Luke Bryan Farm Tour: Serving Our Communities
By Amanda Penning, Technical Sales Specialist, Animal Health, Bayer U.S.
My two favorite Luke Bryan songs are Country Girl (Shake It For Me) and Strip It Down. I’m sure my husband thought I’d be in the front row singing along when I attended the 2017 Luke Bryan Farm Tour, but I actually didn’t get to pay attention to Luke Bryan as much as I’d hoped.
I attended the concert, in Boone, Iowa, with some of my customers, which included several veterinarians and vet technicians, and I spent a good bit of my time at the concert watching their faces light up as they danced the night away. It was great to see them having such a good time, because I know how hard they are usually working to ensure that people’s cats, dogs, and other pets and large animals are healthy.
Just as my customers do a lot to serve their communities, Bayer also has always had a heart for helping people and pets in need. From our fight on Capitol Hill gaining support for women’s shelters to get women out of an abusive environment along with their pets to our partnership with K9’s for Warriors to help military veterans fight PTSD through the use of canine companions, I’m proud to work for a company that values the communities where we do business.
The 2018 Farm Tour, which runs Sept. 27-Oct. 6, will again bring Luke Bryan concerts to farms across the country, so that Luke can celebrate America’s farmers and share his songs with audiences in rural areas that otherwise might not have a chance to see him.
As part of the tour, Bayer will donate a meal through Feeding America for every share of the hashtag, #HEREStotheFARMER, up to 1 million meals. And at each tour stop, Bayer also donates $2,000 to support the local food bank.
Our Oct. 5 tour stop is at Misty Morning Farms in South Carolina, so it was a great concern to tour organizers when Hurricane Florence made its recent destructive path through North and South Carolina. Fortunately, Misty Morning Farms came out okay, but my colleagues at Bayer know that many other farmers, businesses and homeowners were not so lucky.
So I’m happy to report that Bayer is donating $100,000 to the American Red Cross this year for disaster preparedness, and my Animal Health colleagues are working with Animal Search and Rescue to provide needed products to those caring for animals that have been displaced, injured or who have become ill due to the hurricane.
My pets are a huge part of my life, and I can’t imagine if they were injured or lost in a storm. I have been working with Bayer Animal Health for eight years, and I am blessed to have a career with a company that’s so committed to making a difference — and where I get to have a role in that by helping animals through my work with veterinarians.
In my job, I travel the whole state of Iowa and am on the road a lot. My clients have become more like family to me, which makes the road life not so lonely. There aren’t many professions where one can say they get to drive around and see their “family” every day while also helping teach about keeping pets healthy.
I am so thankful that Bayer has generously sponsored the Luke Bryan Farm Tour so that we can show our appreciation to farmers and communities, by throwing a farm party out there in the big field, like only those in the Heartland know how!
