A young Korean-American farmer with 280,000 followers on TikTok is making waves.
On January 4, Nebraska radio station KNEB introduced Noah Hubbard, who goes by the name “The Korean Kornfarmer” on TikTok.
Hubbard is a corn farmer in Elm Creek, Nebraska. He is a farmer and video creator who posts agriculture-related content on TikTok.
According to KNEB, “His story serves as proof that the power of social media is not just for entertainment, but for education and positive change. Noah Hubbard, ‘The Korean Kornfarmer,’ isn’t just growing corn; he’s cultivating change, one engaging video at a time.”
His videos range from humorous and witty introductions to the daily life of a small farmer and agricultural trivia, to more serious messages, such as satirizing stereotypes of Asian minorities.
One video in particular has garnered 3.7 million views, in which a viewer responds to a sarcastic comment about an Asian farmer by saying, “But you’re Asian…,” to which the farmer humorously replies, “Shut up, it’s a secret,” while driving a toy tractor.
For Hubbard, farming isn’t just a job. It’s been a lifelong “dream” since he was sketching tractors in kindergarten.
He graduated from the University of Nebraska-Lincoln with a degree in diversified agriculture and agronomy. His mission as a farmer solidified when he got into social media, he said.
“There are so many people in this world who have no clue (about agriculture) or form an opinion based on so-called facts without actually researching it all,” he said.
In 2019, Hubbard started with a series of videos about farming equipment and realized that many people were ignorant about agriculture, so he moved on to shed light on the realities of farming, which attracted a large number of viewers who had never been interested in agriculture before.
Hubbard was adopted from South Korea as an infant. As a Korean-American farmer, he said part of his mission is to advocate for minorities in agriculture.
“Believe it or not, there are other kinds of farmers out there. I will stay authentic (as a farmer). I don’t want social media to inflate my ego.”
“I plan to do this until I’m in the dirt,” Hubbard said. “If you find something you’re passionate about, you might as well do it until you can’t.”
BY SUAH JANG, JUNHAN PARK [jang.suah@koreadaily.com]
