Hardin County SCD

Details: Category: Programs

sunflowers and logo

Tennesee Agriculture 2020

Tennessee’s agriculture industry sustains the life of the state, providing food, fuel and fiber for its citizens along with the rest of the world. The state is home to 68,050 farms encompassing 10.8 million acres, with average farm size ringing in at 160 acres.

The state’s top commodities include cattle and calves, broilers, cotton, hay, tobacco, wheat, fresh tomatoes, meat goats and many more. Those contributions may be apparent, but agriculture is also responsible for many more that aren’t as easily seen. For example, Tennessee agriculture and forestry provide more than 363,500 jobs for Tennesseans, boosting the economy with an annual impact of $71.4 billion. That’s 10.3% of the state’s workforce. Along with crops and commodities, the state’s agribusiness sector is booming, with brands such as Jack Daniel’s, Bush’s Beans and MoonPies calling Tennessee home. Tennessee agriculture also encompasses education, agritourism, technology, research, conservation practices and much, much more.

Assistance offered for GAP certification

Tennessee farmers seeking to expand their markets and increase food safety by becoming Good Agricultural Practices (GAP) certified can receive financial assistance from Tennessee Department of Agriculture (TDA).

Achieving certification allows producers to increase their income by selling to more businesses, and the certification helps to ensure food sold to customers is safe. GAP focuses on methods to verify that fruits and vegetables are produced, packed, handled, and stored in the safest manner possible to minimize food safety risks.

“Tennessee farmers work hard to provide a safe, abundant food supply,” Commissioner Charlie Hatcher, D.V.M. said. “Granting the opportunity to offset the cost of the GAP inspection is one way we can help more specialty crop producers become certified and access more markets."

There are opportunities for many agricultural products and the list of eligible crops is varied, from herbs to honey, bedding plants to cut flowers, and from trees to shrubs. Qualified producers will have the opportunity to offset the cost of a GAP Certification inspection by being reimbursed 75% of the inspection cost up to $1,500.

The application period is open through September 29. Funds are available on a first-come, first-served basis. The cost share program is only for producers; warehouses and wholesale distributors are not eligible. Funding for the GAP cost share program is made possible by U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Agricultural Marketing Services Specialty Crop Block Grant program.

For more information and the cost share application visit www.tn.gov/agriculture/farms/produce-nursery/gap.html or contact Mike Brown in TDA’s Business Development Division at This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. or 615-837-5545.

The Tennessee Master Row Crop certification program, which launched on Jan. 4, is an educational program designed to further improve the profitability and sustainability of today’s row crop farming operations. From fundamental to cutting-edge, research-based information, topics include agronomics, integrated pest management, weed and disease management, precision agriculture, irrigation, grain drying and storage, marketing, sustainability and more. The program will be delivered via a hybrid virtual/face-to-face format to meet the accessibility needs of every eligible producer across the state, especially as the COVID-19 pandemic continues.

“We are pleased that UT Extension is adding row crops to their Master Program offerings,” said Tennessee Commissioner of Agriculture Charlie Hatcher, D.V.M. “This creates an opportunity for farmers to realize the 50% cost share under the Row Crop Solutions portion of the Tennessee Agricultural Enhancement Program (TAEP). Education has been a cornerstone of TAEP since its inception. Adding the Master Row Crop certification emphasizes the importance of this sector to our agriculture industry, as well as its contribution to rural economic development in our state.”

“We look forward to continuing to deliver impactful, relevant and research-based information to our Tennessee row crop producers through the formalized Master Row Crop certification program,” adds Lori Duncan, UT Extension row crop sustainability specialist and coordinator of the Master Row Crop certification program. “This program will further expand our educational offerings in row crop production and make information more available and accessible to every corner of the state.”

Interested producers can enroll at their county Extension office. Program requirements and further details can be found at masterrowcrop.tennessee.edu.

For more resources on row crops or improvements to farming operations, visit utextension.tennessee.edu or contact your county Extension office.

Through its land-grant mission of research, teaching and extension, the University of Tennessee Institute of Agriculture touches lives and provides Real. Life. Solutions. utia.tennessee.edu.

.How High-Tech Agriculture Increases Efficiency

Posted on July 19, 2018August 21, 2020 by Keri Ann Beazell

In partnership with: Tennessee Department of Agriculture

From drones to GPS mapping to robotic milking to solar panels, Tennessee farms are a source of innovation. By embracing advanced technologies, farmers have benefitted from a boost to their bottom line while reducing waste, producing energy and protecting the environment.

Here are some of the newest technologies making a difference down on the farm.

Precision Ag: Rapid, Responsive and Accurate Data

A veteran-owned company in Alamo, Tenn., Farmspace Systems LLC is leading the 3-D agricultural production movement, following advancements in mechanization and biotechnology.

“The world needs a ‘third wave’ of increased agricultural productivity to feed and clothe two billion more people by 2050. This third wave will be based on precision agriculture,” says Lt. Gen. John Castellaw USMC (retired), president and CEO, Farmspace Systems.

With the advent of commercially available global positioning systems (GPS) in the 1990s to precisely guide farm equipment, today’s GPS- enabled unmanned aerial systems (UAS) can now determine the “what, when, where and how much” for a variety of inputs including seed, nutrients and pesticides.

“This brings the management level down from farm-wide to zones no larger than 2 to 5 acres with the promise of drilling down to much smaller areas,” Castellaw says. However, he estimates that only around 30 percent of those that could benefit are currently using drones in their farming operations.

Farmspace has partnered with Middle Tennessee State University’s Aviation Department on UAS research and development, as well as establishment of an FAA-approved R&D range in West Tennessee near Alamo.

Looking to the future, Castellaw anticipates that sales will increase as people become more familiar and comfortable with drone operations, similar to the trend in smartphone usage.

“A recent study projected that 80 percent of all UAS operations will eventually be in agriculture. This will be a significant amount of economic activity when the forecast total value of UAS operations is $82 billion by 2025,” he says.

Similarly, GeoAir, one of the 13 finalists in Launch Tennessee’s 36|86: Student Edition Pitch Competition and finalist in the American Farm Bureau’s Rural Entrepreneurship Challenge, is helping farmers with drone technology to identify mold in fields. Founded by recent MBA graduate Alex Adams from Bristol, Tenn., GeoAir takes airborne samples from the fields and then uses that data to create a heat map that illustrates mold hot spots.Thanks to drone technology, farmers can now precisely treat the problem areas, instead of the entire crop, effectively saving time and money.

Dairy Robotics: Milking Down to a Science

Sweetwater Valley Farm, home of award-winning cheese and named the 2012 Innovative Dairy Farm of the Year by the International Dairy Foods Association, is a must-visit for consumers curious about dairy farming technology.

As early as the 1990s, John Harrison was using technology to collect daily activity and milk weights. This system made it possible to better sort cows and aggregate accurate data for daily management and historical analysis. Sweetwater Valley also began using a feed tracker system, which allowed more effective measurement and distribution of feed ingredients.

However, the benefits of technology aren’t limited to just livestock. On the employee-management side, the farm has integrated an evaluation plan that scores each employee in various areas, which is then used for compensation and tracking personal growth.“Farms are also on the edge of being able to produce amazing amounts of energy,” Harrison adds. “We have always found ways of using byproducts, but now we are starting to direct it to the energy grid.” Through the use of anaerobic manure “digesters” (also called methane digesters), manure is being converted into methane for on- or off-farm use such as gas and electricity.

Overall, Harrison finds that the innovations that have most transformed the dairy industry today are robotics, GPS, apps and social media. Of course, simply the ability to collect, store and disseminate massive amounts of data has been paramount to agriculture, and will likely continue to push the industry to new heights.