- Will you consider this?

You're a fifth generation farmer from central Illinois.

Not only do country folk around here know you, but folks from the whole country know about you.

I'm Christine Zak-Edmonds and my guest today is Rob Sharkey.

Soon to grace WTVP airwaves.

(upbeat intro music) - In the sixties, lots of people adopted the phrase, "Tell it like it is", and while Rob Sharkey assuredly wasn't alive in the sixties, he's known for his "shark-asm" and outright truthfulness.

And we'll bring "A shot of AG with Rob Sharkey" to channel 47.

Please welcome my guest today.

Rob Sharkey, how you doing?

- Great!

- [Christine] Bradford, Illinois.

- Yep.

- Only a hop, skip, and a jump in two lanes away.

- It's not bad.

It's about an hour drive, so yeah.

And I'm thrilled, thank you for having me on your show.

- Well, it's our pleasure.

And so tell me, well, first of all, let's, you're a fifth generation farmer, mostly corn and soybeans.

- [Rob] Yeah.

- You tried wheat.

- Ah, wheat, wheat's fickle.

I'll stick with what I know.

Corn and soybeans.

Yeah.

- Okay.

That's good, but you do a little bit of everything you do.

Let's see.

You're a farmer.

- [Rob] Mmhmm.

- You're an outfitter.

- [Rob] Yeah.

- Podcaster.

- [Rob] Mmhmm.

- And RFD TV.

- Yes.

- [Christine] And, and this, when.

When do you have time to farm?

- It seems to go in there.

I mean, we just finished planting season and it was nice.

It was almost like it was a downtime.

You know, I remember when planting and harvest used to be this crazy time.

Now it almost seems like the downtime and it's actually I can kind of relax and get in the tractor and not think about the other stuff so much.

- Well, but I mean, just riding around in the tractor, I, you're not doing your podcast then, are you?

I mean, you probably could with technology today.

- We edit in there.

I mean the tractor's steer themselves.

So it's, you know, you just kind of have to be there to make sure everything's going all right.

So I do get a chance to do a lot of work, but no we don't ever record in there.

- Okay.

Well, what's the most difficult part of, let's start with farming today for you.

What's the most difficult part if it's driving itself.

So you have to program it on where to go or?

- It's, you know, it's the mental stuff.

It's the marketing.

It's a deciding when to go, when not to go, trying to out guess the weather.

As far as, like, the actual work it's kind of what I, like, long for now.

You know, I just wish I could get out to my shop and, and you know, build something I don't necessarily need because it's just, it's so relaxing.

- [Christine] Like, what?

- I don't know, I don't know.

Statue of Christine?

(laughing) - Make sure it's my best side.

Well, you know, you have just kind of invented yourself and your wife, Emily, high school, sweetheart.

- [Rob] Yep.

- You have been together and she kind of, kind of nudges you in the right direction?

Or - - The whole thing was never planned.

I mean, we started this podcast and it just it snowballed and we didn't even realize what was happening.

And she was still homeschooling our youngest two at the time.

And we had almost come to a decision.

It's like, we've, we've got to go into this thing as a business or it's basically got to kind of just filter down to where it's not gonna be anything.

So she stepped into the producer role.

It started with, when we started doing the XM radio show she was the producer.

And when we set up the studio, I remember when they were setting it up, the guys that came in to set it up, they were putting a microphone on her side of the glass.

Cause we're separated.

You know, she's a control side.

I'm the, the running- - [Christine] The talent, right.

- Yeah, the talking head side.

And she's like, "Oh, I don't need a microphone over here."

I'm like, what are you talking about?

You know, you're going to want to talk at some point.

Well, you know, now she's the cohost of that show.

So she's really fallen into the role.

She's really done a good job.

And she is the one that keeps it all going.

I just show up and act dumb.

- Well, you act smart.

(Rob laughs) - [Rob] Dumb smart.

- It's the sh Shark-asm.

Yeah.

So yeah, Sirius Radio, too.

That's just incredible.

So people all over, you said North America, are aware of you.

- Yeah.

Mainly the US and Canada.

I mean, we'd go down into Mexico a little bit.

You know, the podcast is global, but as far as like downloads, it's pretty insignificant.

So mainly North America.

- Did you ever think you'd know this much about technology at all?

- No.

No, not at all.

Like I said, it was all just kind of a, a fluke that it all happened, but you know, it's like, you got your 15 minutes, you got to strike while the iron's hot and so we just kept rolling with it.

- Your 15 minutes of fame have now stretched out to a couple of years.

- We're about 14 and a half.

(laughing) We'll see if we get through this interview.

- There you go.

So, so some of your topics that you'll have on your show coming up, do you have, do you have any idea right now or are you just gonna roll with it?

- No.

And Emily's been setting up guests, you know, we've gone with some one's that we knew are really good stories.

Stories of people that have got into farming got into agriculture in necessarily not the traditional ways.

We've got some feel-good stories we've got some tear-jerker stories and we've got some some odd stuff like a guy that catches the Asian carp and the, the Illinois river.

- [Christine] Right.

- So we're trying to get a good mix and yeah, I don't know.

I'm kinda nervous.

I've never done.

I've interviewed well over a thousand people but never in front of a camera like this.

So I don't know.

We'll see how it goes.

- What's been your biggest challenge so far with with keeping all these irons in the fire?

- I think I underestimated the, the show on RFD TV on how much time it took, because, I mean we bring in the content for that.

We bring in the guests for that, you know I write the script for that.

So, you know, all that on top of actually going down to Nashville and filming it, that's been, it's been an undertaking.

So I think out of all of it the TV show is definitely the most challenging.

- But now you're going to be able to do it from here.

- Yeah.

But, I'm just interview - That's what I'm good at.

I mean, I, if I could brag about myself, it's like I'm good at interviewing people.

So like, if you go out with some friends and you know somebody asks about how how'd that go?

I like, well, I know all about them.

I don't think they know anything about me because they never asked.

I will say no one will ever say that about me because I just, I love knowing about people.

I love knowing what they do.

I love knowing, you know, kind of what makes them tick.

So I realized a while ago that interviewing is my strength.

You know, the RFD show was kind of not an interview show.

So this coming to Channel 47, I'm, I'm kind of looking forward to it, but yeah, it's it's also kind of nerve wracking.

- Oh yeah.

Well, if you get the first one under your belt and you'll just smooth sail with everything else you've done, I mean it'll be like, you know, rolling off your back.

- What do you do when you get a dead interview?

- You scramble.

- [Rob] Kind of what you're doing now.

- No, not at all.

See, and this is his shark-asm is coming out right now.

So of all of the different podcasts, different kind of things.

I kind of looked you up online to check you out because I'm a city girl and I know what beans look like now.

And I know what corn looks like and pretty good at wheat.

Got my own little garden in my side yard.

Yeah.

Yeah.

But a lot of people, well, a lot of kids today have no idea of where their food comes from, you know?

- [Rob] Yeah.

- So how will you teach that?

Or can you?

- It's always been, like, the million dollar question when you talk to farmers and how we communicate with our urban friends, the non-farming public, what we've been doing, as far as like the podcast, the radio show that's within the bubble of agriculture, you know the TV show adventured outside of it this one with Channel 47, that's what we're looking to do is connect rural with urban.

And you know, we've been told by society, whatever you know, that those are two different entities.

They don't get along.

I don't believe that.

I believe that, you know, people are people and yes, we we live in a different lifestyle.

We did, you know, different environments, but you know I want to bring those two worlds together explain to, you know, urban people, what we do.

And plus I want us to learn, you know it's not gonna be just a one-sided conversation.

That's the hope.

- Right.

Well, you know, with so much farm to table right now, you can pick farm to table, farm to table.

What are your feelings about that?

- Oh I think it's great.

I love it that you have a garden.

I wish everybody had a garden and it's not just because I think our, you know, everybody can feed themselves.

I think, because it's more of an education than, than we would ever be able to give people, because yes, it's a fantastic experience, you know, growing stuff.

It's amazing.

But, you realize I've got, I've got 20 tomatoes, you know, you're not necessarily going to feed yourself the whole year on 20 tomatoes.

- Right, well that's why I have a few, I have a couple of tomato plants a couple of cherry tomatoes.

Cause my grandkids like those.

Now the rabbits and baby pepper plants, it's a bad combination.

- I'm sorry for your loss.

- They, yeah.

But you know that feeling, do you?

In, in the field, I mean, what are your biggest problems in your fields?

- Weather of course is the ultimate problem or success, yeah.

- [Christine] It's such a guessing game.

- Yeah, yeah, yeah.

Deer.

We have problem with deer.

- [Christine] Oh right.

They get in and get the corn?

- Yeah.

Yeah.

They're just a pain.

I mean, they like to walk over stuff and then what, they didn't walk over.

That's what they eat.

I mean, that's just rude.

- It really is.

You know, it's not like you're encroaching on their space or anything.

- Let's not get technical per se, okay.

(laughing) - So, okay, but now you like to hunt too.

So you hunt those deer.

- I- I'm an outfitter.

So I have hunters mainly from Virginia that come in and they hunt on ground that we own, hunt on ground that we lease.

I don't really hunt that much just because of the time.

I enjoy it.

It used to be my way to relax.

I would get out and hunt.

I don't know what happened, but then now I find myself out in the deer stand and I'm just thinking about all the stuff that I need to do.

- [Christine] That you have to do.

- Right, right.

Do you think that's because of technology and because of that, you know, I mean what's your typical day?

- Oh yeah.

(Rob laughs) - Like today is not typical.

You don't usually just drive down to Peoria.

- No.

Today is a treat.

- [Christine] Okay, there you go.

Go to lunch somewhere or something.

- I, I mean, the day starts out by getting the guys going on the farm, knowing what we need to do that day.

You know, you have to check in with social media which man that that's just a time-consuming beast, but it seems to be a necessary evil to at least be on it some, and then, you know, we do the radio show every day.

We're generally recording a podcast or, you know I do two different podcasts.

I do a weekend radio show with XM.

So a lot of time in the studio.

And then, I don't know.

I don't think there is a normal day.

- Well, so how did we find you?

- Ah, well - (Rob laughs) I did a, a podcast with a, a lady that lived out in Colorado and she was growing industrial hemp.

It was a great podcast and when I interview someone, I, I kinda screw around with them.

And that lady, that our interview happened to be the daughter of the president of Channel 47.

So she was like, anybody that can screw around with my daughter, like that pay.

- [Christine] Needs to be part with us.

Needs to be a part of us, all right.

Okay.

Well, and what, one of your shows or one of your videos, I don't know, I don't think I don't even know what to call it because I'm really good at technology too but you're talking about farm hand.

So are the pe- how many people work for you?

- I have a full-time guy and my son is in transition from school to getting a job.

So he helped us get the crop in this year which was really nice.

- Do they mind?

You asked the question farmhand, somebody said is that an insult?

- It goes back to almost 10 years ago on Twitter.

I said something about my farmhand, and someone just lit into me about how that was offensive and that, so it became this whole big thread.

And then I, you know, I did a video on it, that became a whole big thread.

And then I asked Dan, my hired man, if it was offensive and it was a very awkward conversation because he thought that was the dumbest question I've ever asked him.

- But it kind of has the political correctness to cover for it and- - I was a hired hand when I got out of school.

I was a hired hand for dad, I mean, I guess- - [Christine] And you were okay with it?

- I thought that's what we always called it, but it's a different world.

- It is.

So of, of all of the different shows and podcasts everything that you've done, what's been the most fun for you that, that maybe took a turn that you didn't expect.

- I do like the radio show just because I get to do it with my wife.

I also have a co-host for one, we called, "What the Farm Podcast", which, it is a crossover between rural and urban.

I have, I co-host that with Leslie Kelly who happens to live in Saskatchewan.

So that was that one's kind of fun too.

Those two get me outside the AG bubble of what I would always keep myself in, you know between Leslie and between my wife, they kind of dragged me into interviewing people I wouldn't usually, and I do enjoy that.

- Okay.

Well that's good.

And you always did.

You said you always did like to learn about people.

- [Rob] Yeah.

- Just keep asking questions.

- I'm still wondering what else are you growing in your garden?

- Oh, okay.

So then a couple of pepper plants.

- [Rob] Okay.

And I have learned that rabbits stay away from clear plastic forks that I plant around my baby pepper plants, outwards.

Cause at night they can't see those plastic forks.

So they leave my pepper plants alone.

- So in your garden, you have rabbits at nighttime ramming themselves into forks all night, trying to get your pepper plants.

- [Christine] Yes, yes they are among the injured.

- [Rob] Okay.

Do you feel bad about that?

- Pretty much not at all.

(Rob laughs) And especially when my grandchildren see the little rabbit turds around and stuff, and I go "They are not raisins", so that's my farming experience.

- It's fertilizer.

- It's good fertilizer, it's okay.

Well, so, okay.

So farm to table.

Anything that you, that you don't do?

I mean, do you dance?

- Oh yeah.

I'm all about dancing now.

No, I mean, look at me.

What do I, smell like a boar, like a weeble wobbles.

I mean, I won't fall down, but their- - But you met Emily at a 4-H dance.

- I did.

Yes, but I was 16.

- [Christine] And you were too cool to dance?

- No, we did the, you know the penguin thing where you used to go back and forth, but you know, you got to- - [Christine] The Fonzie thing, right.

- Is that what it is?

- You know Fonzie?

He just kinda stood there and rocked back and forth a little bit.

- It worked.

- The penguin, okay, yeah.

- Yeah.

It was a 4-H dance and I asked her to dance, and then I was like, you know, my show pigs are out in the barn, do you want to go see them?

- [Christine] Oh, what a line.

Yeah.

That probably wouldn't have worked on me back in the day.

- [Rob] It wouldna?

- 'Cause I was, you know, the city girl in me.

- Yeah.

She was a 4-H girl, so, I was putting my hands to greater service in the hog barn.

- What do you, what do you think about 4-H?

Are there enough kids involved in 4-H right now?

Will you do any of your shows regarding that?

- We've done some stuff with them.

They've done, 4-H and FFA have done an incredible job of pivoting, because they don't have the numbers anymore, of farm kids.

So they've done a great job of not just focusing on all right, you're going to be a farm kid, this is what you're doing.

They're getting city kids involved, but they're also teaching agriculture at the same time, so I give them all the credit in the world.

- Right.

That is the one by you.

Is it pretty active still because you're definitely farm country.

- I don't know.

I don't think so.

I don't think, the area used to have every township had one.

- [Christine] Right.

- We were the Milo ribbon winners, because apparently the trophies were out of our reach, but I think that's all gone.

I think they're more county, I think they're all bigger and it is what it is.

Just kinda consolidating.

- All right.

And you have four children, and you said the one he, he is studying in Lima, Ohio to become a- - He's graduated.

Yeah.

So he's got his diesel mechanics degree and some other, like automotive stuff and that.

So yeah, he's, he is currently looking for a job but it was really nice.

I kind of talked him into helping us plant this spring, so it was nice to have him around.

- Right.

And he will be great if he does come back here.

If he comes back to his roots to fix some of that machinery.

- I break a lot of stuff so it'll be nice.

Yeah.

- [Christine] Do you do it on purpose or it's total accident?

- No, it it's, you know I'm just, really good at doing it without even trying.

(Christine laughs) - So, okay.

Weather truly is a farmer's biggest challenge.

- [Rob] Yeah.

- Especially like last week's torrential rains.

And you know, in the spring a couple of years ago we've had some really horrible rains.

So, do you have, how do you test your weather reports?

Cause it's so much different than it was 50 years ago.

- I, yeah.

I mean, everybody's trying to sell farmers apps and all this stuff and I, it is what it is.

I've, I bought into them, you know, with with the podcasts and stuff, they wanted to advertise.

So, you know, try this app out for six months, and it was pretty good.

I mean, you know, everything, you know this is gonna storm is going to come you know what it's gonna do, you can't do anything about it.

- [Christine] Right.

- So there are some decisions on like, when you should plant and when you shouldn't, but for the most part, I mean you just do what you can and mother nature is gonna be nice or not.

- Well, so mother nature, did it really dump on your plantings this spring?

- No.

We had a great planting.

It's earliest we ever got done.

- [Christine] Really?

- Yeah.

And things, it's cold, but things look pretty good.

- Yeah.

Right now it's really cold.

I almost had to go out and cover up my little cucumber plant.

- [Rob] Bet those rabbits are cold.

- Now they have their fur coats on.

So I think they're good.

- Okay.

- Well I'm glad that weather wise you don't have to do that, you know, anymore.

Cause that's probably what used to happen, but you can, you can see the systems that are moving in and you can kind of track them too.

Right?

- You can, but again, it's, it's not a exact science and there's nothing you can do about it.

Everything points to a drought this year.

There's not much you can do about it.

- And how about the cicadas we're going to have, will you be impacted by them?

'Cause it's supposed to be the worst in the last 17 years.

- [Rob] The cicadas?

- [Christine] The locusts?

- Yeah, the ones that are really loud in the trees?

- [Christine] Yeah, yeah.

- This is going to be a bad year.

Is that, is that like biblical bad?

- [Christine] That's what I saw.

Oh, you are in big trouble.

- [Rob] That's not good.

- Will they eat?

Do they eat a lot of your - - They don't have a mouth.

- [Christine] Cicadas?

Well, how do they make all that noise then?

Is it their antenna?

Is it their legs?

- [Rob] They got a little boombox.

(Christine laughs) I don't know how they do it, but - See what snot he is?

(Rob laughs) Oh you're show's gonna be so much fun.

- Will you be on it?

- Sure.

What do you want to talk to me about, my rabbits in my garden?

I'll give you five minutes.

- I just feel bad about those rabbits.

- I, well, I, they, they leave the herbs alone.

So I have a whole little section for herbs and stuff and - You know how like a fairytale started, right?

It's like stories to scare the kids.

Can you imagine what the, the rabbits are talking about?

You trying to - It'll be Peter Rabbit and I would be, you know Mr. McGregor, Mrs. McGregor, just Mrs. Mrs. Zak-Edmonds.

(Rob laughs) Exactly.

I've got a reputation to uphold.

Well, so your biggest challenge then ahead, is this show and making sure that you keep it fresh and going and, and lively and you'll take some suggestions from audience for ideas?

- Oh yeah, absolutely.

It's, everything we've done.

I mean, I'm not the world's best speaker.

I'm not the world's best person on video.

I've learned from the other TV show is I cannot read a teleprompter at all so I'm better when I'm off of it, which means I double talk, I stutter.

But when I sit there and I think about speaking perfectly I find out I'm not listening to the guest.

- [Christine] Right.

- And to me, that's the key.

That's when I started to take off with the podcast is when I realized that it wasn't about me.

I needed to listen to the guests because I used to you know, you had a list of questions.

So as they're talking I'm sitting there looking at the next question.

I don't even know what they say.

They could be saying something so revolutionary it's unbelievable.

I'm thinking about how, how am I going to come off good on the next question?

So when I stopped worrying about how I came off and started focusing clearly on what they were saying and trying to uncover a little bit more than you know, the cool stuff that they're saying that's when it that's, when it started to get better.

And I'm hoping that's what I'm going to be able to do here on Channel 47.

- Well, and that's great that you learned that.

Cause that's advice.

I knew a lot of times reporters will be out there and they'll ask a question, not listen to the answer.

The answer that they're getting is what their next question is.

And they haven't paid attention.

So, very good.

See, not doing bad for a country boy.

Right?

- Christine said I was doing good.

(Christine laughs) - You're so cute.

So, well, we have about three minutes left.

What do you do in the winter months then?

I mean, you you make some appearances and things too, right?

- Yeah.

We've been really blessed that we get to go around the country.

This year, of course we couldn't do it.

And it, it stunk, but we get to go around the country, we get to talk to different groups.

It's nice because now we take the video crews with us and we can do interviews there and it becomes an event.

That's what I really like doing.

You know, I feel like I'm better in person with people and- - [Christine] You're connecting.

- Yeah, exactly.

And those are the people that really follow you.

The ones that you meet in real life, they, they tend to really follow you a lot better.

- Well, how many people do you have following you at this point?

Or do you know?

- You know, we've looked at a lot of different analytics and stuff, you know I think we reach in between, here's a number in between a million people and two million people a week, you know, is our reach.

- Sure.

Well, but you know what?

And so you don't have to worry about ratings either, do you?

- Yeah, we do.

We'll get advertisers.

That's nice talking about PBS.

(Rob laughs) - You don't have to worry about them.

Just support.

We want people's support.

- Yeah, so we can take all the support you give us.

- [Christine] That's right.

That's right.

Well, you're going to start up.

The show is gonna start airing at some point, your, those details are being worked out.

Your set's being built.

- Yeah.

And it's been great working with, with 47.

I mean, like I said, Emily has been doing a lot of it but she's like their, they are absolute professionals so it's been really nice.

- Good, good.

Well, best of luck to you.

You're going to be awesome and keep smiling.

You got those cute dimples.

Emily had, I think she had some cute dimples too.

- Yeah, she's hot.

- [Christine] There you go.

There you go.

You know, that's what, that's what counts.

So best of luck to you and I'll be watching and we'll stay in touch.

- [Rob] Awesome.

- All right, thanks a lot and thanks for joining us.

Don't forget, you can see Rob Sharkey on a "Shot of AG with Rob Sharkey" right here on this station.

Enjoy.

(upbeat outro music)