A farming family from the Peoria area will be featured in a commercial to air during Super Bowl 58, scheduled for 5:30 p.m. Sunday on WMBD-TV.
The Leman family of Eureka, Illinois, is set to appear in the regional commercial along with at least five other farming families throughout the state. Produced by Illinois Farm Families, the 30-second spot — part of the IFF’s “We are the 96%” campaign — is designed to highlight that nearly all of the state’s farms are family-owned.
“I hope people can see that the same families who have been responsible for growing their food in the past are still responsible for growing it today,” Chad Leman told agweb.com. “But, we’ve had to grow a little in the meantime so the next generation has room to move in.”
Super Bowl 58:NFL journey of San Francisco 49ers longsnapper Taybor Pepper rooted in Peoria
Who is the Leman family?
Vernon Leman began farming the main Woodford County farmstead in 1949, according to IFF. The farm has expanded with each new generation, starting with crops and then moving on to pigs in the 1970s and then onto selling seed to fellow farmers in the 1990s. Three generations of Lemans work the farm now, including Chad and Staci Leman’s daughter, Tessa Leman, a former two-time Journal Star small-school girls basketball player of the year and recent graduate of Illinois State University.