Former major league fishing pro Kevin VanDam is now reeling in a new kind of success: sharing his love for the land and inspiring future outdoor enthusiasts. AccuWeather's Leslie Hudson has the story.
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00:00Kevin Van Dam landed his spot in pro fishing history after three Major League Fishing titles,
00:12four Bassmaster Classic titles, and a whopping seven Bassmaster Angler of the Year awards.
00:21After retiring from pro fishing, Van Dam traded his trophies for tractors
00:26and set his sights on life back home in Michigan.
00:30Now, he's focused his competitive spirit on caring for his land.
00:36Van Dam carefully designs food plots to not only improve crops, but provide a safe haven for wildlife.
00:43Why is land conservation and preserving these natural resources such an important part of your career?
00:48I love improving the habitat, whether it's, you know, the timber for, you know, improving that, but it helps all wildlife.
00:55It's just something about being out there on the tractor. I mean, we call it tractor time.
01:00It's one of my favorite things to do. There's nothing like spending an afternoon, working the dirt, getting ready for, you know,
01:06for spring planning or a fall planning or whatever. I mean, we live at 365.
01:10His deep connection to the outdoors started when Van Dam was just a little boy with his dad and their first tractor.
01:18You know, it's pretty tough. I lost my dad earlier this year, but he was a builder.
01:24We got our first Kubota, man, 40 years ago. And, you know, that one's still running.
01:29We have food plotted and farmed around here for this, for wildlife all of that time.
01:36He's the one that really helped get that started for me.
01:39Van Dam is passing those same values down to his twin sons, Jackson and Nicholas, ensuring this family tradition grows even deeper roots.
01:48It's really important to make sure that I make it the best that it can possibly be.
01:54So making sure that I leave it better, especially for my kids and their grandkids.
01:58You know, I've had so many great memories with my dad and my family here.
02:04I want to make sure that we do that for the future.
02:07Not only is Van Dam planting values that will grow for generations, he continues to cultivate new crops to spread sustainable living.
02:15The biggest thing is being able to till that soil.
02:19You know, you've got to provide a good seed bed.
02:22And so, you know, you can use a rototiller. I like a disc.
02:25A lot of the things that we do with food plotting is diversity.
02:29So we're changing things up. We're rotating crops.
02:31It's a lot better for the soil.
02:33And you end up using a lot less fertilizer and stuff by doing that.
02:37Basically, I do about 30 acres of food plots a year on my properties.
02:41I can do 7 to 10 acres in a few hours with it, where it would take me days.
02:48I've got a really good friend of mine that just bought a brand new one.
02:51Brand new one. I mean, it's Orange Days right now at Kubota's.
02:55And he just bought a brand new one literally a week ago.
02:58And he has 7 acres.
03:00So he doesn't need a tractor of that size, but he's got the perfect one.
03:05People talk about the good old days of hunting and fishing.
03:08Right now are the good days because of conservation, of good management practices.
03:13And we are done.