# E595  Kevin Spahn Won a National Title. Coming Home to 180 Cows Is the Harder Game.

Page: https://stenobird.com/podcast/the-bullvine-7024491/e595-kevin-spahn-won-a-national-title-coming-home-to-180-cows-is-the-harder-game
Text version: https://stenobird.com/podcast/the-bullvine-7024491/e595-kevin-spahn-won-a-national-title-coming-home-to-180-cows-is-the-harder-game.md
Podcast: [The Bullvine Daily Brief](https://stenobird.com/podcast/the-bullvine-7024491)
Published: 2026-06-23T11:25:59+00:00
Episode link: https://rss.com/podcasts/the-bullvine/2937541
Audio file: https://content.rss.com/episodes/290511/2937541/the-bullvine/2026_06_23_11_25_47_0dceb01e-0ef3-451d-8bba-c8e835e9b253.mp3
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JSON: https://stenobird.com/v1/public/podcasts/the-bullvine-7024491/episodes/e595-kevin-spahn-won-a-national-title-coming-home-to-180-cows-is-the-harder-game
Duration seconds: 1450

## Resource

A national champion wants to come home to milk 180 cows. The math says he might not get to — and Dane County land at $7,401 an acre is why. Kevin Spahn won a 2025 NCAA Division III football title, then went back to the parlor over winter break. The Bullvine Podcast breaks down the brutal arithmetic facing every farm kid who wants in: 200 acres at $7,401/acre runs $1.48 million, while FSA direct loans cap out far below that — a gap north of $480,000 before a single cow is bought. With milk near $17.50/cwt, the numbers decide who gets to farm. What You'll Learn Why FSA loan caps leave a $480,000-plus hole on a modest land buy How $7,401-an-acre farmland prices lock out the next generation What Wisconsin's herd-count collapse means for who's left Why succession is a structure problem, not a desire problem The 30, 90, and 365-day moves that actually open a path home What a retired NFL lineman's lost family dairy teaches about timing Most succession talk pretends the barrier is willingness. It isn't — it's capital and timing. When a kid who wants to farm, knows the work, and has a dairy science degree still can't make the entry math close, that's the real story behind every empty parlor. This episode hands you the actual numbers and a plan to run against your own county's land prices and milk check before the decision gets made for you. Listen & Connect Full article and sources: https://www.thebullvine.com/people-legacy/kevin-spahn-won-a-national-title-coming-home-to-180-cows-is-the-harder-game/ Subscribe for straight-talking dairy analysis. Share this with a producer who needs it.

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