Authenticity in Ag Media: What Brands Can Learn from Farm4Profit's Influencer Partnerships

Influencer marketing has transformed nearly every industry—but agriculture presents a unique challenge. Farmers are practical people. They can spot inauthenticity from a mile away, and they talk to each other. A bad partnership doesn’t just fall flat; it can damage a brand’s reputation across an entire community overnight.

At Farm4Profit, we’ve built relationships with brands ranging from local equipment dealers to John Deere. Along the way, we’ve learned what works—and watched plenty of companies get it wrong. For brands looking to connect with agricultural audiences through creator partnerships, there are some hard-earned lessons worth sharing.

You Can’t Fake It at Scale

Here’s the reality of producing 104 shows a year: if this were a persona or a personality we were putting on, it would be exhausting. You simply cannot maintain a fake version of yourself across that volume of content. The audience would see through it, and more importantly, you’d burn out trying to keep up the act.

This is why authenticity isn’t just a marketing buzzword in ag media—it’s a survival mechanism. The creators who last are the ones who genuinely care about the topics they cover and the people they serve. When you live your life online, you can’t hide. What you see is what you get, and agricultural audiences respect that.

For brands, this means the first question shouldn’t be “who has the biggest following?” It should be “who actually believes in what we’re doing?” A creator with a smaller but genuinely engaged audience who authentically uses your product will outperform a larger creator doing a transactional read every time.

Start the Relationship Before the Transaction

When we were building Farm4Profit, we used an approach that might sound backwards: we ran ads for companies before they were even sponsors. We picked companies we wanted to work with and started advertising for them without them knowing it. Then we’d reach out and say, “Hey, just so you know, 900 people heard your name on Monday. If this is something you’re interested in, let’s talk.”

It was the same approach I used in my banking career. I called it “Banker on the Bench”—my job was to know who you are and how your business operates, even if there’s no fit today. That way, when the opportunity comes, I’m already on your radar as someone who understands your world.

For brands considering creator partnerships, this principle works in reverse too. Don’t wait until you have a campaign to build relationships with creators. Engage with their content. Show up at the events they attend. Understand their audience before you pitch them. The best partnerships grow from genuine relationships, not cold outreach with a media kit.

The Path to Major Sponsors Has Gatekeepers

You don’t start with John Deere. That’s the reality. There are gatekeepers before you get to the biggest names in agriculture, and we had to figure that out the hard way. Landing a sponsor like Deere—one that supports every episode of your podcast—takes years of consistent work and relationship building.

Brands should understand this dynamic from the creator’s perspective. The creators who have earned partnerships with major agricultural companies didn’t get there overnight. They built credibility through hundreds of episodes, thousands of interactions, and a track record of delivering value to their audience. That history is what makes them valuable partners—and it’s why they’re selective about who they work with.

The flip side is also true: creators who jump at every sponsorship opportunity, regardless of fit, often never make it to the major partnerships. Audiences notice when every other episode is a different brand plug. The scarcity and selectivity is part of what makes authentic endorsements valuable.

Sponsorships Aren’t Always What They Appear

I tell everyone who looks up to content creators with big-name sponsors: sponsorships aren’t always what they appear. We landed Busch Light as a sponsor on the podcast—huge name recognition, right? They didn’t pay us a dollar. But the association was valuable for both sides in ways that went beyond a check.

This is something brands often misunderstand. The most effective partnerships aren’t purely transactional. They’re built on mutual benefit that goes beyond media impressions. Maybe a creator gets credibility from association with your brand. Maybe you get access to their community in ways that traditional advertising can’t buy. The best partnerships find value on both sides of the equation, even when the dollars don’t tell the whole story.

Think Community, Not Just Reach

At the 2024 Farm Progress Show, our after-party brought together over 350 partners, fans, and influencers—people with a combined following of over 100 million across social media platforms. But the real value wasn’t in the follower counts. It was watching people who had only known each other through comments and DMs finally meet face to face. They’d built relationships independent of us, and we just provided the space for those connections to deepen.

For brands, this is the difference between buying impressions and investing in community. When you partner with creators who have genuine communities—not just audiences—you’re getting access to trust networks that took years to build. Those communities talk to each other. They recommend products to each other. That word-of-mouth is worth more than any CPM calculation.

The Connector Model

I don’t think of myself as an influencer in the traditional sense. I’m more of a connector—someone who brings together ideas, people, and expertise. I’m no expert on any single product. What I have is the ability to develop relationships across a lot of different fields and create a whole picture that provides perspective.

This connector role is actually what makes creator partnerships valuable for brands. We’re not just a channel to push messages through. We’re a bridge between companies and the communities that trust us. The brands that understand this—that treat creators as partners in reaching their audience rather than just media buys—are the ones that see real results.

The future of influencer marketing in agriculture isn’t about finding people with the biggest megaphones. It’s about finding authentic connectors who have earned the trust of their communities through years of consistent, genuine engagement. For brands willing to invest in those relationships—not just rent them for a campaign—the returns can be substantial.

Tanner Winterhof is CEO of Farm4Profit Media and co-host of the Farm4Profit podcast, which has amassed over 3.5 million episode downloads and 400,000+ followers across platforms. The show combines education and entertainment to help farmers achieve higher levels of profitability. Learn more at farm4profit.com.