 2 (16:23):
That's exciting.
Let, let's talk about socialmedia and in agriculture as it
relates to maybe other agcompanies.
Do you use social media tofollow ag companies or
manufacturers to find outinformation?
Speaker 3 (16:38):
Yeah, and I, and I think this is a great place for,
uh, companies to, to be able toget their message out quickly.
And I think it's, um, it'sbetter than in a ag magazine or
newspaper, social media.
We all have it and it's allwithin our fingertips because
we've all got a phone mm-hmm.
(17:03):
doing now, you know, way backwhen, whenever the internet
first started and had that realweird sound coming onto it, that
eaw,
way you could get it was sittingat a, at a desktop.
Right.
Well, now it it's all at yourfingertips.
Mm-hmm.
(17:23):
have to tell companies too, becareful.
Um, and it's the same thing withfarmers that get ready.
You need to be, um, you need tohave alligator skin because
there's gonna be some truth.
You know, there's gonna be somepeople that's gonna come at you
and you need to be prepared, uh,that, you know, you need to have
an open discussion of whymm-hmm.
(17:45):
think it's a, a better productbecause it will happen and it
will happen quickly.
Uh, that's, that's the thingthat I see is that I see that as
an avenue for companies that canmove quickly and, and can grow
quickly.
Speaker 2 (18:01):
So, Mike, do you use social media around your farm or
personally to help solve aproblem or figure out how to
accomplish something?
Speaker 3 (18:09):
Yeah.
You, you can learn so much fromthe social media side of it.
Um, if you've got something thatyou really, and, and it's a,
you've got a couple differentquick ways to, to resolve a
problem mm-hmm.
something on TikTok out realquick, and I'll guarantee you,
you will get a response very,very rapidly.
(18:30):
You can go to Google.
Um, but you know, the, the thingis with farming, uh, don't ask
Google, ask a farmer, um,because that's, that's your,
your guys that are in the field,those are the ones that are
gonna give you the resource, uh,that is what's working today.
Mm-hmm.
(18:52):
that's been successful.
Speaker 2 (18:54):
What would you say are some of the main barriers
that keep some farmers,producers, growers from getting
the most out of social media
Speaker 3 (19:03):
Time, uh, would be a big one.
Uhhuh.
Um, yeah.
I mean, putting, putting videostogether is, is not that
difficult, but sometimes you'rejust in a rush all the time and
it, and it's hard.
Yeah.
Uh, I know some social mediafolks that are, are making a
good living with their socialmedia that have went so far as
(19:24):
to hire a video crew to come inand then have somebody do the
editing because they don't havethe time to go through that
entire process.
Age is not it.
I've had farmers call me intheir seventies and ask opinions
and ask for advice, and, andI've had all the way down to 18
years old same way mm-hmm.
(19:45):
So that, that's been one thingfor me is that I've kind of been
able to be an outreach to where,you know, and if I don't know
the answer, I won't, I won'tgive you the wrong what I think
is the wrong answer.
And, you know, if you ask myopinion, I'm gonna give it to
you, but if you don't ask myopinion, you probably won't get
it.
You know, there's no age gaphere with this stuff.
(20:06):
It, it's been amazing to me thatI think most farmers feel pretty
comfortable, but yet there's alot of them too, that if, if you
go in and look, there's a lot of'em that just watch.
I mean, I've had a lot of guyscome up to me at different farm
places and they'll tell me theirname and I'm like, I don't
recognize it.
Well, I don't never postanything.
(20:26):
I'm just kind of a creepermm-hmm.
And so that's kind the way thatgoes.
Speaker 2 (20:30):
Sure.
Do you find that there arepeople maybe in agriculture that
have a certain level of fear orintimidation just about these
apps or platforms?
And if so, I mean, what wouldyou say to someone like that
about how to overcome that?
Speaker 3 (20:46):
Yeah, I've seen some guys, guys that start out, you
can tell they're real nervouswith it.
Uh, and then, uh, after being onthere a couple months, you can
see that they loosen up and it,it's just a thing, just jump in.
Don't feel like you'reintimidated by it, uh, just
mm-hmm.
what, you know.
It's kinda like anything you doas far as public speaking or
(21:08):
anything.
As long as you talk about whatyou know and what you have
experience and what you feellike you're somewhat an expert
at, then just run with it.
And, and don't, don't worry toomuch.
You can, That's the good thingabout social media, like with
TikTok, is that you don't likeit.
You can delete it and startover.
And, and that's a good part ofthis.
(21:29):
You can do all the editing inthe world to get it the way you
want it to be.
I, I mean, I've had some thatI've done 5, 6, 7 times and, and
I'll go back and pull it backout and, and then, uh, start
over.
Speaker 2 (21:41):
So how did you decide to use the TikTok platform
instead of YouTube or Instagramor Facebook?
Speaker 3 (21:48):
I, I really, I don't know.
I just kind of stumbled onto it.
Yeah.
Because there was nobody in, in,in my close circle that was
using it.
I really don't even know how it,it was just that, you know, we
was all pinned down and didn'thave nothing to do, and so you
were just kinda searching forthings to do.
And so I, I don't even know howit come about.
I really don't even know howthat got started, but Sure.
(22:11):
It, it seemed to be somethingthat was easy to acclimate
myself to.
Mm-hmm.
you, once you learn.
And, and there's still a lot ofit that I see guys doing certain
things and I'm like, How didthey do that?
And so there's still a lot on itthat I still don't know.
Speaker 2 (22:28):
Yeah.
What are some of the trends thatyou see in social media from, in
agriculture or ag agribusinessmarketing?
Like what are the things thatyou see that, that companies or
individuals that are beingsuccessful in this arena are
doing?
Well,
Speaker 3 (22:43):
They, they get an audience and, and they get a
group of followers.
And I think that a lot of timesit's, it's how the topic that
you're gonna talk about, is itintriguing enough that
somebody's, I mean, some of thecraziest stuff that, that I've
put out there has had the mostviews on it.
I, I did one a few weeks ago wasat our local golf course and had
(23:05):
a company there that was pullinggolf balls with a machine.
Now, the bottom of all thelakes, I did a short clip video
on that, and it ended up with, Idon't know, close to 125,000
views on that.
And so it, it depends on ifyou've got a topic I think that
is revelent, but yet, you know,like I touched on earlier with,
(23:28):
uh, the fact about manufacturersis that, you know, you're gonna
get, you're gonna find out realquick if you've engineered that
correctly.
Because that's the thing is thatwith farmers, they, they,
they're in in the mix of thatand, and they're working on say,
a piece of equipment every day,and some of the things that they
(23:48):
come across just doesn't makesense why it may have been
engineered that way.
And so, you know, a lot of timesengineers need to really be in,
in the trenches to understandthe product that they've got
out.
There may not be, it may haveseemed like it made sense on an
assembly line, but when it cometime to service it or put it
(24:09):
into motion, then it, it may nothave been anything that was
beneficial.
Speaker 2 (24:14):
Right.
So the, a grower or a customermay use it in a slightly
different way than what theydesigned it for or how they
thought it was going to be used.
And you're saying with socialmedia, you'll get some honest
feedback.
Speaker 3 (24:26):
Yeah.
You're gonna get a lot of honestfeedback.
But the other thing you gottaremember too is that we, as an
agriculture society, they saywe're 2% of overall population,
but I think we're probablycloser to 1%.
And so every generation thatgoes by gets further removed
from the farm.
So we need educate them of whywe do what we do and the way we
(24:49):
do it, and do it in a way thatis not confrontational, but do
it in a way that is educational.
And I think sometimes we, wehave a tendency to overlook that
because there's a lot that, thatfarmers do that people, it does
not have a clue.
There's a lot of people that goto the store, buy the food that
thinks their food's manufacturedin the back room, and, and they
(25:11):
need understand where it allstarts at and why it starts the
way it does.
And, um, and, and the reason whyfarmers do what they do and how
they're able to do it in a wayto be profitable and be
successful.
Speaker 2 (25:24):
So as it relates to agriculture equipment companies,
the ones that you find yourselfwatching, maybe YouTube videos
or Instagram, what kind ofcontent are they putting out you
find helpful or useful as agrower?
Speaker 3 (25:40):
I think you gotta kinda remember too is that we
all have a very short attentionspan.
If, if you're putting out a,like a video, let's say, of a
piece of equipment mm-hmm.
to the point and, and it needsto be educational along with it.
It, it needs to be to a point towhere that it makes sense to put
(26:04):
in somebody's operation to whereit, it's something that can help
them make money, that can helpthem be more efficient.
Those are two big items withfarmers.
We was probably one of the firstones in the area that had any
GPS on, on our equipment alongwith yield data.
And then, you know, we, wetransformed over then into soil
(26:25):
data and, uh, then auto trackstuff.
But it made sense.
Uh, that was the reason why wewent with it, was because it
made sense that made it moreefficient, uh, and it gave us
information that we couldtangibly use to help us make
decisions to be more efficientand more profitable.
(26:48):
And so, yeah, if, if, if you'rea, a company that's putting
something out there, if you canput it in the hands of a farmer
and, and you can see how it'sworking, um, that is, is really
beneficial.
Really quick.
Speaker 2 (27:00):
Well, Mike, you've given us some great insights and
, and feedback into your storyand how social media in
agriculture, you know, is kindof working and encouraging
people to, to use social mediaas a way to help them understand
farming and agriculture.
Is there anything else that youwanna share with our listeners
today?
(27:20):
Anything else I've skipped over?
Speaker 3 (27:24):
Yeah.
Um, there, there's a couplethings that, you know, that I
think that probably needs to betouched and, and that is the
fact, which one, which socialmedia, you know, which one is
connecting with people?
I don't think that, um, I have astack of magazines over here
right now that I, I just don'thave time to go through and, and
(27:46):
I just think that that day andage, Yeah, when the snow's
flying, you might pick one upand, and see it, but figure out
what avenue works for you,whether it be YouTube or Twitter
or TikTok, whatever is theeasiest for you to be able to,
to convey what you're trying toaccomplish, figure out what
you're trying to accomplishfirst.
And, and some of it is justhaving a good time.
(28:07):
You know, we, we've made somegreat friendships throughout the
United States through TikTok.
We've been in 22 states in thelast 18 months, um, and it has
grown to a point to where we'vegot people doing fundraisers for
our foundation.
And, and that's the main reasonwhy is that, you know, we found
a platform and, and found peoplethat trust what we're doing and,
(28:28):
and how we're trying to takecare of people and, and educate
'em and what we do.
And I can't thank that part ofit enough.
But yeah, you just gotta jump inthere both feet and don't be
bashful because you may have alandowner that doesn't really
know what you do every day, andmaybe you can educate that
landowner.
Maybe you can use your socialmedia platform in a way that
(28:51):
maybe some other neighbor seesit and you help them.
Or maybe you even, you know,you're able to communicate with
a landowner that's close in yourarea that, you know, there's
different ways that it can bebeneficial for you that, um, if
you're not in it, it's not gonnamake a difference, but you gotta
get in it.
Speaker 2 (29:10):
Sure.
Well, that's great wisdom.
Thank you for sharing that.
And Mike, tell us a little bitabout the Travis Burkhart
Foundation that you mentionedearlier.
Speaker 3 (29:20):
We, we started the foundation because, or son was
involved in the car accident in2008.
And we ended up that we was inthe hospital for five and a half
months.
And it was, uh, a prettytraumatic experience on our
family.
Changed the whole aspect of, ofour future for our family.
At the time, we did not think itwould, we thought it would be a
short term thing where, uh, wewould be in and out, but we
(29:44):
ended up, uh, in the first 16months, we, one of us, either my
wife or I lived out of a hoteland we had so much help from the
community, uh, churches, peoplethat we didn't even know.
And so after the dust had kindof settled from all that, we
became a legal foundation in,uh, 2009, started helping
(30:04):
families, uh, assisting them,uh, with things such as maybe
their deductible, maybe it's gasto get back and forth to
appointments.
Maybe it's a hotel stay.
We've bought, uh, 21 iPads forautistic kids.
So we've done a whole realm ofdifferent things over the period
of time.
We have a a 13 person board thatmakes these decisions.
(30:25):
Um, and it's been to the pointnow to where we are.
We have gave out$335,000, havehelped families almost 1400
times.
And, and it's a thing of whereit's not just a one time help,
it's can be monthly.
We've got families that we'vehelped since 2015, and here we
are seven years later.
(30:45):
So it's a continuous process,but we've seen the need and, and
the financial strain that it canput on a family.
So we decided that, hey, let'sjump in this thing and see if we
can get back, because God hadkind of guided us in a way that
we couldn't understand, uh, whatwe was trying to accomplish.
And, and we was very blessedwith the fact that we, we had
(31:07):
the ability and the flexibilitybecause I farmed that I could
still help with our son'srecovery.
And, and a lot of people don'thave that flexibility.
So we was very fortunate thatway.
But we had some things thathappened here on the farm, and
it was just kind of God's way ofjust tapping us in the head with
a hammer and saying, We need, Ineed you to be more involved
(31:27):
with what you're doing with yourfoundation and less involved
with the other things in yourlife.
And so, yeah, we was managing aconvenience store and we had a
farm and we basically ended upretiring from the farm and
that's when everything kind ofreally grew, uh, with what we
was doing.
We was helping in southernIndiana and now we're helping
families all over the UnitedStates.
Speaker 2 (31:49):
Hmm.
That's an amazing story.
And, and I know personally thefoundation is, you know, making
a big difference in the lives ofso many people.
So our listeners can find you onFacebook, Just do a search for
Mike Burkhart and they can alsofind the Travis Burkhart
Foundation on Facebook as well.
You could follow Mike Burkharton TikTok at Farming tbi.
(32:14):
Dad, if you enjoyed thisepisode, remember to, like,
share, subscribe to Topcon TalksAgriculture on Spotify, Apple
Podcasts, Amazon Music, orwherever you get your podcasts.
Please like us, follow us,interact with us.
We're always striving to createcontent that benefits growers
and the agricultural community.
(32:36):
I want to thank Mike Burkhartfor joining us today.
Mike, it's always a pleasure.
Please give your wife our bestand the rest of your family.
I also wanna say a huge thanksto each of our listeners.
We appreciate you taking thetime to join the Topcon Talks
Agriculture podcast.
Popular Podcasts
Bookmarked by Reese's Book Club
Welcome to Bookmarked by Reese’s Book Club — the podcast where great stories, bold women, and irresistible conversations collide! Hosted by award-winning journalist Danielle Robay, each week new episodes balance thoughtful literary insight with the fervor of buzzy book trends, pop culture and more. Bookmarked brings together celebrities, tastemakers, influencers and authors from Reese's Book Club and beyond to share stories that transcend the page. Pull up a chair. You’re not just listening — you’re part of the conversation.
On Purpose with Jay Shetty
I’m Jay Shetty host of On Purpose the worlds #1 Mental Health podcast and I’m so grateful you found us. I started this podcast 5 years ago to invite you into conversations and workshops that are designed to help make you happier, healthier and more healed. I believe that when you (yes you) feel seen, heard and understood you’re able to deal with relationship struggles, work challenges and life’s ups and downs with more ease and grace. I interview experts, celebrities, thought leaders and athletes so that we can grow our mindset, build better habits and uncover a side of them we’ve never seen before. New episodes every Monday and Friday. Your support means the world to me and I don’t take it for granted — click the follow button and leave a review to help us spread the love with On Purpose. I can’t wait for you to listen to your first or 500th episode!
Dateline NBC
Current and classic episodes, featuring compelling true-crime mysteries, powerful documentaries and in-depth investigations. Follow now to get the latest episodes of Dateline NBC completely free, or subscribe to Dateline Premium for ad-free listening and exclusive bonus content: DatelinePremium.com