Tennessee

Preserving the Future: How Tennessee is Protecting Farmland While Driving Development

Tue, 10 Feb 2026 00:59:16 GMT

How is Tennessee, one of the fastest-growing states in the country, balancing economic development while still protecting farmland? Gov. Bill Lee says it’s one of the state’s greatest challenges, but he believes there is a way to do both.

Last year, Lee signed the Tennessee Farmland Preservation Act into law, tasking the Tennessee Department of Agriculture with developing a grant program to incentivize farmland owners to voluntarily enroll their land in a permanent conservation easement.

“We lose 9 acres an hour to development,” Lee said at the 2026 Top Producer Summit . “We recognize that agriculture is our No. 1 driver of our economy, so we have to preserve farmland. This act will incentivize farm property, and agriculture property in particular, to be put in land trusts so it can never be developed. This effort has been widely accepted by farmers and is beginning to take effect.”

Where is the Push for Economic Development in Tennessee?

Although economic development is taking place in many different forms, the state of Tennessee is seeing a big push for data centers. For some farmers, this could be the revenue generator they’ve been waiting on, but for others, it’s a contentious issue.

“If we are going to have a data center, it has to work for all of us,” Lee says. “Most important is that the impact on the grid for power is one that our state can effectively manage.”

He believes the data centers and the companies behind them should be partners with the state and with regulatory bodies.

“They should come in and say, ‘If we’re going to come here, this is what we will deliver to the state,’” Lee says. “Besides just the investment in dollars and what they will take from the grid, how will they deliver to the state?”

AI, a major data center and supercomputing facility in Memphis, is an example of a good partnership, he says.

“They are producing their own power and contributing to the grid. It’s a great partnership and model for things that we should be looking for in the future,” Lee adds.

How is Tennessee Helping Farmers?

Tennessee crop farmers are feeling pain right now like their peers across the country.

“It’s a tough environment for crop farmers,” Lee says. “We’ve seen the staggering losses some of our producers have experienced. But they’re very resilient people. They know that a few years ago, crop prices were good. Right now, they’re really bad. A lot of patience is required in farming, and they know that.”

Stability and predictability are nearly impossible to have in agriculture, he says. But he’s working to help provide stability and predictability from a federal standpoint through ag policy efforts.

“I think that’s what farmers look for more than anything,” Lee says. “They don’t want a rescue or an immediate solution to the problem they have. I think farmers want some indication of what stability looks like and what predictability looks like and what they can expect in the future.”

From a livestock standpoint, Tennessee has been investing heavily in the development of more local processing options.

“We do believe that locally sourced products are helpful to our own ag community,” he says. “To the degree that we can facilitate that in this state, we ought to do it. We’ve broadly expanded our ability to process beef in this state. We’re not nearly where we need to be, but we’re headed in the right direction.”

Creating a Pipeline for Agriculture

Lee is passionate about thinking about the future and creating pathways for skilled trades, especially in the agriculture industry. His experience running a company in the skilled trades business — plumbers, pipefitters, electricians and welders — has helped him see the need firsthand.

“One of the most important things we can do is recognize that kids’ giftings are really different,” Lee says.

Lee’s passion to better meet the demand for skilled labor came to fruition through the Governor’s Investment in Vocational Education (GIVE) Act.

“It created, initially, a $1-million program in high schools for vocational, technical and agricultural education programs,” he says. “It led to $500 million in middle school career and technical education programs, and ultimately $1 billion in our colleges of technology that deliver ag education, technical education and vocational education. We have removed the waitlist for our colleges of technology. We’re delivering 10,000 more workers a year who are skilled tradesmen.”

He believes it’s one of the reasons Tennessee has so many global companies making the decision to come to the state.

“We have a lot of activity here economically because the state with the workers is going to win every time,” Lee says. “We started seven years ago by creating a workforce that was much more diverse than what it had been previously, and that includes agricultural education.”

As a cattle producer and proud Tennessean, Lee says he’s most proud of how he’s helped support the state’s future in agriculture by investing in youth and the technologies that will be the future.

“It will be fun for me to look back years from now and say, ‘I’m really glad we did that. Ag was No. 1 in Tennessee when I was there, and ag is still No. 1 in Tennessee now that I’ve been gone,’” he says. “That’s what I hope for.”

Meet The 2019 Top Producer Of The Year: Jimmy Tosh

Wed, 22 Nov 2023 16:06:33 GMT

In 1972, Jimmy Tosh began his full-time farming career. He farmed 300 acres of family land and finished 1,000 feeder pigs. Fast forward to today, and the operation includes 17,000 acres of white and yellow corn, soybeans, canola and wheat, as well as 37,000 sows that produce 850,000 market hogs annually. It’s because of his entrepreneurial originality, financial and business progress and industry and community leadership that he was named the 2019 Top Producer of the Year.

Growth of his scale doesn’t happen by accident. Tosh is a trailblazer in many ways. He was one of the first users of the personal computer to manage his farm finances. In fact, the first spreadsheet he created he still uses today.

“I’m a crop farmer that got into hogs,” he says. “I went in with the intention of building 3 buildings and now we have built 300.”

Surviving the financial farm crisis of the 1980s, as well as the late 1990s and late 2000s--all extremely difficult years for hog producers--required a keen focus on business. While other hog producers left the industry, Tosh Farms became a leader.

“We are in a commodity production business and the lower cost producer is the one that wins,” he says.

In northwest Tennessee, the operation doesn’t experience the wide corn basis and cheap feed compared to hog operations in the Midwest. So, Tosh has supplemented his feed rations with non-traditional ingredients and even manufactured a system to process these ingredients into feed pellets. Tosh believes the early adopters of technology reap the most benefits. As a result, he’s always looking for new and innovative production, marketing and management opportunities that cut costs.

As the operation grew, Tosh Farms created a contract system for area farmers to produce hogs. This has helped numerous young farmers stay in the area, all while building equity in their own operations.

“We’re the only ones in our area who still offer contracts,” he says.

Today, the team includes nearly 400 full-time employees. Tosh and his wife, Alonna, have two sons, Jamey and Jonathan, who are involved in the business and will succeed Tosh.

“I want to make sure this operation is as successful in the future as it was in the past,” he says.

Tosh Farms, as defined by their mission statement, measure success by profitability, quality of production, environmental awareness and attention to human resources.

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Adams Family Farms Named 2019 Top Producer Of The Year Finalist

Rabou Farms Named 2019 Top Producer Of The Year Finalist

Not in My Backyard: Tennessee Residents Voice Concerns About Proposed Processing Plant Location

Wed, 05 Oct 2022 18:44:12 GMT

How long of a waitlist does your local locker have?

For some across the nation, it might be months to even a year or more before there is an open slot available to take an animal to butcher.

Meat Processing Cooperative

For folks in Washington County, Tenn., near Jonesborough, establishing a meat processing cooperative, to be operated by the Appalachian Producers Cooperative, was their first step in creating the opportunity for more animals to be harvested locally. This will be the first farmer-owned cooperative established in Tennessee in more than 50 years.

In March of this year, the county’s commissioners approved $2 million in county funding towards a $10-million project to build the processing facility planned to harvest 25 to 30 head of livestock per day. Additional funding is anticipated through government grants , bank loans and member contributions.

Many called it an investment in the future of Washington County agriculture, says a local news source. The facility would also employ a staff of 20 to 25 people, a local source states .

However, the project faced opposition early on, with county residents unhappy with the idea that $2 million of taxpayer contributions would be given to private industry.

After several amendments to the original proposal, the following resolution was created, according to a local news source :

• A right of first refusal for Washington County over the next 10 years

• In the event of the cooperation failing, either by liquidation, loans defaulting or failure to secure construction, the county would take control of the operation and assume any debt

• The cooperative must report back to the commission every six months and annually through the 10-year period

• The cooperative cannot spend any of the county’s money until it is needed

• The county will recoup some of its investment by receiving a cut of distributions from the cooperative based on the county’s percentage of the total investment in the project

Not in My Backyard

Location has also been a sticking point for local residents.

Originally, the project considered three site locations within the Jonesborough area. Most recently, the site options have been narrowed to two, considering one site near the Jonesborough Flea Market and the other next to the Eagle’s Nest subdivision.

A recent meeting of the Jonesborough Regional Planning Commission brought several disapproving residents of the subdivision with concerns, including:

• Value of their homes

• Unpleasant smells

• Noise from the facility

• Amount of traffic

• Effects on water quality

However, this meeting failed to meet quorum requirements, due to the absence of commissioners, including the chairman and vice chairman. Additionally, Scot Hamilton, the man applying for the re-zoning, was not present, says a local news source .

A recommendation on which property will be re-zoned will likely take place at the regional planning commission’s September meeting, and a decision may be reached at the county commissioner’s meeting in late September.

Though the site near the subdivision is not first choice, residents plan to continue voicing their concerns at the upcoming meetings.

Conquering College: The Tools To Get Your Diploma

Wed, 11 Nov 2020 05:09:35 GMT

College life isn’t all about the parties and shenanigans depicted in Hollywood films. It takes a lot of time—four years in most cases—and hard work.

Charles Denney from the University of Tennessee Institute of Agriculture shares some of the demands students face and how the university is working to give students the tools to ensure success on their academic journey.

Watch the story on AgDay above.