This month, small farms in Cedar Rapids got a taste of big city living. On September 10 this year country star Luke Bryan brought the fun to Cedar Rapids on his farm tour. Bryan started his Farm Tour in 2009, where he does production concerts on small agricultural farms. He has done the Farm Tour for 12 years, but not consistently due to COVID-19 canceling it last year. Dylan Scott, Whitney Duncan, The Peach Pickers and DJ Rock were opening acts for Bryan’s tour. Bryan’s motivation behind doing this tour is to salute the hard- working farmers who constantly feed the USA, donating the profits to farm owners. In addition, Bryan sponsored 60 scholarships for local universities and colleges to give out to farm families. Growing up in a farming family in rural Georgia, Bryan understands the importance and the sacrifices of a farm family “I know how hard farming can be even on a good year, and how hard those families work- from sun-up to sundown. After the challenges we have all faced in the last year with so many people losing their jobs, struggling to put food on their tables, food supply chains jeopardized, grocery stores struggling to keep food on the shelves in some areas, it is so apparent to me, and I hope everyone, why our farmers are truly the backbone of our country. They never stopped providing for all of us. Ever. It’s time to thank our farmers, once again. It’s going to mean even more to me this year, Bryan said. To do his part to help, Bryan partnered up with Bayer’s vision of Health for All, Hunger and Feeding America to share #HerestotheFarmer on social media, with the hashtag being the name of one of Bryan’s songs. For every share, Bayer will provide one meal to a person in need using Feeding America in the hopes of reaching 1 million meals.

Marissa Rushton, a junior Xavier student, who attended said, “ It was an amazing concert and the love that he gives to those in need. The concept of donating a meal is so easy to do and only takes a matter of seconds to complete!” Bryan is working to use his platform to help people in the communities around him, and will be raising the number in the future through the gift of music.