Video game leads to real-life farming

From an early age, Grant Hilbert was determined to one day become a farmer. He also thought it would take decades to raise the capital necessary to realize that dream. Playing video games on YouTube would help the Iowa native achieve that goal much sooner than he anticipated.

"Today, the cost to operate a farm involves a lot more zeroes than it did a decade ago. It inherently adds more challenges and more risk for young, beginning farmers," says Michael Barr, financial officer, Farm Credit Services of America. "They are also finding creative ways to manage that." An Entrepreneurial Mindset

Raised in a suburb of Des Moines, Hilbert spent many breaks during the school year on his grandparents' farm in northern Iowa. "It is really where I gained my passion for farming," he says, adding that two uncles still farm there today. "I also thought it would take 20-plus years before I would be able to make that happen."

Having an entrepreneurial mind-set and looking for ways to make money, Hilbert and a friend launched The Squad YouTube channel when they were 15, playing a mix of popular video games. After a few months, Hilbert took over the channel and was mostly playing Farming Simulator, a video game that lets players virtually grow crops, breed livestock, and sell assets created from farming.

By his senior year, The Squad had about 30,000 subscribers.

"I didn't focus on it as much as I would have liked to in high school," Hilbert says. "I knew there was a lot of opportunity there to make money."

In 2016, Hilbert headed to Iowa State University, pursuing a degree in agricultural business and economics. At the same time, a new version of Farming Simulator was re-leased, so Hilbert decided to take advantage of the renewed interest. While attending classes, he also created, edited, and posted a video on his YouTube channel daily.

"His ambition impresses me, and I believe it has led to a lot of Grant's success," says Barr, who has been Hilbert's lender for nearly two years. "When many college students were hanging out in bars and with friends, he was diligent in growing his YouTube channel, so he could achieve his goals."

Hilbert's dedication paid off. By the end of his junior year, The Squad had grown to about 600,000 subscribers.

Google was also placing advertisements next to his videos through the YouTube Partner Program (YPP). To qualify for YPP, you need to be in good standing with YouTube, have 4,000 valid public watch hours in the previous 12 months, and at least 1,000 subscribers.

Basically, there are three key players when it comes to YouTube monetization: the creator, the viewer, and the advertiser. Creators build an audience, and an advertiser buys ads to reach that audience. Viewers then watch videos showing the relevant ads and the creator gets paid.

"When an ad is placed in front of the creator's video, YouTube takes 55% of the advertising rate it charges an advertiser and the creator gets 45%," Hilbert says. "At the time, I wasn't set on where to allocate the capital. In early 2017, I started learning about Bitcoin. From 2018 to 2020, I invested in Bitcoin, Bitcoin Mining Equities, and Bitcoin Mining Machines."

When his dream started to become a reality, Hilbert began looking for a farm during his junior year. "Every day I would get the brokerage listings from across central Iowa, searching for an undervalued farm I could buy, clean up, and gain some equity on," he says.

Hilbert searched for two years to find a good deal. "In 2020, I thought it was the perfect macro situation for farmland to do extremely well, so I was set on buying a couple of farms that year," he says.

In December, he purchased his first 120 acres in Mahaska County for $330,000. While the property had some tillable acres, Hilbert says it was more of an opportunity to invest in a recreational piece of land.

That same month, he acquired another 88 acres in Mahaska County for $460,000. In early 2021, he bought 160 acres in Poweshiek County for $1,024,000 and has since sold 30 acres of timber from that property.

The Farming Dream Realized

Among the three properties, 250 acres were tillable, launching the 24-year-old's farming career.

In 2021, Hilbert, with help from his younger brother Spencer, planted his first crop of corn and soybeans. Spencer graduated from Iowa State University with degrees in finance and economics, and he oversees machinery.

"I get asked all the time if playing Farming Simulator helped prepare me for a career in farming. The real answer is no. Nothing from the video game taught me anything about farming in real life," Hilbert says.

"It's important to invest in yourself. One thing that impresses me about Grant is that he is always listening to podcasts and reading articles to educate himself," Barr says. "Having good advisers to help you understand the different facets of the business can help lead to success. I try to be an adviser that gives insight to make good, sound decisions."

Hilbert says he's learned a lot from experts like the Hefty Brothers, and his farm neighbors are also willing to answer questions and help when possible.

To chronicle his adventure, Hilbert created another YouTube channel titled Grant Hilbert. To date, he has created 60 videos sharing the lessons he's learning as a young, beginning farmer. The channel has 139,000 subscribers and more than 7 million views.

"I want to document the journey of a kid getting started from scratch," he says. "Two videos that really resonated with viewers were on how I bought my first farm (248,000 views) and how I made money to start farming (238,000 views).

"Hopefully, in 50 years I will have created a series of videos that not only provides entertainment value but educational value," Hilbert says. "My hope is that when young kids watch my videos and see what I've accomplished, they will be encouraged to have the confidence to follow their dreams too."

American Farming

In 2020, Grant Hilbert launched software company SquadBuilt Inc. His first project is a mobile game that brings a player into the virtual world of farming in the Midwest. The game, American Farming, allows users to explore many facets of life as a producer, whether growing and harvesting crops or raising livestock.

"We wanted to create a truly American farm game. It is modeled after central Iowa terrain," Hilbert says, adding that they focused a lot on character customization. "The game includes five different farms, cow-calf operations, farrowing pens, and more that users can choose from to customize their experience."

SquadBuilt has also entered into agreements to use Case IH, Unverferth, Maxx-D, Walinga, and Landoll brands in the game. American Farming is scheduled to be released this year and will be available for both Android and iOS.

Guiding Beginning Farmers

Farm Credit Services of America sees a significant number of young people who want to pursue a career in farming.

"I think the goal for most young people that have been raised on a farm is to continue that legacy," says Michael Barr, financial officer, Farm Credit Services of America. "We are help-ing them do that."

When guiding customers, Barr says one of the key components to success is ensuring they have a clear understanding of what their goals are. "I help make sure that the advice and analysis I give meet their end goal."

Additionally, Barr says it's important to take time to know the business side of an operation. "When we look at a balance sheet, young producers need to understand why working capital and cash flow, for instance, are important. We offer advice and workshops to help them succeed."

Finally, Barr cautions beginning farmers not to live outside their means. "In today's world, there is always a newer or bigger something," he says. "Learn to live within your means or even below that and grow your operation incrementally. We see successful young producers manage risk well and save profits to meet their long-term goals."