Crops and Clicks Mann Family Bonded by Farming, YouTube Channel BY BETHANY BARATTA
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lay videos from Mann Family Farms on YouTube and you’ll see planting, harvesting and the everyday workings on a near Century farm. Whether it’s changing tires on tractors, hauling corn to the local processor, planting cover crops or reimagining a grain bin site after a devastating derecho, the fourth generation of Mann farmers explain how they run their central Iowa farm. The YouTube channel, Mann Family Farms, started from a chance meeting at a gym in Ames between then-Iowa State University students Decker Mann, the “Mann behind the camera,” and Grant Hilbert, a popular YouTube personality-turned first-generation farmer. Decker was
Brothers Decker, Derek and Devan Mann shoot video content for their YouTube channel, which features the family’s farm near Marshalltown. 12 | JANUARY 2022 | IASOYBEANS.COM
familiar with Grant’s YouTube channel and aspired to create one of his own. By luck, the two continued to run into each other at the gym, where they shared farming stories and filming tips in between workouts. “Grant was just starting to farm, so he would ask me real questions about farming stuff,” Decker recalls. Conversations then turned into advice for creating Decker’s own YouTube presence. Decker expressed his hesitations. He wasn’t comfortable in front of the camera, had limited experience editing videos, and wasn’t even sure who the audience would be. “Grant told me, ‘Just start.’” Decker hit upload on the family’s
first video on March 14, 2021. Since then, they’ve garnered new subscribers and viewers from around the globe. Brothers Devan and Derek are also featured in the family’s videos with their father Duane. Uncle Glen, his son Bennett and their employee Helio have also made a cameo appearance on the channel. Since March 2021, Decker’s graduated from Iowa State with a degree in agricultural business. He’s returned to his roots, farming full time with his family and hitting record on his cell phone and his Canon Power Shot camera more often to share the ins and outs of life on the Mann farm.
