Heavy/Getty Country singer and "American Idol" judge Luke Bryan
Country star Luke Bryan is going back to his roots. The “American Idol” judge — who returned to his Country On Tour on August 17, 2023, after having to cancel several concert dates due to illness — has teamed up with agriculture equipment manufacturer Fendt for a limited-edition product launch, inspired by the years he spent working with his dad on their peanut farm in Leesburg, Georgia.
In August 2022, Bryan and Fendt, a sponsor of his annual Farm Tour, introduced two flavors of “Boldly Grown Popcorn” that fans could get for a limited time. This year, according to a news release, they’ve partnered again to create three flavors of “Boldly Grown Peanuts,” which will become available on August 31 to order while supplies last.
This latest collaboration holds special meaning for Bryan, who says it reminds him of all the hard work his dad, Tommy Bryan, and their family put into harvesting the perfect peanuts when Bryan was growing up, as well as how grateful he is to be packing concert venues instead of tending to the fields — a dream that his dad insisted he pursue many years ago.
Luke Bryan Chose to Sell Peanuts to Fans in Honor of His Dad
FendtLuke Bryan poses in a field to promote his partnership with Fendt.
Bryan’s new “Boldly Grown Peanuts” will come in three “bold flavors” that Bryan selected himself — Homegrown Honey Roasted, Sizzlin’ Sriracha Ranch and Down South Dill. Starting at noon Eastern time on August 31, the packaged peanuts will be available exclusively online at BoldlyGrownGoods.com for $5 per can plus shipping, while supplies last. Fans can purchase a maximum of one can per flavor.
In a statement, Bryan said, “Collaborating with Fendt to make peanuts for my fans means so much because I owe a lot of my work ethic and success to the lessons I learned helping out my dad at his peanut mill,” Bryan said.
Though he doesn’t have to harvest peanuts like his dad did, Bryan has his own Fendt 724 Vario tractor on his 150-acre farm outside Nashville, which he says “really takes me back to those early years, though our tractors were nowhere near as powerful or capable.”
In 2018, Bryan told Country FanCast that even if he gets tired on the road during a concert tour, it’s nothing compared to the exhaustion of working at the peanut plant all day.
He explained, “People are like, all the time, they’re like, ‘How are you riding on your tour bus? Doing shows? Aren’t you just exhausted?’ I’m like, ‘Nah, not really. If you’d like to work for Tommy Bryan at the peanut mill for three months out of the year, a hundred hours a week, I can give you a crash course in exhaustion. Peanut dust in your ears and your nose and your throat.”
Bryan continued, “When I get out there on the road, and I think I’m tired, I’m always like, ‘Hey, I could be breathing in peanut dust.’ So, that’s why I write it in songs just to remind me I could be back there any minute.”
Luke Bryan’s Dad Pushed Him to Leave Home & Follow His Dreams
Bryan almost did wind up staying on the farm to help out his family after his 26-year-old brother Chris died in a car accident in 1996. Bryan told Parade in 2014 that instead of moving to Nashville to pursue music as he’d planned, he stayed home for another year, working at the peanut plant during the day and playing music at bars at night.
But Eventually, his dad implored him to leave home and go to Nashville, Bryan recalled.
“He said, ‘I will fire you if you don’t go follow your dreams,'” he told Parade.
To this day, Bryan’s dad continues to support his son’s red-hot music career. In July 2022, he told Audacy’s Katie Neal on “Superstar Power Hour” that he played his hit single “Country On” for his dad before releasing it.
He said, “I played it for my dad and he was like, ‘Yeah boy, you hit all the categories with that one!'”
“From the first time I heard the first lyric, ‘Hey farm boy, keep dropping that plow,’ it really hit me,” Bryan explained to Neal. “The song covers so many aspects of country living, and country life — from hard work to the American dream, to being optimistic about the future of the country and how we all must ‘Country On’ to really be one.”
Bryan’s Farm Tour, also inspired by working with his dad, takes place in September with concerts held on six different family farms across the Midwest.
Minnesota farmer Dana Allen-Tully, who will host Bryan on her 3,100-acre farm on September 23, told the Daily Herd, “It is exciting he has made it a priority to highlight the American farmer, production agriculture and rural communities.”