Luke Bryan on Lending a Helping Hand with His Farm Tour
One of the perks of being a celebrity is using that fame to help others and that’s what Luke Bryan has done with his annual Farm Tour. It was initially a way for the up-and-coming country artist to play more concert dates, but as the American Idol judge’s career has grown, so has the importance of the Farm Tour dates.
This year’s tour celebrates America’s hard-working farmers who help provide people in the U.S. and around the world access to critical health and nutrition. And it will also provide meals to the food insecure through the Feeding America network of food banks—with a little help from Luke’s fans.
“When Bayer brought us the idea for #herestothefarmer through Feeding America, it seemed like an awesome campaign,” Luke tells Parade in this exclusive interview. "It’s something that they really got proactive with and now they’ve brought Kroger on board. We’ve done scholarships through the years, and still do them, but anytime we can bring a charitable dynamic to the Farm Tour it just makes a win-win.”
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Here's what fans can do on their part to help get meals to the hungry. Starting today through Nov. 30, Bayer—Luke’s partner in the Here’s to the Farmer campaign benefitting Feeding America, Luke, and the Kroger chain of grocery stores, are asking fans to share the hashtag #HeresToTheFarmer on their social media channels. In return, Bayer will help provide one million meals to people experiencing hunger through Feeding America.
Photo: John Shearer
“Originally, we just picked dates near my college town [Statesboro, Ga.] and other college towns because back then in Georgia and the Southeast I could draw a pretty good crowd,” Luke says of the beginnings of the Farm Tour. “So, rather than play in bars with 200 people if I’d go to L.A. or the West Coast and places that didn’t know really who I was as an artist yet, I could come back and do some Farm Tour shows and help my bottom line.”
But then the tour began to grow each year, and Luke, the son of a peanut farmer from Georgia, was able to partner with companies to give back to rural America.
“It’s grown and grown into something that we’re proud of and that’s really, really special for us to do every year,” Luke adds. “As my notoriety as a country singer has gone up, it’s granted me the ability to go and play many, many different states.”
The proof of that is this year’s Farm Tour is in the Midwest rather than the Southeast with dates in Shelbyville, Kentucky; Millersport, Ohio; Colfax, Iowa; Brooklyn, Wisconsin; and Eyota, Minnesota.
“The main thing is we want an easily accessible road system and we want a pretty good field where we don’t run into our equipment bogging up,” Luke says, explaining how they select the farms where they perform. “Through the years, I’ve gotten a team of people that go out and they check these sites and really work hard to make sure it’s going to be a great spot.”
Also of concern is to make sure that they pick a hay field or a cut alfalfa field where there’s no active crops or the crops have already been harvested.
Photo: John Shearer
“The bottom line is it’s been a great partnership with our landowners and farmers,” Luke says. “We’ve made a lot of amazing relationships through the years, and it’s been a home run on all levels. These are perfect environments for me to showcase songs that really speak to the farmers and the people out there in these rural towns and let them know that their hard work hasn’t been forgotten. So, we tinker with the set list a little bit.”
One of the songs he makes sure to include on his farm tour is “Here’s to the Farmer,” but for the 2023, Luke has a new, unreleased song, “I’m on a Tractor,” that he will be adding to his playlist.
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For those of you who are city dwellers like me and think of Bayer solely in terms of aspirin, it turns the company is so much more. Its agricultural division is one of the biggest in the world, which is why it makes for a perfect partnership. Not to mention, Luke has been familiar with it since he was a boy.
"My dad sold agricultural chemicals and fertilizers, so he’s always sold Bayer products,” Luke explains. “So, it’s not a foreign thought for us. It’s been great to see what they’ve been able to do with farmers. They’ve given out vouchers for product, and we’ve done over seven or eight million meals through Feeding America."
The partnership with Bayer and Kroger, which was one of the founding members of Feeding America, also gives fans an opportunity to attend one of Luke's Farm Tour concert performances.
The Farm Tour Sweepstakes gives fans the chance to win one Grand Prize Luke Bryan VIP experience that includes two VIP tickets to a select Luke Bryan 2024 Farm Tour concert, a 3-day/2-night hotel stay, round-trip flights and more. In addition, 100 lucky secondary prize winners will receive Luke Bryan Farm Tour items that may include Branded t-shirt, hat, koozies or cups.
Fans can enter for a chance to win from August 1, 2023 through September 30, 2023 online at www.herestothefarmersweepstakes.com by completing the online entry form. Once registered, they will automatically receive one entry in the sweepstakes. The grand prize winner and secondary prize winners will be selected on or about October 2, 2023.
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