6th generation Arizona farmer gets creative while sales are down during pandemic

BUCKEYE, Ariz. - Arizona farmers have been hit hard this year. From a trade war with China, to the coronavirus pandemic, it's not the best time to put all their eggs in one basket.

That's why now, some farmers are turning to social media, trying to rake in extra dough.

A lot of horse and cattle events have been canceled because of the coronavirus. One of the reasons is because sales of hay have hit rock bottom.

A Buckeye farmer is now hoping to bring in extra income in another way using a camera and his computer.

Trevor Bales with Bales Hay Farm & Ranch Feed Store says it’s a dirty job working on the farm, but it's also fun and fascinating to watch.

"Nobody cares about some stupid farmer in Arizona," he said he thought at first when he began to make the videos.

Bales is a 6th generation Arizona farmer and he started posting videos online about a year ago, mostly to sell his caps and shirts. Then he noticed thousands were going wild for his low budget, indie-style short videos.

Sometimes the videos are serious, sometimes not.

“It would get so boring, I finally talked about making hay all the time," he said.

Now churning out videos is part of Bales' daily chores, always on the lookout for that needle in a haystack.

“And then I find something for them to let me mess up on 'on accident,'" he said laughing.

He says he makes a hundred bucks here and there, and he plans to keep at it.

Bales posts videos on Instagram and YouTube just about every day.