Feeling that America’s “flyover states” deserve more love than they usually get from the rest of the country, Nebraska row crop grower and beef producer Joe Knobbe decided to do something about it. According to his website: “We started Flyover Whiskey to showcase the generations of Midwest farmers who make the Heartland such an amazing place to live.”
As he explains on the latest episode of Grow Getters, a new podcast from Farm Journal Studios, when he’s not growing corn and soybeans or feeding roughly 1,500 head of cattle, Knobbe is working at his small distillery, a converted farrowing barn on the family property. This creative side hustle takes a unique approach to selling whiskey in that he’s not making it available to the general public.
Instead, his customers are fellow corn growers. They place their order for a six-bottle batch of whiskey by shipping 20 pounds of their corn to Knobbe. He and two staff members use the corn to make whiskey, and they also create a custom name and label for each bottle in the batch.
“People want to share what they produce with family and friends,” Knobbe says on the podcast. “You want something to share, to say, ‘I grew this’ and be proud of yourself.” Many corn growers sell their crop for use as livestock feed and for ethanol, as does Knobbe. On Grow Getters, he tells host Davis Michaelsen that growers want to taste the results of their work and Flyover Whiskey provides that opportunity.
“It’s not about the whiskey,” he explains. “It’s about farming and having pride in what you raised. Every batch is special.”
Read the full story about Flyover Whiskey.
Each episode of Grow Getters explores an inventive side hustle that an agricultural producer has created to add a new — and often fun — revenue stream to their operation. By plugging into their passions and often into new technology, these grow getters are redefining what it means to be a farmer.
Through profits from his Flyover Whiskey distillery, Knobbe was able to hire a good friend as a full-time worker on the farm, giving himself a little more time to spend with his young family. Even better, he adds, “It’s the coolest thing I’ve ever done.”
Watch more episodes of Grow Getters!
