(Greensburg, IN) – A Super Bowl XLI champion and former Indianapolis Colts punter was the keynote speaker at Saturday morning’s Ag Day Breakfast in Greensburg.
Hunter Smith, also known as “Hunter the Punter,” made the transition from football to farming after his retirement from the NFL following the 2010 season.
“I’m trying to encourage people to embrace agriculture,” Smith said. “I mean, nationwide and in Indiana on a number of different levels. I think just bringing attention to different forms of agriculture. It’s not a message against any kind of agriculture. Rather, it’s just for the idea of diversity in agriculture, of agriculture practices.”
Smith owns WonderTree Regenerative Farm in the Zionsville area.
It was announced at the event that the Brewsaugh family is donating a 20-acre cornfield near Sandusky for this year’s Farmer’s Feeding the Flock fundraiser benefitting Greensburg Community Bread of Life.
“I’ve been in agriculture with my dad and grandfather, and a I know that if my dad could have been here today, he wouldn’t have turned down this opportunity,” Scott Brewsaugh said. “It’s a great thing for the community, what they do, so that’s why we’re honored to do this.”
2024 will be the seventh year for this popular and highly successful fundraiser to help the Bread of Life meet the needs of those in the community who are dealing with food insecurity.
Merrill Smith (no relation) leads the Farmer’s Feeding the Flock effort, and says the Decatur County ag community has stepped up over the years.
“They want to support and help people in need, and agriculture truly is the bread of life,” he said. “We get tremendous support not only from local farmers who put up a big donation by providing a field but we get support from the agribusinesses by helping with paying for the inputs or providing the inputs for the field.”
Merrill Smith also credits the non-agriculture community for backing the fundraiser through acre sponsorships.
“It (the fundraiser) has really exceeded our expectations. Last year, $66,000 ($66,613.43) we raised off a 30-acre soybean field. Now, farmers don’t get $66,000 off of a field,” he said.
Specifically, Farmers Feeding the Flock raised a record $66,613.43 in 2023, and has brought in a total of $298,333.43 in the previous six years for Greensburg Community Bread of Life.
“All because of agriculture and the fine community that we live in,” Smith said.
For more information, visit greensburgbreadoflife.com.
The Ag Day Breakfast was presented by the Greensburg/Decatur County Chamber of Commerce and Decatur County Farm Bureau.
Decatur County Memorial Hospital was the title sponsor of the event, which took place at Xperience Ag in Greensburg.