CAYUGA—For local farmer and TikTok celebrity Hayden Fox, bringing hilarious, educational content to his millions of online fans while running a fully-functioning farm just outside of Cayuga is all in a day’s work.
Fox, who has amassed a huge 1.9 million followers on TikTok, with 40.1 million likes overall on his page, said that his original idea for using the platform was simple, “I wanted to tell people the stories of the farm and show them what I do on a daily basis.”
Drawing on his unique comedic skills and personality, he launched a series of videos that are often hilarious, full of exuberance, and teach farming concepts in a simple, easy to follow way that has connected big-time with his many followers.
Fox, a Cayuga Secondary School alumnus, said that growing up both his parents hoped one of their children would continue the family farming tradition, “I thought ‘heck with that’. ‘Farming is the last thing I want to do, who would ever want to spend all their days out in a field’.”
Well, it didn’t take long for Fox to reconsider. Fox attended the University of Guelph to study Food and Agricultural Business, and returned home to the family farm after graduating.
Fox’s first forays into TikTok happened at the beginning of the pandemic, “I was on a straw delivery and the funniest thing happened. The lady started calling the straw, ‘hay’. I thought it was so hilarious I needed a way to tell people.”
That instinct proved fortuitous. While Fox said that video received an impressive 20,000 views in its initial release, within no time he would be reaching a much wider audience, “I thought was amazing and it just took off from there.”
He described his light-hearted approach to his videos, “It really seemed to resonate with people, probably because I wasn’t shoving information down their throats, but entertaining them.”
Fox said that the stories he tells on his account, while occasionally embellished, are all real stories from his experiences on the family farm, which he recently purchased from his grandparents, “It’s been in the family for over 70 years, so keeping it in the family was so important to me. My grandpa taught me a lot about tradition and put in so many back breaking hours to get the farm where it is. It’s important I let my family’s legacy live on and respect the hard work of my grandparents.”
Fox has found liberation through using his page to showcase not only agriculture and the simple joys of farming life, but through openly showing his gay side, something that initially mortified him, “I was so worried how the community would judge me after that. Growing up you’re told all the time that farmers are stern, manly, and keep to themselves. I’m bubbly and flamboyant, those two things just don’t go together. Or so I was told.”
Once Fox came out and showcased his true self, he found a world of support, “Honestly I think people just wanted to see me happy and didn’t care about my sexuality. Sure, I had a few haters and people who took it a bit too far in terms of comments and trying to tell me I didn’t belong, but the love really outweighed the hate.”
Fox said he was overwhelmed by the responses he received from others who were in similar situations, “So many people who live in small communities live in fear regarding their sexual orientation. I don’t blame them; It can be really tough sometimes. So being able to make people feel comfortable with who they are means so much to me. If me being who I genuinely am online makes even one person feel they can be themselves no matter where they live or what occupation they have, it makes it totally worth it to me.”
If running a successful farming operation while entertaining millions online wasn’t enough of a reason to root for Fox, he has another feather in his cap worthy of admiration; He is a currently active volunteer firefighter serving his community proudly while following in his father’s footsteps.
“I grew up around the firehall and loved going to the events they hosted as a kid. Being able to give back to the community is just the icing on the cake. Now me, my dad, and my sister are all volunteer firefighters together,” said Fox.
He concluded, “If you love the work you do, don’t be afraid to share it with the world. Also, don’t be afraid to be yourself. If you do what you love, are open minded, positive, and your genuine self, no matter where you end up it will be a success.”
