Paint Shows Corn Growth Progress In Iowa Farm Field

[Paul Yeager] Knee high by the Fourth of July has different meanings for everyone, including how fast corn grows after that timetable. Rachel Fishbac\k is a farmer from southeast Iowa, near Washington. She takes a can of paint, sprays it on a cornstalk, and then watches how quickly it grows. Those who grow corn regularly know how fast that is, but not everyone does — and that's part of Rachel's story. She loves telling the story of agriculture in many different venues, including online. We're going to talk about her social media experience, who watches her videos, who she used to watch, and telling the story of agriculture. She has a strong passion for it, and that is today's MtoM podcast.

I'm your host, Paul Yeager. New episodes come out every Tuesday. Now let's go into the farm fields for a couple of segments with Rachel Fishback. Her online handle is Iowa Farm Mama. She gives us a tour of the cornfields of Iowa. Okay, I didn't exactly pick the hottest day of the summer, but it's not exactly cool out there either, is it, Rachel?

[Rachel Fishback] No, but it's beautiful.

[Paul Yeager] It's corn-growing weather, right?

[Rachel Fishback] It is. It's nice, hot, humid, 90-degree weather here in southeast Iowa.

[Paul Yeager] Tell us exactly where you're at.

[Rachel Fishback] I am south of Washington, Iowa, north of Brighton. I farm corn and soybeans with my little brother, Vinny, on our family farm.

[Paul Yeager] How long have you been an active farmer?

[Rachel Fishback] With my brother, about five years, but I've been active in farming since 2000.

[Paul Yeager] Did you grow up in the same area where you're farming now?

[Rachel Fishback] Yes. My brother and I both graduated from Washington High School, and we grew up on this farm — it belonged to our great-grandparents. When we were growing up, my dad had cattle here and farmed the fields, and we helped until high school.

[Paul Yeager] Rachel, where did the idea to start spray-painting corn come from?

[Rachel Fishback] I was on a barn quilt committee with Julie Mangold, and she'd shared it a couple of years ago — a co-op in Wisconsin or Minnesota was doing it. I showed my brother, and he said, "You could do that." So we've done it every summer since. When the corn gets about knee-high, I spray-paint it, and we watch it grow over the next couple of weeks until harvest.

[Paul Yeager] You grew up on the farm — did you ever experiment with something like this when you were younger?

[Rachel Fishback] Besides making mud cakes with chicken eggs in the sandbox, that's about it. I never really experimented with anything like this.

[Paul Yeager] Is your experiment more for the agriculture crowd or the nonagricultural crowd?

[Rachel Fishback] I'd like to say both. I have farmers who watch because they want to see how much it grew from the day before, and then there are people who feel like they're in a flyover state — you hear that a lot — and think it's just cornfields. But there's a lot that happens out in our cornfields. It's fun for me — I come down here to check the crops and report back to my brother, so it's also a way for me to pass the time and have fun.

[Paul Yeager] What's the primary way you distribute your progress?

[Rachel Fishback] I started on TikTok several years ago with my Iowa Farm Mom account, and I've gotten less shy and more confident about posting. I used to post pictures on Facebook but was apprehensive about posting videos because I didn't know what people would think. I've since started posting videos on Facebook, Instagram, and LinkedIn.

[Paul Yeager] What's been the reaction from your kids?

[Rachel Fishback] At first they thought I was goofy — they grew up farming and said, "What are you doing?" But now they're pretty supportive of it.

[Paul Yeager] I saw a video where it seemed like your mom was being made fun of online. What was the reaction to that one?

[Rachel Fishback] I thought it was hilarious — it was a guy dressed up as a mom showing the cornfield, and I laughed at it too. It was funny when they showed me. You have to be able to laugh at yourself sometimes.

[Paul Yeager] Rachel, I think that means you've made it.

[Rachel Fishback] I don't know about that, but I have fun doing it, and hopefully some people laugh.

[Paul Yeager] What is it that we need — more humor in our life, more humor when we're learning, and more exploration of how our food is grown? Put all of that together for me.

[Rachel Fishback] Absolutely. I was a 4-H leader for 18 years, and to be in 4-H you had to give a presentation whether you showed at the county fair or not. Those kids were so scared, and here we are as adults preaching to them that they have to stand up and give a presentation, that they have to be able to talk in front of a crowd. When I was apprehensive about making videos, I kept telling myself that — I preach this to my kids and to my 4-H members, so there's no reason I can't do it too. It's been a learning curve for me. I also reflect back a lot on 4-H projects — when you're getting judged at your county or state fair, it's okay to admit when something doesn't go right. We like to hear "this didn't work" or "that was a total flop." This year my red-painted cornstalk fell over — I don't know why, maybe a deer ate it, or it just didn't like the paint this year. But it's okay to show that something doesn't go perfectly, too. It's a learning experience for us all.

[Paul Yeager] I didn't even ask — tell me exactly what you do and when you do it. There's a method to your madness.

[Rachel Fishback] Sure. I paint it when it's about knee-high, and I usually paint one stalk. This year, because of America's 250th birthday, I was trying to come up with paint colors and decided to do red, white, and blue. Then on day seven, I paint a second stalk — this year it would have been a fourth stalk — so you can see day zero to day seven and watch how the paint fades, and then day seven to fourteen, so you can see how much it's grown.

[Paul Yeager] And you still have some paint that exists today. We're recording in the middle to mid part of August, so it's barely been more than a month and there's still some paint. Do you think you'll still see it come October or September, whenever harvest is?

[Rachel Fishback] We do — we see it every year. We know where our painted cornstalks are, so we watch for them. I try to do an update video in September or October, whenever we harvest, to show whether it produced an ear or not, and let people know that's the day we're harvesting.

[Paul Yeager] And early on you show pictures, and then that tapers off a bit because it's gone, right?

[Rachel Fishback] Yes. I take pictures on day zero when I paint it, and I do that for at least two weeks. Then I come back throughout the season — once it's day fourteen there's still growing to watch, like when the tassels come out, usually about a week later. Then I show what the ears look like once it puts one on, and we wait for the ears to fill out and dry down for harvest.

[Paul Yeager] Is this field visible for people to drive by and get their own pictures, or do you keep it hidden?

[Rachel Fishback] It's on a lane that only my brother and I, or people who come here, access — so everyone's very respectful of it. It's not something you can just drive by and photograph. Maybe I should put one along the road next year so people could watch from the roadway.

[Paul Yeager] That's the agritourism side of it. If you go back to 2020, remember the sunflower fields — farmers were saying, "please stop trespassing on our property," because everyone was looking for something to do. But there's your opportunity for next year — do two different spots.

[Rachel Fishback] There you go, that's a really good idea. Thank you.

[Paul Yeager] As long as I don't have to do the work, I'm happy to come up with ideas, Rachel.

[Rachel Fishback] Great.

[Paul Yeager] Let's go back to the field itself — southeast Iowa, Washington. Are you in a garden spot, a dry spot? What does the 2026 crop look like?

[Rachel Fishback] It's been kind of touch and go for us. It's a river bottom field off the Skunk River, so when central Iowa — Des Moines, Ames — gets hammered with rain, the Skunk River rises and raises our water table. We had some challenges in May into June with a lot of uneven spots because the water table was so high. I'm thankful for all the rain we've gotten, and it hasn't flooded, but that's been an issue for us down here. I'd say the crops look really good, as long as they haven't been hit with hail or bad storms.

[Paul Yeager] From what I can see behind you, everything looks nice and tall. I'm seeing good silks. Is everything pretty much two-eared, or is there occasionally a third?

[Rachel Fishback] Sometimes we get really excited — those extra ears are usually on the end rows. Maybe in our lifetime we'll see three, four, or five ears across the entire field.

[Paul Yeager] In your time doing these videos, what has the public recognition been like — being asked to speak about it or talk about it? What's that journey been for you?

[Rachel Fishback] It's fun to meet people I've connected with on TikTok who follow along across the country. A guy messaged me once — this is what makes me happy — his kids watch it, it's pretty PG, and they wait for me to post my videos at night. One girl's dad sent me a video of her braiding the husks on the edge of the corn. I made a video for that little girl in another state of me braiding corn silk. It's fun that people of all ages can enjoy it, and hopefully find joy in it. It's exciting to me to talk about it.

[Paul Yeager] You also have a strong involvement with the swine industry — pork. Do the two mix well? Do people recognize you at one event and ask about the other?

[Rachel Fishback] It does happen. My Iowa Farm Mom videos are pretty rustic — I don't usually do a lot of hair and makeup, it's pretty in the element of my brother and me working on the farm. My pork industry videos — my Pride of Pork videos — and when I'm at pork shows, I'm also on the Iowa Pork PR Committee as a volunteer, but I look a little different, more business-like. So sometimes people put it together, and sometimes they don't.

[Paul Yeager] I have to admit, when you and I met in real life last November in Cedar Falls, I'd seen your content and the ears over the years, and we'd been friends online for a while, but seeing you in person, it didn't click at first. I apologize — I think you were probably wondering who this Paul guy was and what he was doing.

[Rachel Fishback] You faked it really well, because you were very, very kind. I've talked about this too — the corn we raise, we sell to a lot of pork producers who buy corn, so it goes hand in hand.

[Paul Yeager] I remember covering the Peterson brothers in Kansas when they started — they were kind of that first farming social media family, and now they have kids, which gets me emotional. That connection between the non-farm and farm sides of things is important, like we talked about earlier. So tell me, where do you see this going in the next five to ten years with social media in agriculture?

[Rachel Fishback] I think people are curious — they want to know if something is really true or if it really happens, and with technology you can look it up and see. I think that will continue to grow, and I think people shouldn't be afraid of sharing their story or showing something quirky, fun, or something they're really passionate about. There's so much you can look up and learn about.

[Paul Yeager] Farm ambassadors — not everybody's always willing to accept visitors on their farm. Give me the pitch to someone listening on why they should change their tune or be a little more open to someone different coming to their place to see what's going on.

[Rachel Fishback] If someone wants to come to your farm and see how you do things, I think it's a perfect way for them to experience what farm life is like, hear your struggles and your successes. It makes people think, and it feels more real to them — not everybody gets to go on a farm. So if you don't want visitors, this is the next best way to share your story and tell people how and why you do things.

[Paul Yeager] The easy follow-up is: how and why do you do the things that you do?

[Rachel Fishback] I just want people to know there are a lot of great ag content creators out there talking about how we do things. It's funny — I'm so used to corn and soybeans right here in Iowa, but when you go to Nebraska, South Dakota, or North Dakota, there are different crops grown, and I learn from their successes and their problems. It's nice to have people in other states you can turn to when you're questioning something or don't know who to ask — they're very inviting and helpful.

[Paul Yeager] Who are some of the people you followed early on, before you started doing social media on your own?

[Rachel Fishback] Rob and Robin Sharkey — Shark Farmer — and Ryan Peters. There were some others too, some still on there and some who aren't, but they were a big inspiration in getting me to talk on camera and share my story. They made it look fun and easy. When I got started it wasn't so easy, but it's become more fun over time.

[Paul Yeager] Let's see if the technology holds up — can we get a tour of what's where and see the paint? Can you give us a tour?

[Rachel Fishback] Absolutely, Paul. These are the painted corn plants I've been posting about on the internet this summer — red, white, and blue. Those were painted day zero, around June 23rd, when it was about knee-high. Day seven was the second batch, the white corn plant I painted, so you can see how much has changed from day zero to day seven. I'd guess around day eighteen to twenty-one is when the tassels started popping out, which is what we as farmers hope for — the tassels fertilize the silks on the cobs of corn so they fill out. For size comparison, I'm five foot five, and there's a couple of feet of corn plant above me. It's magical to see how much a single seed can grow into these beautiful plants. Luckily for us this year, with the rain we've had, these fields are doing well, and I'm so grateful. We've really had no issues this year, so I hope the storms stay away and our corn continues to thrive. Thank you for touring our painted cornstalks and our fields — we're so grateful for the opportunity to be here again.

[Paul Yeager] We are produced at Iowa PBS. Our production supervisor is Sean Ingrassia. His crew is Reid Denker, Kevin Rivers, Julie Knutson, Neal Kyer, and David Feingold. The executive producer of Market to Market is David Miller. I'm Paul Yeager. We'll see you next time.