The Main Stage is where Keystone’s purpose meets the future of farming. It’s where real conversations happen, the kind that spark ideas, shift mindsets, and help YOU think differently about what’s next.
MEET THE SPEAKERS..
Click each picture to learn more about the speaker and what they will be discussing at Co-op Classic26
Scott Logue is the newly named Chief Executive Officer of Keystone Cooperative, effective September 1. Raised on a swine and crop farm in rural Indiana, he graduated from Ball State University’s Entrepreneurial Program and has spent nearly 30 years with the cooperative, advancing from hands-on operational roles to executive leadership. His broad experience across all areas of the business positions him well to lead the cooperative to its 100-year anniversary - and beyond.
Trey Malone, PhD is an agricultural economist and the incoming Director of the Center for Food and Agricultural Business at Purdue University, where he holds the Boehlje Endowed Chair in Managerial Economics for Agribusiness. His research focuses on how farmers, agribusiness managers, and policymakers make decisions under uncertainty, and what that means for the businesses and cooperatives that serve agriculture. He is co-author of Agribusiness Management (Routledge, 7th ed.), the 2026 Farm Foundation Book of the Year, and co-host of the Agribusiness Blueprint podcast. Trey speaks regularly for producer organizations, cooperatives, and agricultural lenders across the country and holds a doctorate in Agricultural Economics from Oklahoma State University. Trey will be discussing Decision-making Under Uncertainty; plus practical tools you can take back to the farm and apply right away at Co-op Classic26.
Jason received his master’s in agronomy from Purdue University. He served as a technical agronomist with Winfield United for 10 years, before becoming Co-Alliance’s agronomist in 2022. He now serves as a senior technical agronomist for Keystone Cooperative covering Northern Indiana and Michigan. His primary responsibilities include technical product training and agronomy education for agronomists, growers, and applicators. He regularly trains on all aspects of crop production and is specialized in the areas of plant nutrition, weed control, and spray application systems. He also conducts field research and troubleshooting for customers.
As the Professor & Chair, Food, Agricultural and Biological Engineering, at The Ohio State University Scott is a leading expert in agricultural engineering, specializing in precision agriculture, autonomous systems, and UAV strategies. With over $20M in research funding and 200+ publications, he is a Fellow of ASABE and a recognized innovator in ag technology. Scott will be discussing AI: The Next Revolution in Agriculture at Co-op Classic26.
Tork Whisler has spent his life farming the same ground his family has worked for six generations in Washington County, Iowa. He owns and operates three contract hog finishing barns, row crops 400 acres, and is a partner in both Barn Talk and the This'll Do Farm YouTube channel. He is also part of the DVI partnership, a manure separation technology venture built on the Whisler farm. Tork is the kind of farmer who has seen markets crash, equipment fail at the worst possible moment, and every kind of challenge rural agriculture can throw at a family
operation. He has navigated all of it, and when he talks about it, you can tell. His steady, no-filter perspective and dry sense of humor are a big part of what makes Barn Talk feel like a real conversation in a real barn rather than a polished production. Tork is the backbone of the farm and the heart of the show.
Sawyer Whisler is a sixth-generation farmer from Washington, Iowa, and the host and founder of Barn Talk. He grew up on This'll Do Farm working alongside his father Tork, learning the realities of hog finishing and row crop farming from the ground up. Today he and Tork farm together, with Sawyer managing his own contract finishing barn as part of the family operation. He is also a partner in DVI, a first-of-its-kind manure separation technology company the Whisler family helped bring to life on their farm. On the media side, Sawyer built Barn Talk from
the ground up into one of the largest agricultural and rural American podcasts in the world, with over one million followers and an 83 percent engaged listener rate. But he is quick to tell you the show only works because of what he and Tork do together. The farming is real. The relationship is real. And that is what the audience connects with.