In 2018, NFL star Von Miller turned his passion for poultry into a 35-acre Texas farm; years later, his Greener Pastures operation was growing into a major organic chicken business

Von Miller has always had two serious jobs. Most people only know about one of them. The Super Bowl 50 MVP and eight-time Pro Bowler launched Greener Pastures Chicken in Elgin, Texas, in 2018 alongside co-founder Cameron Molberg, and what began as a side passion has since grown into something the agriculture industry is paying close attention to. The 35-acre farm is now the first broiler operation in the United States to earn Regenerative Organic Certified status, a distinction no other chicken farm in the country holds. Miller's operation has attracted NFL investors, expanded into a USDA-certified organic processing facility, and recently locked up a $100,000 boost in school district revenue through the Texas Farm Fresh Network.How a Poultry science degree at Texas A&M became the foundation of a farming businessVon Miller grew up raising chickens in DeSoto, Texas, so the subject matter was never foreign to him. But when he enrolled in poultry science at Texas A&M, the honest truth is he wasn't trying to build a business empire. He was trying to keep his football GPA intact. The class, he later admitted, was meant to be an easy credit. It didn't go quite as planned.He fell asleep in lectures. Professors made him stand in front of the class and explain chicken husbandry from memory. Somehow, that cycle of embarrassment and repetition worked. By the time he was being picked second overall in the 2011 NFL Draft, he already knew how to talk about birds in ways most linemen couldn't. He named his Broncos teammates after the chickens he raised back home. Peyton. DT. DeMarcus. He told a television audience about it with the kind of casual pride most athletes reserve for playoff runs.The early version of his farming ambition was modest. In 2014, he purchased 38 chickens and began raising them on an eight-acre property near Dallas, calling it Miller Farms. At the time, some in the industry found it charming but didn't take it too seriously. "Miller Farms is where I'm starting out, but it's all raw right now," he said back then. "This is just a small investment where I can see where I go from here. Hopefully it will snowball into something bigger."It did.What makes Greener Pastures chicken different from every other organic farm in TexasThe farm operates out of Elgin, Texas, and it is built around a set of principles that separate it from most operations in the organic poultry space. For starters, Greener Pastures is the only farm in Texas that raises birds on grass while supplementing their diet with USDA Certified Organic feed. The chickens live outside. Full access to sunshine, fresh air, native grasses, and whatever bugs they find foraging. Mobile coops are moved regularly so the soil isn't depleted, which is a core practice in regenerative agriculture.That rotational grazing model is part of why the farm holds its Regenerative Organic Certified designation, the first broiler farm in the entire country to earn it. The operation adds between a quarter and a half inch of healthy soil back to the land each year. That's not a marketing tagline. That's measurable ecological output. The Regenerative Organic Alliance, the body that issues the certification, focuses on soil health, animal welfare, feed inputs, and social fairness standards, all of which Greener Pastures meets.Molberg, the co-founder who runs day-to-day farm operations, brings over 15 years of experience in organic agriculture to the operation. He is described by peers as an "encyclopedia in blue jeans," someone other farmers and organizations call when they need to understand regenerative systems at a practical level. The two make for a complementary partnership. Miller brings the platform, the capital, and frankly the story. Molberg brings the institutional knowledge to make the farm function at a high level.The processing plant opening that went almost completely under the radarIn April 2024, Von Miller cut the ribbon on a brand new processing facility in Elgin, Texas, joined by Greener Pastures staff and faculty from the Texas A&M Department of Poultry Science. The facility is the first USDA organic poultry processing plant in the state of Texas. That is a significant milestone for the industry, not just for Miller personally. And yet there was no splashy press release, no major media rollout.The Texas A&M poultry science department shared the news on LinkedIn, and the industry trade press picked it up from there. A Super Bowl MVP opening the first USDA organic poultry processing facility in a state as large as Texas is exactly the kind of story that should generate national coverage. The fact that it didn't, and that Miller didn't push hard to make it happen, says something about how he has chosen to build this business. Quietly, methodically, and with more concern for the product than the profile.The LinkedIn post from the university read in part: "Von Miller is known to have two great passions in life, football and chicken. Greener Pastures Chicken reflects Von's dedication to producing a humane and sustainable product." The processing facility represents the kind of vertical integration that makes a farm operation genuinely scalable, controlling output from pasture to processing to retail shelf.Why Patrick Mahomes and Drew Brees bought into Von Miller's chicken companyMiller spent years building the farm before he ever pitched it to anyone in the NFL. That approach, building proof before seeking investors, is what made the pitch easy when he finally made it. Patrick Mahomes and Drew Brees are now among the NFL investors who have backed Greener Pastures Chicken, according to the Entrepreneur podcast where Miller discussed the company's growth in August 2025.The investor circle has since expanded further into the locker room. When Miller joined the Dallas Cowboys for the 2026 NFL season, he negotiated his preferred jersey number, No. 40, from Cowboys fullback Hunter Luepke in a way that made national sports news for all the right reasons. Instead of cash, he offered Luepke equity in Greener Pastures Chicken."It was great. You got to give Hunter a great shoutout. He's learned from the best negotiators here with the Cowboys," Miller said. "I'm happy to say he's my business partner. He's a part owner of Greener Pastures Chicken. The chicken of champions."The "chicken of champions" line sounds like a slogan, but it carries real weight when you consider the athletes who have bought in. Luepke won multiple college national championships before the NFL, which Miller cited as part of the brand connection. The jersey deal was described as one of the most unique number negotiations in NFL history, swapping traditional compensation for actual business ownership.How Greener Pastures grew its revenue through Texas school districtsThe farm's growth has moved beyond specialty retail. Through Texas Agriculture Commissioner Sid Miller's Farm Fresh Network, Greener Pastures formed new partnerships with local school districts, adding $100,000 in expanded sales revenue. That shift from co-op shelves to school lunch programs is not a small step. Institutional purchasing brings volume, consistency, and a meaningful mission dimension to the operation."Joining the Farm Fresh Network isn't just about recognition; it opens doors and opportunities that wouldn't have been possible otherwise," said Diego Diverde, Sales Director at Greener Pastures.In Austin's retail market, the brand is already stocked at Central Market, Wheatsville Co-Op, and Radius Butcher and Grocery, three premium food destinations with customer bases that take sourcing seriously. The farm has also signed the Better Chicken Commitment, holds Certified Humane certification, and meets stocking density and enrichment standards that go well beyond what standard organic labeling requires.In 2025, Greener Pastures also adopted the USDA's voluntary "Product of USA" label, a designation that confirms poultry was born, raised, processed, and packaged entirely within the United States. It is the kind of certification that resonates with a consumer market that has grown increasingly attentive to supply chain transparency.What Von Miller's farm business says about NFL athletes and life after footballThe story of athletes going broke after football is a well-documented one. Miller represents something different, an athlete who used his education, not just his earnings, to build something durable. He took poultry science at Texas A&M because it seemed easy. He ended up building the only Regenerative Organic Certified broiler farm in America.That arc, from dozing off in an agriculture lecture to cutting the ribbon on a USDA organic processing facility, is not a straight line. It took over a decade of patient construction. He started with 38 birds. He built proof before he built buzz. He let the farm develop credibility before he attached his jersey number negotiations to it. Now he is describing it publicly as "the chicken of champions" with the kind of genuine confidence that only comes from having done the actual work.There is also a broader question of what this model means for sustainable agriculture. Greener Pastures is not just a celebrity vanity project. It holds real certifications, sells through real retail and institutional channels, runs a processing facility with USDA oversight, and is actively contributing to soil regeneration on Texas land. The Cornucopia Institute, a watchdog organization that evaluates organic farms, has rated Greener Pastures highly, noting that Cameron Molberg, who also serves as the organization's board chair, did not influence the review process.Miller has talked openly about where he sees the farm heading by 2030, without specifying the exact targets publicly. What is already clear is that the operation is structurally serious. A processing plant, school district contracts, NFL co-investors, Regenerative Organic Certification, and a USDA Product of USA designation are not things you build by accident. They are the result of someone who knew exactly what he wanted to do, even when he was falling asleep in class.Stay updated with the latest Asian Games 2026 news, check the Asian Games medal tally and complete Asian Games schedule.Get the latest Sports News and Live updates. Download the TOI app.