Athletes and Actors Pursue Careers in Agriculture
Big-name celebrities are finding fulfillment in agriculture
Many famous athletes and actors are transitioning into careers in agriculture, some even leaving behind their former professions to pursue a farm-focused life.
An example of this is Jason Brown – formerly the highest-paid center in the NFL – who turned to agriculture and has a 1,000-acre farm near Louisburg, North Carolina. His farm called First Fruits Farm, has a mission to help aid hunger relief in North Carolina, donating over 100,000 pounds of sweet potatoes and 10,000 pounds of cucumbers to local food pantries. Brown, who learned how to farm by watching YouTube videos and connecting with others in the ag industry, says he’s never felt more successful, and plans to continue donating the first fruits of every harvest to those in need.
Another professional football player putting in hours on the farm is Jordy Nelson, currently a wide receiver with the Oakland Raiders. When he’s not on the football field, he’s often working on his family’s farm in Kansas, which includes a black angus cow/calf herd and crops like soybeans, wheat, and corn.
Relatively new to agriculture and farming is Dwight Howard, center and power forward for the Washington Wizards basketball team, who bought a 700-acre farm in north Georgia in 2017, and plans to have an entirely organic farm with no pesticides. According to United Press International, Howard plans to have his crops in grocery stores, and wants to help craft a program for students in agriculture at University of Georgia and Georgia Tech University, inviting them to come and study his land’s soil.
Several film and TV stars are also embracing an agrarian lifestyle, like Mark Ruffalo, who owns a 50-acre property on the site of a former dairy farm, where he grows strawberries and leases the land for haying to local farmers. Additionally, many women in the entertainment industry are raising chickens, including Jennifer Aniston, Reese Witherspoon, Martha Stewart, and Julia Roberts.
Celebrities of all kinds are proving that even the bright lights of Hollywood can’t compare to life on the farm.
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