During a 1959 American tour, Soviet Premier Nikita Khrushchev visits Frank Roberts, Sr.’s farm near Independence, Iowa. Hundreds of neighbors and the national press gather, as Roberts and his two sons, Frank, Jr. and Terry, greet the Russian leader. Nearly thirty years later, a storm hits the farm, the cornfield is flooded, and the two sons are not sure it will survive. Terry informs farmhand Mark they can no longer afford to hire him, but Mark claims he will remain nonetheless. At a yard sale of house furniture, two young strangers, Sally and Jennifer, stop by. Innocently musing that it must be sad for the farm family to sell everything, Sally realizes it is Terry’s yard sale, and apologizes. She buys an old icebox and gives her telephone number so she can come back with another vehicle to pick it up. Frank Roberts later looks at the awards his late father won for being a “Master Farmer,” hanging next to a photograph of Khrushchev. Tommy Malin, the local banker’s son who now runs the Central Trust of Independence, arrives to announce that he has "called the note," taken ownership of the farm, and sold it to satisfy the bank’s board of directors. Threatening to beat Tommy Malin, Frank insists the farm has not failed, but rather the bank failed on its promise. When Sally returns to pick up the icebox, she notices that something is bothering Terry. He tries to rebuff her, but suddenly grabs and kisses her, and Sally admits to an immediate attraction. Brooding over the loss of the farm, Frank later convinces his Terry that they must burn down the farm to prevent any “fat cat” from taking it. Torching the house, the barn, and the cornfield, they drive away in a pickup truck and park by a remote lake to spend the night. The next morning, as they stop at a town to buy groceries, Terry sees a newspaper headline with his and Frank’s high school photographs under the headline: “Historic Farm Burned in Protest.” Seeing a sheriff’s car, they duck into a trailer park, and Frances, a young divorcée, invites them inside. Frank reads her newspaper aloud. The article points out that the Roberts farm has been a source of local pride since 1959, but its financial decline began when Frank, Sr., died in 1972 and his son, Frank, Jr., took it over. Despite the sheriff’s accusation of arson, the article calls the brothers’ act an “eloquent protest” against “the rising tide of foreclosures and bankruptcies.” Frances, whose ex-husband lost his farm, treats the brothers as heroes and offers them beers. While she and Frank make love, Terry goes outside, where a neighbor grows suspicious and telephones the sheriff. Before Terry can get Frank out of the trailer, a deputy arrives. Frank, armed with a rifle, takes the officer’s gun, handcuffs him to his car, and rips out his radio. The brothers drive to the Farmers Home Administration in Des Moines, Iowa, where Frank steals a Mercedes-Benz from the parking lot and Terry leaves a note of thanks from “the Roberts Bros.” In a small town, they talk to an exotic dancer who recognizes Frank and Terry from the television news. Referring to their Mercedes-Benz as “the hottest car in the corn belt,” she assures them that she can set up an interview with a national magazine. Writer Barry Maxwell and a photographer from Rolling Stone magazine meet the brothers at an abandoned farmhouse. When Maxwell turns on his tape recorder, Frank confirms their “protest” against foreclosures and bankruptcies, but Maxwell focuses on why the farm went into foreclosure. He asks if Frank Roberts, Sr., would think of his boys as “losers,” and reminds Frank that he is $450,000 in debt to the bank. Becoming angry, Frank blames their failure on the fact that corn prices have barely risen over the last thirty years, while the cost of a combine harvester, necessary to modern farming, has increased twenty times. The photographer shoots Frank and Terry wearing sunglasses and dark cowboy hats, posing next to a sports car. The brothers leave with a suitcase full of money. They pay a farmer $3,000 for a pickup truck and drive to the Great Jones County Fair, where Terry telephones Sally and asks her to meet them with her friend, Jennifer. Frank buys beers for dozens of people. Joining Sally, Terry recalls how he and Frank used to go to fairs with their father, and everyone would gather to shake his hand. As a boy, Terry sometimes ran through the cornfield at night until he realized he did not know how to get back home. She asks him to leave with her so that her lawyer father can get him out of trouble. When Jessica asks Frank if he “robbed that liquor store,” he plays along, even though someone else committed the robbery. During an ox-pull demonstration in which a farmer urges the animal to pull a pile of cinderblocks, the ox struggles with the weight. When it falls down and the farmer whips it, Frank yells for him to stop and draws a pistol. He shoots the ox, bringing a hush over the crowd. As a siren approaches, fair-goers call Frank by name and urge him to leave before police arrive. Terry says farewell to Sally and flees with his brother. Frank drinks and drives, giddy with his newfound celebrity. Returning to the ashes of their farm, Frank remembers standing on the front porch with his father and Khrushchev. He drives to the Central Trust of Independence. There, he enters with his rifle, and tells the confused Terry to gather money from the tellers. Tommy Malin comes out of his office. When Mark, the Roberts brothers’ former hired hand, enters the bank, Frank tries to give him money, but Mark declines. Terry starts to leave, but stops when Frank aims his rifle at Tommy. Shoving the weapon aside, Terry causes the bullet to miss its target. As the brothers flee, Terry threatens to abandon Frank. They sleep that night in a cornfield and notice the corn is ripe. The next day, they offer to help the farmer, Cox, harvest his crop. After working all night with a combine harvester, they drive the corn to a grain co-op, where an employee recognizes Frank. Later, as police sirens approach the farm, Cox directs the brothers through the cornfield to their car and gives them the location of his brother’s farm in Saskatoon, Canada. That night, Frank leaves Terry at a motel and returns with another car. They continue driving as Frank drinks whiskey from a bottle. Terry wants to lie low for a few days, but Frank enjoys his notoriety. He shows Terry the latest Rolling Stone magazine, with their photograph on the cover. Frank complains that he hates their father for leaving him with all his current troubles, but Terry reminds him he could have sold the farm and walked away. Purposely sideswiping several cars, Frank claims he only stayed on the farm because Terry needed to be taken care of. They fight, so Frank drops him off at a motel and drives away. Terry telephones Sally, and she comes to spend the night. Meanwhile, Frank drives to his father’s grave, demands to know what he did wrong, and expresses his sorrow. Frank returns to the motel with a new car, but Terry refuses to leave, explaining that Sally’s father might be able to reduce his charges. Frank opts to drive to Canada, and they bid each other a tearful farewell. With Sally at his side, Terry surrenders to police. He remembers himself as a boy, walking with his big brother Frank down a country road.