Mark Zuckerberg is visiting millennial entrepreneurs across the U.S.
By Diego Flammini
News Reporter
Farms.com
Two farming brothers from Missouri received a visit from Facebook co-founder Mark Zuckerberg.
Zuckerberg stopped in to visit Dustin, 25, and Austin Stanton, 19, at Stanton Brothers Eggs in Centralia, MO as part of his 2017 “Year of Travel.” Zuckerberg’s goal for the year is to meet people from each U.S. state.
And learning about the farm’s technology and passion the brothers have for farming was an impressive sight, Zuckerberg said.
The Stantons “run of the largest free-range egg farms in the country,” he wrote on Facebook after his visit. “You talk to them it’s like, you guys are the future. You’re 25 and 21 years old. You’ve been doing this since middle and high school.”
The Stantons’ farm produces about 2.5 million free-range eggs annually, which is the most in the United States
“At one point they had to downsize from 25,000 to 7,000 chickens because of regulations they needed to manage,” Zuckerberg wrote. “But you just get the sense, talking to these folks, they’re going to make it happen. They’re going to figure this out. And it’s just inspiring to see.”
Some people might not think the creator of a social media platform and a Missouri egg farmers have much in common.
But there’s more similarities than one might think, according to Dustin.
“We both view money as a by-product and not as our main product,” he wrote on Facebook after Zuckerberg’s visit. “Neither one of us focus on selling eggs or advertisements but rather our focus is on our commitment to community, our family and our faith.
“We are financially successful operations founded by millennials in a time when many millennials are still seeking their purpose.”
Top photo: L to R: Austin Stanton, Mark Zuckerberg, Dustin Stanton
Photo: Dustin Stanton/Facebook