32. From Six Acres to a National Popcorn Brand: Gavin Spoor Isn’t Waiting on a Hand-Me-Down

Written By Jonathon Haralson

Alex Lowery

A lot of folks in agriculture are born into it. Gavin Spoor wasn’t.

He didn’t inherit land. He didn’t have a family name that opened gates. What he had was six rented acres, a high school diploma, and a fire in his gut to figure it out.

On this episode of Your Ag Empire, Gavin joins us from northeast Missouri to talk about how he’s built a real, working operation—2,000 acres of corn, soybeans, wheat, milo, and a direct-to-consumer popcorn brand that ships to all 50 states. Spoor Farms didn’t start with a legacy. It started with a college kid walking fields by hand and learning business lessons the hard way.

We cover a lot of ground in this one—literally and figuratively. Gavin talks about:

  • Growing without a playbook: how he scaled his acres without overextending himself

  • Picking the right tools (and not just the expensive ones)

  • Why he rebuilt a 50-year-old planter and runs a box-fill, pre-DEF tractor

  • Using social media to find land, build trust, and sell product

  • What it really takes to farm without a family safety net

There’s no “grit” narrative here. Just real talk about being young, scrappy, and smart in an industry that doesn’t hand out second chances.

Gavin also opens up about his favorite crop—popcorn—and how a few one-minute Facebook videos turned into a national customer base. He shares the logistics of harvesting, cleaning, bagging, and shipping a niche crop while running a full-blown row crop operation. Spoiler: it’s a lot. But he’s not complaining.

If you’ve ever wondered if it’s still possible to start from scratch in agriculture, this episode is proof that you can. It’s just going to cost you more time, more patience, and more persistence than you think.

Links & Mentions

Pass It On
Know someone trying to break into ag without the benefit of a big last name or a pile of paid-for ground? Send this episode their way. It might just be the nudge they need to go rent their first six acres.

Jonathon Haralson

Jonathon Haralson, a sixth generation farmer by heritage, and he started farming his own operation from scratch in 2009.

Growing up, Jonathon’s family raised cattle, wheat, hay, and grew pecans. He grew up, alongside his brother, watching his Grandfather and Dad work from sun-up to sun-down on the family farm and grow yard. As time passed by, the market volatility became greater and the banking stress became greater, and Jonathon witnessed the fall of his family’s farming operation when he was just a child. He saw his dreams of continuing to build his family’s farming empire disappear as he watched his family’s equity and land auctioned off piece by piece. It’s something Jonathon never wanted to see happen to another family.

By the grace of God, Jonathon now educates farmers and ranchers about commodities, so they can spend more time out in the field and with their families.

https://youragempire.com
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31. Pivoting Away From The Corporate Grind: Alex Lowery on Building Multiple Rural Brands