A unique initiative is taking root across the United States, aiming to support and connect a special group of young individuals: college athletes with a background in agriculture. Farm Athletes, launched in August 2024 by Zach Bosle, the CEO of Tractor Tuesday and a sixth-generation farmer from Hastings, Nebraska, is designed to recognize and assist these student-athletes.
Troy Stickels from Farm Athletes recently shed light on the organization’s origins and mission with Farm Director KC Sheperd. “Farm athletes really got started last August,” Stickels explained. The idea sprung from a desire to give back to the community through Bosle’s farm auction site, Tractor Tuesday. According to Stickels, Bosle “takes things and blows them up a lot bigger than I would ever dream of,” leading to the creation of Farm Athletes.
Initially, the focus was on Name, Image, and Likeness (NIL) deals. “Essentially, what we started out doing was search the country for Division One, Division Two, NCAA athletes who grew up on farms or ranches and were playing college sports, and we wanted to give them a little bit of money through an NIL deal and have them promote Tractor Tuesday,” Stickels elaborated. This approach proved successful in boosting Tractor Tuesday’s brand, with over 8,000 registered users now on the platform.
However, with the evolving landscape of college sports, Farm Athletes has shifted its focus. “With the changing landscape of college sports, we’ve shifted now to doing scholarships versus NIL deals,” Stickels stated, expressing excitement about the opportunity to “help kids in the same way we were, just provided some money to them to help them go to college and play sports.”
The initiative aims to achieve several key goals. “A couple of the underlying goals here are we want kids to go to college and hopefully go in the ag industry,” Stickels emphasized. While not a requirement, the hope is to encourage the next generation to return to their family farms, recognizing that “farms are getting bigger and not smaller, and that can potentially be an issue.”
Beyond financial support, Farm Athletes seeks to foster a sense of community. “We also want to grow a community of kids that have the same thing in common,” Stickels noted. He highlighted the early success of this aspect, sharing that the initial group of athletes, despite never meeting, are following each other on social media and congratulating each other, bonded by their shared experiences in agriculture and sports.
For those interested in learning more or applying for a scholarship, Stickels recommends visiting the Farm Athletes website. “Just read through everything. There’s so much stuff on there.” The website provides information about the program and allows potential applicants to fill out a scholarship application, although the next round of announcements is anticipated in August.
Furthermore, Farm Athletes actively promotes its athletes. “I’m a sports junkie, and so I love being able to go in and see how they’re doing in their games and posting articles about the success that they’re having,” Stickels shared. This not only supports the athletes but also raises awareness about the organization’s mission.
Looking ahead, the ambitions for Farm Athletes are significant. “Honestly, we like go big or go home,” Stickels asserted. “So we want this to be a nationwide known brand of an opportunity to help people. We want it to be a huge community of kids that want to be a part of this.” Recognizing the increasing challenges in both farming and affording higher education, Stickels believes that “kids need help, and we need to support them.”
