Grant Hilbert, left, is a first-generation farmer, along with his brother, Spencer. Grant Hilbert had dreamed of farming since he was a kid spending summers on his grandparents' farm near Algona. Today, thanks to the proceeds generated from his YouTube channel, Hilbert was able to save up enough money to buy his own farm land, and has been farming with his brother since 2021.

Grant Hilbert grew up in Ankeny but spent summers and breaks from school on his grandparents’ Algona farm. Those experiences shaped his yearning to become a farmer, but he had no means to become a part of the family operation.

So at 15 years old, Hilbert launched a YouTube farm gaming channel out of his bedroom. The channel was called “The Squad,” and although it offered a variety of video game footage, it quickly became clear that the Farming Simulator was a favorite. It works just as the name states — users farm with real-life equipment and grow crops.

After Hilbert, now 26, headed off to Iowa State University in 2016 — from where he graduated four years later with a double major in ag business and economics — Hilbert hit his goal on graduation day of one million subscribers.

“When I started the YouTube channel in high school, I didn’t really take it seriously until my freshman year of college when I started making money every day,” Hilbert said. “I knew I had to make a video every day all four years of college and work hard at it. That’s what made the money in college. At the end of college, I realized it was finally possible to go buy land.”

Thanks to the proceeds generated by his YouTube channel, Hilbert was able to save up enough money to buy 120 acres in Mahaska County in 2020 and more land in Poweshiek County in 2021 for a total of 250 acres valued at $1.8 million.

“I’m a first-generation farmer. I didn’t have help from my family and my dad didn’t farm. But I do have it in my bloodline. That definitely inspired me to go down this path,” Hilbert said. “When I was younger, everything there was cool — the equipment, the animals. But you don’t really know the price tag of these things.”

His younger brother, Spencer, now 24, also attended Iowa State and graduated with a degree in economics and finance in 2021.

Together, the brothers decided to farm together and that same year, they planted their first crop. Hilbert recorded their foray into farming on a second YouTube channel named “Grant Hilbert.” In a matter of months, that second channel garnered more than 100,000 subscribers.

So the first YouTube channel, “The Squad,” continued to entertain with Farming Simulator content but the second channel, in his name, showed the real life journey of the brothers as they started farming.

Eventually, Hilbert sold the first couple of parcels for a chunk of farm ground outside Nevada.

“We’ve gotten super lucky in that we have a lot of good neighbors. One rents us a machine shed — I don’t own any of the buildings, but our future plan is to build machine sheds and grain bins,” Hilbert said.

The two brothers together grow corn, soybeans and alfalfa. They just bought five head of Angus-Simmental cattle and are raising those on custom grain and pasture ground. They also own all their equipment.

“We will take them to the FarmerGrade warehouse this fall to be sold to our customers and audience. Our YouTube audience wants to support the farm and that’s one way, by buying our products,” Hilbert said. “We know nothing about growing beef and it’s definitely a learning experience.”

At the same time they bought the farm ground in Story County, Hilbert launched a software company, SquadBuilt, Inc., and in November 2023, released American Farming, an ag simulation game.

“That game wasn’t Americanized and that was our goal,” Gilbert said. “Our entire map is based off Iowa and has a very Midwest feel. We regularly add updates to it. We now have licensed Case IH and New Holland equipment for the game.”

While the brothers focus on raising crops on 330 acres and the additional 120 they rent, along with their cattle, they also aim to educate others about agriculture and its importance. They enjoy sharing the ups and downs of farming on social media, and plan to continue growing their YouTube channels and the Farming Simulator game, Hilbert said.