Reaching the millennial generation with the message of agriculture is a tough challenge, but a group of farm boys from Kansas has found a way. The Peterson brothers have produced videos that are internet sensations and reach millions of people around the world. Greg Peterson said it all started as a way to teach their friends about farming, “When I went off to college at Kansas State, a lot of my friends had no idea what farm life was like. I just wanted to give them an idea of what life was like on the farm and why I liked farming so much.” He said, even in a place like Kansas, there are a lot of people who have no idea about agriculture.
Their first video hit 5 million views within a few days. After they were interviewed on national television, their videos went viral. Today their parodies of rap songs have been seen by millions of people around the world and have over 33 million views on YouTube. More importantly, the people they are reaching are people who need to know about agriculture. “A lot of people in agriculture have seen the videos, but that is not who we are aiming at,” Peterson said. “We want to reach those who do not understand farming. That is why we use rap songs instead of country songs. It is the idea of these farm boys rapping, that draws them in.”
They have produced a total of 7 videos and have another scheduled for release this summer. Peterson said they are now very deliberate in the theme and message they choose, “We want to be entertaining, but we also want to show them what farming is like today.” Greg Peterson is a 2013 graduate of Kansas State and now spends about a third of him time speaking and promoting his videos. The rest of the time he is working on the family farm near Assaria, Kansas. He has two younger brothers and a younger sister.