ELKHORN, Wis. — For as long as he can remember, Marcus Landry said he has wanted to own a huge plot of land to raise farm animals.
The former University of Wisconsin basketball star finally realized that dream.
Landry, a Milwaukee native, spent 10 years playing professional basketball both overseas and in the NBA. Now he spends his days doing things such as moving bales of hale onto his tractor to feed his cows and goats.
But it wasn’t until the pandemic hit that he saw an opportunity to make his dream a reality.
“During COVID, when I went to the store one day for eggs and there were no eggs, I was gone for four hours. My wife called me like, ‘Where have you been at?’ and all she hears in the background is ‘Chirp, chirp, chirp,’ and she was like, ‘You didn’t,’ and we had chickens in the suburbs,” said Landry.
Not long after, he hung up his basketball uniform for good, retiring from his athletic career. In 2021, he bought a 13 acre farm in Elkhorn.
Landry calls it the “Beulah Family Homestead.” “Beulah” is a biblical term derived from “Beulah Land.” “Beulah” means “marriage.”
“So one of things we do, is teach the kids whatever you do, be married to it,” said Landry.
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Beulah Family Homestead often invites students from Milwaukee-area schools to the farm. When on the farm, they learn where their food comes from, and how to grow it. Plus, they have the chance to learn how to raise farm animals.
“We live in a world — especially in our communities — where lives are being taken every day due to violence and different things. If we can teach them the value of caring for a life, maybe that will bleed over into some of our actions and how we do certain things,” said Landry.
Landry said he wants to expand his farm’s outreach. He’s looking to offer new programs for kids and adults to see how their food gets from the farm to their tables.
Landry said the Beulah Family Homestead is already changing lives.
“Some of these kids realize, ‘You know what, I might not be a basketball player, but farming is cool. I can touch so many people. I can provide food for the less fortunate,’” Landry said. “Like, with this, I’ve learned you can really do a lot in changing people’s lives.”
Whether it’s agriculture or something else, Landry said he wants young people to walk away from the homestead knowing they should be 100% committed to the goals they want to accomplish.