Complete turnaround - Our CO-OP

Transcription

October-November 2013
Complete
turnaround
Record corn harvest results
from more favorable conditions
than 2012
Also inside
Fall agritourism operations gear up for
family fun - p. 16
‘Cowboy-style’ golf course is fun
alternative to the regular game - p. 24
SPECIAL HARVEST ISSUE
Co-op event gives outdoor enthusiasts a
chance to hear from hunting icon - p. 30
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contents
Cover Story
5
Complete
turnaround
Though it started out with a wet, cool spring, the 2013 growing season turned out to
be almost ideal for producing high-yielding row crops in stark contrast to last summer’s heat
and drought. Corn has fared especially well and is expected to be a record crop for Tennessee
at a state average of 152 bushels per acre. These large, full ears of Croplan corn on the Duren
farm in Wayne County indicate just how well the brand’s hybrids in particular performed.
ON THE COVER: White County Farmers Cooperative members, from left, Wayne, Mark, and Matt Davis have seen
some of the best corn yields ever on their Sparta farm, thanks in part to the Croplan hybrids they planted.
— Photos by Allison Morgan
News and features
10
16
24
30
36
38
Diversity and adversity
24
Chad and Marty Koop pursue varied ventures to raise their family in an agricultural lifestyle.
‘Something for everyone’
Tennessee’s agritourism operations offer wide range of activities for fall family fun.
Country club
“Cowboy golf” on the farm of Brent Maher is the latest hit for the renowned record producer.
‘Like a big family reunion’
Outdoor enthusiasts pack Montgomery Farmers Cooperative Sportsman’s Extravaganza.
From one to wonderful
John Plummer and family earn national accolades for their Toggenburg goats and Jersey cattle.
‘Butterflies Are Free’
One-of-a-kind display is among the attractions at Music & Molasses Festival Oct. 19-20.
TenneScene
36
In every issue
4 As I Was Saying
Jerry Kirk enjoys a colorful light display
every night in his own backyard.
4 Our Country Churches
Gladdice Missionary Baptist Church in
Jackson County.
20 New at Co-op
Learn about four new products available
at your hometown store.
21 Neighborly Advice
Tree stand safety, preparing horses for
cool weather, proper soil-testing methods.
At Tennessee Farmers Cooperative’s headquarters in LaVergne, Co-op products are being put to
the test! Forage breeders from FFR Cooperative brought their equipment and expertise down to
Tennessee in mid-September to plant a sample plot of forages, including Co-op’s own Allied Seed
Farm Science Genetics brand. With this plot literally in TFC’s front yard, it will be a great way to
watch the performance and characteristics of the different forages. —Photo by Travis Merriman
42 What’s Cookin’?
Harvest a basketful of apple recipes.
46 Every Farmer Has a Story
Meet Wayne County’s Tom and Regina
Tesnow, who are devoted to Devon cattle.
3
As I Was Saying
Lights show off every night at our house
M
aybe you remember my writing a couple of months ago about the single
showy sunflower that popped up in a special bird-feeding area of our
backyard this summer. That good-sized space between our screened-in
porch and carport is still one of our favorite spots, especially after the sun goes
down. As dusk gives way to darkness and the birds head off to roost, we can sit
on our porch and watch 19 long-stemmed, solar-powered pieces of garden art
flicker to life, usually one at a time. It’s quite a show. With each of the lights
rotating through a three-stage program, the flickering, rhythmic blending of
Jerry Kirk
colors and motion is mesmerizing. It’s hard even to look away.
Each light is topped by a colorful, sometimes whimsical globe and has its own
Contributing Editor
little solar panel for storing the energy needed to make it work. Because our
lights get full sun much of the day, we have relatively good luck keeping them burning. Wife Jane’s
persistence in positioning the solar panels so they can soak up the sun and changing batteries and
bulbs as needed has a lot to do with that success.
We credit our 3-year-old granddaughter, Sloan,
with getting us started on what’s now our colorful
backyard display. In celebrating her first Christmas
back in 2010, Sloan gave me a single solar light that
twinkles and shines in alternating colors: blue, green,
and red. The light’s multi-color shade enhances the
effect. Neither Jane nor I had seen anything like
my gift light, and from the time we stuck it in the
ground and saw how it operated, we were hooked.
With Jane doing most of the looking and buyA trio of pink flamingos rule the roost in the Kirks’ colorful
display of solar-powered garden art. — Photo by Jane Kirk
ing, we’ve assembled our collection. Sloan’s light,
though, remains our star attraction.
While we’re proud of our colorful display, it’s nothing — not even a twinkle in the night — compared to a massive exhibition of lights to which area folks are flocking at Nashville’s landmark Cheekwood Botanical Garden & Museum of Art. Installed by acclaimed British artist Bruce Munro and
running through Sunday evening, Nov. 10, the massive outdoor exhibit features 20,000 lighted glass
spheres, each mounted on a slender stem. Because it has proven so popular, extra hours have been
added to the event’s evening schedule.
Most assuredly, seeing “LIGHT: Bruce Munro at Cheekwood” is a priority for me. If you and
your family are interested, here’s the schedule as released by Cheekwood: Tuesday evenings,
Oct. 15 and 29, and each Wednesday, Thursday, and Friday evening through Nov. 10. As a grand
finale, the elaborate exhibition will be open every night during its closing week, Sunday, Nov. 3,
through Sunday, Nov. 10. Each showing runs from 4:30 p.m. to 11 p.m., and the museum suggests
purchasing tickets online at cheekwood.org. Admission is $15 for adults, $12 for seniors 65 and
over, and $8 for children and youth ages 3-17 (children 2 and under are admitted free). Parking is
$3. For additional information, call 615-356-8000 or visit cheekwood.org.
Enjoy.
Our Country Churches
Gladdice Missionary Baptist Church
in Jackson County
Gladdice Missionary Baptist Church in Jackson
County began with seven members holding worship
services in a schoolhouse on Nov. 5, 1894. Its original
name was Smith’s Chapel, which was changed in 1902
to reflect the name of the Gladdice Community. In
1931, a new church was built at the same location on
Salt Lick Creek. In 1973, due to flooding, the church
relocated to 120 Salt Lick Creek Road. Sunday School
is held at 10 a.m. with worship at 11 a.m. each Sunday,
with a visiting preacher’s service at 5 p.m. the first Sunday of each month. — Submitted by Patricia Graham
222nd in a series to show where our rural
Co-op friends worship
Would you like to see your church featured here? Just send us a description and photo, and we will consider it for publication in a
future issue. Submit entries to: Our Country Churches, Tennessee Cooperator, P.O. Box 3003, LaVergne, TN 37086.
You can also e-mail the information and a high-resolution photo to [email protected].
4
Volume 54, Number 10
Published by Tennessee Farmers
Cooperative in the interest of better
farming through cooperation and improved
technology, and to connect the Co-op
community through shared experiences,
common values, and rural heritage.
Editor: Allison Morgan
[email protected]
Communications Specialist: Chris Villines
[email protected]
Communications Specialist: Sarah Geyer
[email protected]
Contributing Editor: Jerry Kirk
[email protected]
Senior Graphic Designer: Shane Read
[email protected]
Graphic Designer: Jason Barns
[email protected]
Layout & Production Coordinator:
Travis Merriman
[email protected]
Editorial Assistant: Polly Campbell
[email protected]
Advertising Information: Keith Harrison
615-793-8585, [email protected]
The Tennessee Cooperator is distributed
free to patrons of member Co-ops. Since
each Co-op maintains its own mailing list,
requests for subscriptions must be made
through the local Co-op. When
reporting an address change, please
include the mailing label from a past
issue and send to the following address:
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P.O. Box 3003
LaVergne, TN 37086
Phone: (615) 793-8339
E-mail: [email protected]
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TnFarmersCooperative
TFC Board of Directors:
Chairman — Donald Jernigan,
Christiana, Zone 2
Vice Chairman — Kenneth Nixon,
Carthage, Zone 2
Larry Paul Harris, Wildersville, Zone 1
Amos Huey, Kenton, Zone 1
Richard Jameson, Brownsville, Zone 1
Clint Callicott, Only, Zone 2
Johnny Brady, Riceville, Zone 3
David Sarten, Sevierville, Zone 3
George Smartt, McMinnville, Zone 3
Chief Executive Officer — Bart Krisle
NOTICE: This publication is for
informational purposes only. Tennessee
Farmers Cooperative, its affiliates,
subsidiaries, and member Co-ops are not
responsible for any damages or claims
that may result from a reader’s use of this
information, including but not limited to
actual, punitive, consequential, or economic
damages. Tennessee Farmers Cooperative
makes no warranties or representations, either
express or implied, including warranties of
merchantability or fitness of any product/
material for a particular purpose. Each
article, document, advertisement, or other
information is provided “AS IS” and without
warranty of any kind. Tennessee Farmers
Cooperative reserves the right to alter,
correct, or otherwise change any part or
portion of this publication, including articles
and advertisements, without detriment to
Tennessee Farmers Cooperative, its affiliates,
subsidiaries, or member cooperatives.
Complete turnaround
Record corn harvest results from more favorable conditions than 2012
Story and photos by Allison Morgan, Sarah Geyer, and Chris Villines
A
griculture is always unpredictable, but most row-crop
farmers would never have guessed just how much of a
turnaround they would experience from 2012 to 2013.
Consider these differences in corn production alone:
2012 — Earliest planting in recent memory.
2013 — Planting about two weeks behind.
2012 — Record heat and extreme drought.
2013 — Below-normal temperatures and above-average rain.
2012 — Fastest harvest on record.
2013 — Harvest well behind the five-year average.
2012 — Lowest average yields in 20 years for Tennessee growers:
85 bushels per acre.
2013 — Record yields expected at an average of 152 bushels
per acre, breaking the all-time-high of 148 in 2009.
In other words, the two seasons were nearly total opposites.
Main challenges for the 2013 season were cool, wet conditions that
delayed planting and put harvest behind schedule, but even those
factors didn’t negatively affect corn yields, says Keith Saum, West
Tennessee seed and agronomy adviser for WinField, the parent
company of Co-op’s Croplan brand of seed.
“In a normal summer, a late crop like this would probably have
struggled, but the weather this year allowed us to get by with
things we normally couldn’t do,” says Keith. “We still have a long
way to go with harvest, and there may be a few disappointments
here and there, but for the most part, everyone is going to be tickled. We’re going to have a huge crop.”
Corn growers across the region, like Sevierville’s Max Lindsey, are experiencing far
better results from this year’s harvest as compared to 2012. Crops received ample
amounts of rain and less oppressive heat to help yields rise significantly.
Nationally, growers are expected to produce a record-high 13.8
billion bushels of corn this year, according to a September report by the U.S. Department of Agriculture. That’s a 28-percent
increase from drought-hit 2012. In Tennessee, overall production
is also expected to be up dramatically — from 81.6 million bushels in 2012 to 133.7 million bushels in 2013. A total of 880,000
acres of corn are estimated to be harvested in the state.
While Mother Nature can certainly take credit for improving
the outlook for corn growers this year, those who plant Croplan
hybrids from WinField insist that wise seed selection played a
critical role in the success of their crop. Beginning on page 6,
hear from five different farmers from across Tennessee who are
firm believers in the Croplan brand.
(See Corn, page 6)
News briefs
Beef Expo set Oct. 10 in Greeneville
The University of Tennessee Institute of Agriculture will host
the Northeast Tennessee Beef Expo at the UT AgResearch and
Education Center in Greeneville on Thursday, Oct. 10, with
numerous educational seminars and a trade show.
UT experts will speak on topics of interest to beef cattle
producers including breeding seasons, effective health program
strategies, replacement heifer development, and marketing alternatives. University of Kentucky guest speaker Jeffrey Lehmkuhler will address the topic of feeding cattle for less.
Registration and a trade show will begin at 7:30 a.m. and the
program will begin at 8:30. The cost is $10 if preregistered and
$15 the day of the event. That fee includes lunch.
For more information, contact your Extension office or Milton
Orr, Extension director for Greene County, at 423-789-1710.
‘Season of Wonders’ is Nov. 21
When Rutherford County FCE (Family Consumer Education) Clubs stage their annual “Season of Wonders” on Thursday, Nov. 21, at Lane Agri Park in Murfreesboro, organizers say
area women will get a head start on making this year’s holiday
entertaining “spectacular.”
The free event, to be held from 9:30 a.m. to 2 p.m., will
cover such topics as what’s new for the holidays, new recipes to
serve, how to make your tables look amazing, and where to get
that special gift. Attendees will learn how to make new crafts
for gifts and home décor, shop for handmade items, and enjoy
homemade Crock Pot lunch creations.
For more information, call Pat Whitaker at 615-898-7710 or
visit http://rutherford.tennessee.edu.
5
Corn
(continued from page 5)
Mark Davis isn’t sure he can
trust what the yield monitor is
showing as his brother, Matt,
combines a field of Croplan
4164 corn on their family’s
Sparta farm. They just bought
the new Case IH 7130 machine
last week, so the calibration really hasn’t been put to the test.
But if it’s right, this section
of the 72-acre field is making
the highest yields the Davises
have ever seen — averaging
213 bushels per acre.
Planted with the earliest hybrid the Davis family has ever had on their Sparta farm, this field of Croplan 4164 is also providing
some of the best yields they’ve ever seen. The 102-day hybrid averaged 213 bushels per acre in this section of the field.
Sparta l
“Let’s just check it while
we’re here,” says Jack Christian, Tennessee Farmers
Cooperative agronomist who
recommended this early-maturing Croplan hybrid to the
growers. After doing a quick
yield calculation using his grain
test weight scale, Jack’s manual
method confirms what the machine’s monitor recorded: 212
bushels per acre.
“We usually hope for 150
bushels per acre — around
here, that’s pretty good,” says
Mark, a director of White
County Farmers Cooperative.
“I’m very pleased so far. With
the new hybrids and the weather we had, it’s definitely been a
good year.”
This was the first time Mark,
Matt, and their father, Wayne,
had planted this 102-day corn
that’s among the earliest hybrids WinField recommends
for Southern farms. Jack says
he suggested 4164 because the
Davises were looking to spread
their risk with a shorter-season
hybrid that could be harvested
early enough to double-crop the
field with canola, which needs
to be planted by October.
“You can plant the 4164
first, harvest it first, and get it
out of the way,” says Jack. “It
has high yield potential with
good stress tolerance, but it will
also perform in better conditions like we’ve had this year.
It also has good dry-down, so it
will get ready quick.”
Plus, Jack adds, Croplan
4164 is a new SmartStax®
hybrid loaded with traits that
include Roundup Ready 2
6
LEFT: From left, Wayne Davis and his sons, Mark and Matt, plant Croplan hybrids religiously on their White County farm and have
seen consistent results from them every year. The White County Farmers Cooperative members farm around 2,200 acres in White
and Putnam counties. RIGHT: Tennessee Farmers Cooperative agronomist Jack Christian, left, and White County Farmers Co-op
agronomist David Simmons, right, assist Mark and Wayne in estimating yield and moisture of the first corn they harvested.
and Liberty Link herbicide
tolerance as well as multiple
Bt genes that protect against
corn rootworm and earworm.
It also offers the convenience
of “refuge in a bag,” which
means growers don’t have to
worry about planting a separate
percentage of non-Bt seed to
meet Environmental Protection Agency requirements. The
refuge protects against the
likelihood of developing insect
resistance to the Bt technology.
The Davises’ 420 acres of
corn also included three other
Croplan hybrids — 6640, 6265,
and 6926 — which they expected to harvest about two weeks
later with equally impressive results. Because the Davises farm
in a wide span across White and
Putnam counties, Jack says he
recommends hybrids that are
adaptable to most soil types in
their area.
“I’d say we seek out stress
tolerance first and then yield
potential,” says Jack. “With
dry-land corn and our weather,
you never know what’s going to
happen. Overall, we just try to
get the most per acre.”
The Davises have been planting Croplan hybrids since Co-op
began offering the brand as its
proprietary line of seed in 2008
and say they don’t intend to
change that habit any time soon.
“Croplan has been good for
us,” says Mark, who reports
that his 4164 ended up yielding an overall average of 178
bushels per acre. “The hybrids
are pretty adaptable and have
done well on the soils we have.
We are happy with Croplan. We
keep buying it, anyway!”
Rutledge l
In Grainger County, the
combines have just begun to
churn on Joey Powell’s 200
acres of Croplan 6125. It’s a
later harvest than usual, but
he’s not complaining. Well,
maybe a little.
“It was a challenge to get
windows of time to plant because of all the rain,” says Joey,
who alternates between this
leased property and his family’s
beef cattle and hay operation
in Seneca, S.C. “By the time
we’d get the ground worked up
and dry, it would rain again.
We had three tractors out
there plowing, just trying to get
the ground ready so we could
plant.”
On the other hand, Joey
admits, Mother Nature’s wet
ways this spring and summer
also helped the corn prosper.
He anticipates solid, consistent
results from the 6125, a 109day hybrid excellent for shelling
with high yield potential, topnotch disease and heat tolerance, strong silking, and good
ear flex to handle a wide range
of populations and soil types.
As a VT Triple PRO® hybrid,
it also offers dual modes of
action with above- and belowground protection against pests
like corn earworm and fall armyworm stacked with Roundup
Ready 2 technology. Plus, 6125
also has the same “refuge in a
bag” advantage as the 4164 on
the Davis farm.
“Last year, I put out 70 acres
of Croplan 8221, and even
though we hardly got any rain, it
still averaged about 128 bushels,” Joey says. “I wasn’t able to
get the 8221 this year, so we
went with the 6125, and it shot
right up. Through the end of August, this corn had at least a little
bit of rain on it nearly every day.
We’ll get around 160 bushels per
acre this year, I’m confident. ”
Along with plenty of precipitation, Joey’s corn also benefited
LEFT: Farm employee Kendall Rowland, second from left, holds a sample of the sizable ears of Croplan 6125 produced on
grower Joey Powell’s 200-acre crop in Rutledge. Looking on with Kendall are, from left, Tennessee Farmers Cooperative
agronomy specialist Tom Bible, Grainger Farmers Cooperative assistant manager Burl Matthews, Joey, and farm employee
Timothy Stalins. RIGHT: Joey is “confident” that his Croplan hybrid will yield close to 160 bushels per acre.
from the farm’s rich soil profile,
according to Burl Matthews,
assistant manager of Grainger
Farmers Cooperative, where
Joey purchases his seed, crop inputs, and feed for his 300-head
red Angus herd. A good chunk
of his crop acreage is land that
for many years was a dairy.
“Over time, a lot of manure and organic matter was
put on that soil,” says Burl,
who has worked closely with
Joey throughout the growing
season. “We’ve done tissue
samples, and it always amazes
me what they show.”
Joey admits that after this
harvest, he may pour all of his
future time and energy into his
beef cattle business. If it is his
last crop, he feels good knowing
he can confidently recommend
Croplan to other corn growers.
“I’ve been really satisfied
with it,” he says. “The 6125
didn’t dry down as quick as it
normally would, but with all
the rain that’s to be expected.
The bottom line is that the
corn’s done well.”
Sevierville l
The rain also fell at just the
right times in just the right
amounts for Sevierville’s Max
Lindsey, who grew 25 acres of
Croplan 6640, a hybrid that
placed first for yield in the
South and fourth nationally
Sevierville farmer Max Lindsey has high praise for the 25 acres of Croplan 6640
corn he planted this year. His crop averaged 252 bushels per acre.
LEFT: Max discusses the characteristics of the Croplan corn with Foothills Farmers
Cooperative outside salesman Sidney Jessee. RIGHT: Plentiful rains and a cooler
summer helped Max’s Croplan 6640 produce full, healthy ears like these.
during its debut at WinField
Answer Plot trials last year.
“I’d say we’ve gotten between
75 and 80 inches of rain since
I planted,” says Max, who, in
addition to his own operation,
serves as farm manager for
Sevierville-based Blalock Companies. “It’s just been unreal.”
While he expected good results based on the weather, Max
still says he’s been “amazed” by
the over-the-top performance
of the 6640, which he and son
Todd harvested in early September with an average yield of 252
bushels per acre.
“Here’s how good it’s been,”
he explains. “On the first field
we cut, it took eight rows
to make an acre … well, we
got three-fourths of the way
through just four rows and had
a bin full, and our combine
holds 105 bushels. That’s never
happened before.”
Moisture tests performed
during the corn’s late growth
stages helped give Max a hint of
what was to come. At a moisture
rate of 16 percent, the 6640
produced a hefty test weight of
59.9 pounds per bushel.
“A good average is 56
pounds,” says Max, who grew
Croplan 7505 and 6425 on the
same acreage last year. “That’s
money in your pocket right
there.”
Foothills Farmers Cooperative agronomist Sidney Jessee
recommended this hybrid to
Max after seeing it thrive in hot
conditions last year at WinField’s Answer Plot in Manchester, one of several such
sites in this region that provide
local crop research and demonstrations and serve as an agronomic classroom for the Co-op
system. Sidney says that given
the combination of the hybrid’s
traits and Max’s careful attention to detail, he isn’t surprised
by the outstanding yields of the
6640, which also offers the VT
Triple PRO® and “refuge in a
bag” technology.
“Max does a great job of taking care of his corn, so I knew
he would grow the 6640 to its
full potential,” Sidney says. “It
handles both heat and moisture
stress, has good crown roots
and solid stalks, and is excellent for shelling. You won’t see
a better-looking crop than what
Max has produced.”
To help his corn exceed
expectations, Max took a
comprehensive approach from
the start. He admits he “went
above what a lot of people do
on fertilization,” applying extra
nitrogen along with SFP fertilizer enhancer Avail and nitrogen
fertilizer manager NutriSphereN. Also, when the crop was
about 10 inches tall, he applied
a mix of Roundup, Atrazine, and
WinField herbicide Framework.
“My theory is to tend to the
corn from the time it’s put in
the ground until it’s ready to
shell,” says Max. “You’ve got
to put the effort into it. I can’t
control the weather, but I can
control what I do to help my
corn.”
Adding that he’s been growing Croplan soybeans for several years, Max says now that
he’s experienced back-to-back
good results with Croplan corn,
he sees another long relationship in the works.
“I’ve never had anything like
this Croplan corn,” he says.
“It’s been tremendous.”
Waynesboro
l
From nearly nothing to more
than 2,200 acres — that’s how
much the Duren family’s rowcrop operation has grown over
the past five years, all thanks to
the ambitions of a teenager.
With his eyes set on an
agricultural career after high
school, Nathan Duren convinced his father, Michael,
and grandfather, David, that
they should once again grow
crops, which the family had
phased out after a few tough
weather years. With Nathan’s
encouragement, in 2008 they
(See Corn, page 8)
7
As of press time, the Durens had only harvested a field
of Croplan 6125, which was
averaging 170 bushels per
acre on what Michael admitted was some of their “toughest ground.”
“We consider 130 bushels
good in this field, so those are
awesome results,” says Andy.
“They haven’t even gotten into
their better corn yet — the
6640 and 6960 — which should
make well above 200. So I think
the best is yet to come.”
l Mercer
TFC agronomist Andy Ulmer, third from left, discusses the performance of this field
of Croplan 6125 with, from left, Nathan, David, and Michael Duren.
A 2012 graduate of Wayne County High
School, Nathan farms full time with his
father, Michael, and grandfather, David,
who collectively grow 2,200 acres of row
crops in Wayne and Hardin counties.
Corn
started raising corn, soybeans,
and wheat in addition to their
stocker cattle. As a result,
Nathan, who graduated from
Wayne County High School in
2012, is now realizing his dream
of farming full time.
“We’ve been increasing our
acreage every year,” says Nathan, now 19. “I figure if we’re
going to do it, we might as well
go all in.”
As their row-crop operation
has grown, so has the Durens’
confidence in Croplan seed.
The Hardin Farmers Cooperative members have grown
Croplan corn hybrids on their
farm almost exclusively for the
past several years and have
been consistently impressed
with how well they perform in
a variety of situations.
8
“Croplan seems to have
something that suits the land
we have, no matter where it is
or what it’s like,” says Michael,
mentioning that the family
farms in a wide area across
Wayne County and into Hardin
County. “We’ve really had good
luck with them all along.”
That success is not really
luck but a strategic selection
of the right hybrid for the right
conditions, says Andy Ulmer,
TFC agronomist who works
with the Durens to help them
in making their seed choices
each season. In fact, WinField
calls it the “R7 Placement
Strategy®,” referring to the
right combination of genetics,
soil type, population, cropping
system, traits, nutrition, and
crop protection.
“It’s all about placing the hybrid where it needs to go,” says
Andy. “We look at how they
manage fertility, the soil type,
planting date, yield goals, crop
rotation — all those types of
things — and then match the
seed accordingly.”
The Durens included four
Croplan hybrids — 6125, 6926,
6960, and 6640 — in their
1,340 acres of corn this year.
“We picked the 6125 because
it’s an earlier hybrid and gives
you a good place to start,” explains Andy. “It’s fast dry, fast die.
The 6926 has great yield potential, but it also takes stress. We
put the 6960 on the best ground
with the most yield potential.
And we use the 6640 to minimize risk because its genetics are
unrelated to the other hybrids.”
the best so far, even in the dry
years.”
Jared and his farming partners grew 625 acres of non-irrigated corn this year along with
soybeans, wheat, and cotton on
a total of 1,500 acres. Neighboring farmer John Marsh has
recently joined the group after
James became seriously ill.
While their harvest had
barely gotten under way in midSeptember, these Mid-South
Farmers Cooperative members
were already seeing impressive
yield results that strengthened
their belief in Croplan corn.
“This is one of the best crops
we’ve had in a long time,” says
Jared. “We’re getting close to
200 bushels per acre and will
probably average between the
170 and 180 range.”
Acknowledging that timely
rains throughout the season
contributed to these numbers,
Jared says the overabundance
of spring rains also created
challenging planting conditions
that threatened their crop from
the start. In overcoming these
obstacles, Jared credits the
use of WinField’s Ascend plant
growth regulator, which is designed to accelerate leaf, stem,
For Madison County’s Jared
King, there’s little doubt that
Croplan seed will have a prominent place in his crop plans
every year.
Eight years ago, when he
became the third party in a
successful farming partnership
formed by friends Dennis Collins and James Fletcher, the pair
had long been established with
Co-op’s proprietary FFR brand
and hosted test plots on their
farms every year. That tradition
continued when Co-op transitioned to the Croplan line of
seed a few years
later.
“We’ve got four
Croplan hybrids
this year, and
they’re 90 percent of what we
plant,” says Jared.
“We throw a little
bit of the competitor’s seed in
there just to have
Favorable growing conditions helped produce large, full ears
a comparison.
like this one pulled from a Mercer field by grower Dennis
Croplan has been Collins, who farms with partners John Marsh and Jared King.
Even though they had harvested a fraction of their corn acres by early September,
the Madison County growers, from left, John, Jared, and Dennis are seeing
impressive yields from the Croplan hybrids they planted.
and root growth and improve
plant health.
“The Ascend really surprised
us, especially since we fought
mud so much this spring,” says
Jared. “I never thought the corn
would do what it has done,
considering the pressure it was
under when it came up. Getting the crop going early goes a
long way toward yield.”
Just like they have for several
seasons, Jared, Dennis, and
John grew the tried-and-true
Croplan 6926, an “all-around”
hybrid that is highly adaptable
to the wide variation in Southern growing conditions, says
Jim Payne, seed and agronomy
adviser for TFC.
“That hybrid has an excellent
drought tolerance and is very
versatile,” says Jim. “It’ll handle
multiple soil types, and it has
top-end yield potential under
good weather but excellent
stress tolerance, too.”
The growers also planted
Croplan 6175 and the longerseason 8410 and 8621, all of
which are available with VT
Triple PRO® and “refuge in a
bag” technology.
“The 6926 has always done
well for us, even in the dry
years,” says Jared. “The others we tried based on recommendations from Jim, Clint
[Wilson, Mid-South Farmers
Cooperative agronomist], and
Keith [Saum, WinField seed
and agronomy adviser]. And
those look great this year, too.”
Though past performance
of Croplan hybrids is a good
measure of future potential,
Keith warns that next year’s
seed decisions shouldn’t be
based on yield alone but rather
a comprehensive plan based
on WinField’s R7 strategy and
each grower’s specific situation. The online R7 Tool® takes
those decisions a step further,
he adds, by combining more
than 20 years of satellite imagery with local seed and crop
protection data to help match
crop inputs to the potential of
each acre.
“Placing these hybrids in
advantageous places helped
us withstand the late planting
and get the yield results we’ve
seen this year,” says Keith.
“When making plans for next
year, be sure to take a look at
our data and talk with your
Co-op representative to make
sure you’re matching the right
hybrid to the right conditions
on your farm. And look at data
from multiple years. We need
to think about normal, Southern weather when we make our
cropping decisions and remember that not every year is going
to be like 2013.”
Preliminary data from local
Answer Plots can now be found
on www.answerplot.com or by
talking with your Co-op agronomist, who can also provide more
information on the R7 Tool and
specific Croplan hybrids.
Jim Payne, left, seed and agronomy adviser for TFC and WinField, and Clint Wilson,
right, agronomist with Mid-South Farmers Cooperative, help Jared, Dennis, and John
select the Croplan hybrids that have the best potential for success in their fields.
Become a Tennessee
Success Story.
“In the past having used other
ryegrasses, I had found them
wanting in our stocker operation.
In other words, these ryegrasses
just didn’t work. I let our cattle
graze heavy and these ryegrasses
didn’t or couldn’t take that
pressure.
I did find a ryegrass that could take this pressure
of heavy grazing... Marshall ryegrass. I have been
planting Marshall for ten years now. Our cattle gain
better and faster on Marshall than any other
ryegrass.
I don’t want any ryegrass unless it is Marshall.”
David Chase
Chase Farms
Cleveland, Tennessee
“Marshall ryegrass makes the best
square hay I have ever put up and
great silage too. I started using
Marshall only two or three years ago
for hay and silage. I cut early and got
two cutting this year.
I use rye also, but I think Marshall
ryegrass is better than rye. I will
be using more Marshall this year.”
Ron Calfee
Cleveland, Tennessee
Marshall ...
America’s #1 Ryegrass!
*
Tennessee Farmers Cooperative
®
The Wax Company 888 CALL WAX
Since 1898
*For grazing. According to university grazing studies - AL AR LA MS ©2013 The Wax Company, LLC
9
The Koop family — front from left, Madelyne (Maddy), Chad, and Milly, and in back, Creyo and Marty — are living their dream of having their own agricultural operation with
a diverse mix of row crops, sheep, and cattle. The Koops, who also manage Ebenezer Farms in Cornersville, were named Tennessee’s 2013 Small Farmers of the Year.
W
hen Chad Koop
visited Ebenezer
Farms in Cornersville to bid on a huge fencing
project for the 3,000-acre
property, he found that another
well-respected fence company
in the community had already
gotten the job.
But after learning that Chad
owned and operated a company
that also specialized in building
barns, the farm owner asked
him instead to take on some
restoration projects.
And then he had a bigger
proposition.
“He liked Chad so well that
he kept asking, ‘What’s it going
to take for you to run my farm?’”
says Marty Koop, Chad’s wife
of 11 years. “We weren’t sure at
first because we had our own
business and our own cattle and
had just started plans to build
a house. But we thought if we
don’t try it, then we’d never
know what we were missing.”
Six years later, the Koops are
not only well established as the
10
farm’s managers, but they’re
also pursuing their own agricultural endeavors with a diverse
operation that includes row
crops, sheep, and cattle. More
importantly, Chad and Marty
are raising their three children
— daughters Madelyne (Maddy), 10, and Milly, 5, and son
Creyo, 7 — in the same type
of rural upbringing they had in
their native Kansas.
Cornersville
l
“We’re so thankful for this
job,” says Marty. “There’s
no doubt, God sent us here.
Without it, we couldn’t have
accomplished all of this or survived everything our family has
gone through over the past few
years.”
Though the Koops have seen
their fair share of struggles in
getting their farming operation
established, Marty is mainly
referring to the life-threatening
battle they faced in July 2010
when, at age 2, Milly was
diagnosed with leukemia. This
often-fatal cancer of the blood
struck the toddler suddenly,
with her only symptoms being
a high fever that appeared at
bedtime and disappeared by
morning. Marty, trained as a
nurse, says her instincts told her
something wasn’t right.
Visits to their pediatrician
and then Vanderbilt Children’s
Hospital in Nashville confirmed
the worst — 85 percent of
Milly’s cells were leukemic. She
spent six months at Vanderbilt,
maintaining a brave attitude
through all the chemotherapy
and complications. The leukemia is now in remission, but
Milly goes back to Vanderbilt
every six weeks for checkups.
Because her immune system
will be compromised for quite
some time, extra care must be
taken to ensure she isn’t exposed to even the most common
disease. That meant putting the
family’s agricultural aspirations
on hold for a while.
“There were about twoand-a-half years where we did
nothing but focus on getting
her well and keeping her that
way,” says Chad. “We didn’t go
anywhere. We hardly left this
farm. We even had people bring
us groceries.”
Over the past year, with
Milly’s health situation vastly
improved, the Koops finally put
their farming plans in motion.
They bought a used combine and tractor. They leased
enough land to grow 300 acres
of corn, soybeans, and wheat
on the farm they manage as
well as other farms in Giles,
Lincoln, and Marshall counties. They restructured their
livestock programs, with a goal
of raising the most cost-effective registered seed stock for
customers while saving replacements for their own expansion.
They’re selling beef from their
farm, and Marty is even trying
to launch a line of homemade
tomato juice created from a
secret Koop family recipe.
“We have all these ideas,”
says Chad. “It just takes so
much to get them going …”
“And I want to do something where I can work from
home,” adds Marty. “Otherwise,
when Milly gets in school, I’m
going to have to go be a nurse
again. Chad has his hands full
with his job of managing this
place, and I want to be here to
help build our operation. That’s
why we’ve got all these different things in the works. We
figure you go all in, or you go
home.”
Chad’s responsibilities
at Ebenezer Farms include
harvesting hay, mowing fields,
keeping roads and structures
maintained, and preserving the
wildlife habitat. He also cares
for an orchard filled with apple,
pear, peach, and cherry trees
and keeps the lawn manicured
at the home of the farm owner,
who visits the property a few
times a year. Chad buys most
of the farm’s supplies through
Marshall Farmers Cooperative in Lewisburg although the
Koops also shop at Lincoln
Farmers Cooperative in Fayetteville and Giles County
Co-op in Pulaski.
After putting in at least 40
hours a week managing someone else’s farm, Chad then
finds the time to work on his
own. He and Marty are full
of ambitious ideas, and their
innovative approach helped
them earn the 2013 Tennessee Small Farmer of the Year
Award, which was announced
in July at the Small Farm Expo
at Tennessee State University
in Nashville.
To win, they competed
against other small farmers
who had been nominated by
local, state, and federal agricultural agencies as outstanding producers in their areas.
The Koops were nominated by
representatives of their local
Farm Service Agency (FSA),
which provided low-interest
agricultural loans to help them
develop and diversify their
farm. FSA financing options
assist farmers like the Koops
to establish new enterprises;
purchase land, equipment, and
livestock; and pay for operating
expenses.
After all, it not only takes
courage to start farming in
LEFT: The Koops have a registered herd of Maine-Anjou, Chi-Angus, and Chi-Maine cattle that they pasture on rented ground.
Chad brought the herd’s foundation with him from the Koops’ native Kansas. RIGHT: Maddy, 10, is in her second year of 4-H
and is already racking up awards by showing Suffolks that the Koops have raised. She won grand champion breeding ewe at
this year’s Tennessee Junior Livestock Expo and earned top placings in showmanship and premier exhibitor competitions.
LEFT: Marty would love to make and market her homemade tomato juice, created from a secret family recipe, as a value-added
product from the farm. It’s made of 100-percent tomato juice and spices and takes hours to process and cook, she explains.
RIGHT: Chad and son Creyo, 7, inspect the progress of the soybeans the Koops grew for the first time this year. They also
grew corn and wheat on acreage they lease from Ebenezer Farms as well as other land in Marshall, Giles, and Lincoln counties.
today’s competitive and volatile
agricultural industry, but it also
takes capital.
“Chad and Marty have faced
and overcome personal trauma
over the last few years and
have still managed to fulfill
their dream of having their own
farming operation,” says Keith
Clay, farm loan manager with
the FSA office in Winchester.
“They are a great example of
the opportunities the Farm Service Agency provides through
its beginning farmer loan
programs.”
The Koops say their work
ethic and “can-do” attitude
began developing as children in
the Flint Hills region of Kansas, where both were raised on
farms and met as teenagers.
Marty helped her parents raise
cattle and hay, while Chad’s
family had a large row-crop,
cattle, and custom hay operation. Chad moved with his parents to Pulaski, Tenn., in 1999
when his father transferred to
Boeing’s Delta rocket plant in
Decatur, Ala. Marty followed in
2001, and she and Chad married in 2002.
In establishing their farming
operation, the Koops say they
couldn’t have gotten this far
without help and support from
friends and neighbors — like
fellow farmers Larry Dyer, who is
allowing them to store wheat in
one of his grain bins, and James
and Paul Ratcliff, loyal hay
customers who also love Marty’s
homemade tomato juice.
“There are so many people
who have really welcomed us
into this community and helped
us in so many ways,” says Chad.
“There’s no way you can farm
today without a little help from
friends.”
Though they’ve adapted nicely to the farming atmosphere
of Southern Middle Tennessee,
the Koops’ heartland heritage
is still evident in many aspects
of their operation. For example,
their current 50-head registered
cattle herd is founded on the
breeds that Chad brought with
him — Maine-Anjou, which
originated in France, and ChiAngus, a cross between Chianina and Angus.
“The Maine breed is thick
and heavy and good-growing,”
says Chad. “A lot of people
don’t know much about them,
but they are great for crossbreeding. The Chi-Angus are
a higher-energy animal, where
the Maine cattle are docile, so
when you cross them, you get
a solid show animal with flash
and power.”
The Koops’ interest in sheep
also stems from Chad’s childhood. As an active 4-H’er, he
raised and exhibited Suffolks.
In starting their own flock, he
and Marty sought out the best
genetics they could afford, and
their efforts are already paying
off. In only her second year
in 4-H, Maddy won the grand
champion Suffolk breeding ewe
award at this year’s Tennessee
Junior Livestock Exposition,
and other sheep producers and
exhibitors are starting to take
notice.
Such success is welcomed,
but the Koops readily admit
they still have plenty of adversity to overcome, like the
abundant wildlife population
on the property they manage.
(See Koops, page 12)
11
Koops
Deer have devastated entire sections of Chad’s soybean fields
this year, and he says he’ll have
to plant the crop elsewhere to
avoid that problem next season.
“There’s a 20-acre field where
you can see 500 deer just about
every night,” says Chad. “It’s the
craziest thing you’ve ever seen.
It’s a wildlife refuge machine
out here.”
And then there’s the tomato
juice that Marty hopes to make
and market as a value-added
farm product. A family favorite,
the unique recipe was created
by Chad’s grandmother, Sarah
Koop, who taught Marty how
to make it one summer. After
sharing the juice with friends
and neighbors, demand just
kept increasing, and Marty
thought it could become another income-generating venture
for the farm.
“It’s to die for, and everybody
fights for it,” says Marty. “Chad
drinks a quart a day, so I have
to have 365 jars each year just
for him! He opens a bottle in
the morning, drinks half of it,
and then drinks the other half
at night.”
Marty still has several
hurdles to clear before producing her tomato juice on a larger
scale. Mainly, she can’t grow
and harvest enough tomatoes
to meet her needs, especially if
it becomes a year-round venture. Not to mention that jars
are expensive (they have to be
glass!) and the fact that she really doesn’t have the right-size
equipment.
“We just don’t know where
to go with it,” says Marty. “It’s
hard. It’s hours and hours of
cooking and processing. It
takes 25 pounds of tomatoes
just to make 7 quarts. I’m not
sure I can keep up with it.”
For all their ambitions, however, the Koops say their top
priority is raising their children
to love and appreciate their agricultural lifestyle. They’re well
on their way. In addition to the
awards they’ve earned showing
livestock, Maddy and Creyo
have even won belt buckles and
saddles in rodeo — inspired by
Marty, who was an avid rodeo
competitor herself. Even Milly
showed sheep for the first time
12
this year. And the kids like
nothing better than being outside, helping Mom or Dad do
something … anything … on
the farm, whether it’s putting
up hay, feeding the animals, or
riding the combine.
“The things you learn on the
farm are the best things in life,”
says Chad. “You work hard,
but you have a sense of accomplishment at the end of the day.
It’s not easy, but nothing worth
having ever is.”
For more information on the
Koop family’s livestock, visit
www.koopcattle.com.
The youngest Koop sibling, 5-year-old Milly has just started showing sheep and
hopes to follow in the footsteps of her brother and sister in winning awards soon.
FROM THOSE WHO GROW
The right seed for right here
While 2013 wheat yields may have exceeded expectations for
many growers, those who planted Croplan varieties from WinField
weren’t surprised to see their respective crop’s outstanding
performance.
“Croplan has always done well for us,” says Jerry Stewart, who
farms some 3,000 acres with sons Michael and Blake and his brother,
Jimmy, in Henry County. “But this is probably, by far, the best wheat
year we’ve had.”
The Stewarts grew some 800 acres of wheat this year, including
Croplan 554 that the Henry Farmers Cooperative members say
averaged in the 80-bushel-per-acre range. Some yields edged even
higher.
“We had 55 acres here in this field, and I’m putting it in a
5,000-bushel bin,” Jerry explains. “I’m not going to get it all in
there! So it’s making right at 90 to100 bushels or more.”
The Stewarts: from left, Jimmy, Jerry, and Michael
Fellow Henry County farmers Wallace Lassiter; his wife, Jerry; their
son, Sandy; and grandson, Michael, have seen similar results with
Croplan varieties on their Puryear farm. In fact, they’re so confident
in the performance of the brand’s varieties that all of their 500 acres
of wheat were planted in Croplan 554 and 9004.
In 2013, the Lassiters’ Croplan 9004 averaged a yield of 92 bushels per acre while the 554 averaged 84. Sandy says that’s
been pretty typical.
“We’ve had excellent luck with Croplan, but I’m just tickled to
death with it this year,” says Sandy. “I didn’t anticipate our wheat
doing well at all with the weather we had this spring. And it was
quality wheat, too, with really good test weights. We’ll absolutely
have Croplan again next year. It’s that good.”
The Lassiters: from left, Sandy, Wallace, and Michael
In neighboring Weakley County, Ronnie Yeargin and his son, Jay,
planted a total of 1,300 acres of wheat on their Greenfield farm,
including both Croplan 8302 and 9004. Like many other farmers
in the region, Ronnie says his yields were “better than expected,”
averaging in the high-80s-per-bushel range.
And though no one knows what challenges and opportunities the
next season will bring, the Weakley Farmers Cooperative members
say their plans will definitely include Croplan varieties.
“You can always count on Croplan to do well, regardless of where
your field is or what the weather is like,” says Ronnie. “They always
stay right there on top in terms of yield. You can’t break the bank
every time, but as long as they remain consistently good, that’s all we
can ask for. That’s what I like best about Croplan.”
The Yeargins: from left, Janie, Ronnie, Jay, and Alice Ann
TO THOSE WHO WANT TO KNOW
Croplan offers wheat seed varieties to match your local conditions and management practices. Planting multiple varieties and
a range of maturities and genetics and matching decisions to soil conditions and fertility programs combine to help increase yield
potential.
Recommended Croplan wheat varieties for the Mid-South are medium-maturity 554, 8302, and 8925 along with an earlier variety,
9004. For more information on these varieties and management practices, check with the agronomy experts at your local Co-op or
visit online at www.croplan.com.
13
14
15
‘Something for everyone’
at Tennessee’s fall agritourism operations
By Sarah Geyer and Gina Locke
W
ith harvest in full
swing, this time of
year can be hectic
for row-crop farmers like Tom
Johnson of Fayette County.
Throw in a seasonal agritourism business, and the
pressure is multiplied many
times over. But after 15 years
of hosting visitors each fall on
their Rossville farm, Tom and
his wife, Teresa, have perfected
the formula for offering wholesome family fun.
“We’re not one of the big
mega-commercial deals, but
we think we have a neat little
place,” says Tom, a member of
Mid-South Farmers Cooperative. “We really enjoy having
people come out to the farm.”
Tom’s Farm offers 143 acres
of activities, including an eightacre corn maze that transforms
into a haunted attraction every
Friday and Saturday night in
October. The farm offers wagon rides to the pumpkin patch
where customers can pick their
own pumpkins. The farm also
has a play area with tire and
rope swings, and lots of picnic
tables are scattered across the
fields next to the maze, making
this attraction perfect for large
groups as well as families with
small children.
l Rossville
“We’re kind of like a strip
mall,” says Tom. “We’ve got
something for everyone.”
Tom will even build and start
bonfires for guests on request.
“The best part is that you can
reserve private bonfires,” a customer from Arlington writes in
an online review. “It’s perfect for
a fall night. Pack a cooler with
hot dogs and s’more makings
and sit around the campfire.”
For those who don’t want to
pick their own pumpkin, Tom’s
Farm also sells ones that are
prepicked as well as gourds,
squash, mums and other fall
decorations. Visitors can also
buy watermelons, cantaloupes,
16
Tom’s Farm, owned by Tom Johnson and his wife, Teresa, abounds with fall charm and fun activities for the whole family. The
Fayette County agritourism operation is in its 15th year and will be open to visitors throughout October. It’s among dozens of
similar seasonal activities now open at farms across Tennessee. — Photo by Sarah Geyer
sweet corn, green beans and
tomatoes when in season.
Located at 1665 Murrell
Road in Rossville, Tom’s Farm
is open daily through Oct. 31.
Hours are 9 a.m. to 5 p.m.,
Monday through Thursday, and
9 a.m. to 9 p.m., Friday through
Sunday. Admission to the corn
maze is $6 (haunted maze is $7)
and includes unlimited trips.
A visit to the pumpkin patch,
which includes the pumpkin, is
$8, and the cost of building and
starting a bonfire is $25 (wood
provided).
Tom’s Farm is also available
for private events in November
and after Easter, but reservations are required. For more
information, call 901-853-0997.
This is just one among dozens of agritourism operations
across Tennessee that offer fall
activities. Following is the list
of others that we were aware
of at press time. Most will run
through the end of October, but
we suggest you call ahead or
check their websites for dates
and times.
East
Autumn Acres
1096 Baier Road, Crossville
931-707-0103
autumnacres.net
Ballinger Farm Crazy Maze
2805 Renfro Road,
Jefferson City
865-475-7513 ballingerfarm.com
Beck Mountain Corn Maze &
Entertainment Barn
110 Corn Maze Lane,
Elizabethton
423-543-2676 beckmountaincornmaze.com
Circle A Farm
2349 Jericho Road, Maryville
865-984-6982 circleafarm.com
Cleek Farms
2233 Cleek Road, Kingsport
423-765-3123
cleekfarms.com
Cruze Farm Dairy Inc.
3200 Frazier Lane, Knoxville
865-659-0137 cruzefarmgirl.blogspot.com
Deep Well Farm
9567 Highway 11, Lenoir City
865-803-4425 deepwellfarm.com
Echo Valley Farms
1458 Groseclose Road,
New Market
865-591-7343
echovalleycornmaze.com
Fender’s Farm
254 Tennessee Highway 107,
Jonesborough
423-753-4469
fendersmaze.com
Fruit and Berry Patch
4407 McCloud Road, Knoxville
865-922-3779
fruitandberrypatch.com
Kyker Farms
938 Alder Branch Road,
Sevierville
865-679-4848 kykerfarmscornmaze.com
Middle
Amazin’ Acres of Fun
2857 Old Kentucky Road,
Sparta
931-808-4051
amazinacres.com
B & B Farms
175 Lorena Bagwell Drive, Dover
931-627-9428
Baker Mountain Farm
351 Pioneer Lane, Spencer
931-316-9072
bakermountainfarm.com
Berry Farm: Harvest on Hayshed
1145 Hayshed Road, Dickson
615-789-5843
harvestonhayshed.com
Maple Lane Farms
1040 Maple Lane, Greenback
865-856-3517 tncornmaze.com
Bottom View Farm
185 Wilkerson Lane, Portland
615-325-7017 BottomViewFarm.com
Mayfield Farm & Nursery
257 Highway 307, Athens
423-746-9859 mayfieldfarmandnursery.com
Boyd Farm
1425 Highway 76, Clarksville
(931) 216-8250 boydspumpkinpatch.com
Myers Pumpkin Patch &
Corn Maze
3415 Gap Creek Road,
Bulls Gap
423-235-4796 myerspumpkinpatch.com
Cedarwood Nursery &
Pumpkin Patch
6794 Nashville Highway,
McMinnville
931-939-3960 cedarwoodnurserytn.com
Oakes Farm
Corn Maze & Pumpkin Patch
8240 Corryton Road, Corryton
865-688-6200 awesomecornmaze.com
Gentry’s Farm
1974 New Highway 96 West,
Franklin
615-794-4368 gentryfarm.com
Old McDonald’s Farm
16705 Coulterville Road,
Sale Creek
423-531-8616 oldmcdonaldsfarm.net
Grandaddy’s Farm
454 Highland Ridge Road,
Estill Springs
931-967-8628
GrandaddysFarm.com
The River Maze at Ocoee
173 Welcome Valley Road, Benton
423-338-8314
Holiday Acres Farm
346 Campbellsville Pike,
Ethridge
931-829-2660 HolidayAcresFarm.com
The Stickley Farm LLC
531 Timbermill Private Drive,
Bluff City
423-306-9994 thestickleyfarm.com
Trivette Family Farm
300 Steel Bridge Road,
Elizabethton
423-213-7533
TrivetteFamilyFarm.com
Little 8 Acres Corn Maze &
Pumpkin Patch
924 Rickman/Monterey
Highway 293, Rickman
931-498-2569
615-220-2918
waldenfarm.biz
Lucky Ladd Farms
4306 Rocky Glade Road,
Eagleville
615-274-3786
luckyladdfarms.com
Donnell Century Farm Adventure
3720 Highway 70 East, Jackson
731-424-4526 donnellcenturyfarm.com
West
West Tennessee
Falcon Ridge Farm
22630 Highway 18 North,
Toone
731-658-5200 falconridgefarm.net
Pumpkin Hill
861 Benders Ferry Road,
Mt. Juliet
615-758-5364 pumpkinhilltn.com
Holt Family Farms
461 Jewell Store Road, Dresden
731-364-3459
holtfamilyfarms.com
Randall Walker Farms
8240 Manchester Highway,
Morrison
931-635-9535 rwfarms.com
Ring Farm
2628 Greensmill Road, Columbia
931-486-2395 ringfarm.com
Jones Orchard & Market
7170 Highway 51 North,
Millington
901-873-3150
jonesorchard.com
Shirley Farm’s Pumpkin Barn
2557 South Bluff Road, Obion
731-264-5316
Rippavilla Amazing Maze
5700 Main Street, Spring Hill
931-486-9037 rippavilla.org
Walden Pumpkin Farm
8653 Rocky Fork Road, Smyrna
Todd Family Fun Farm
101 Tom Austin Road, Dyer
731-643-6720
toddfamilyfunfarm.com
Honeysuckle Hill Farm
1765 Martins Chapel Church
Road, Springfield
615-382-7593
honeysucklehillfarm.com
Keller’s Corny Country
542 Firetower Road, Dickson
615-441-4872 kellerscornycountry.com
17
18
19
New at Co-op
Lucas Tool Box Buddy
Designed to dissolve corrosion and rust without
drying, Lucas Tool Box Buddy can be used on
nuts, bolts, hinges, bearings, guns, fishing reels,
sliding doors, motorcycle chains, or any other
home and shop items where other products just
aren't good enough.
Key Benefits:
• Provides a microscopic film that rust-proofs
for up to a year inside or out
• Excellent protection against water,
even salt water
#64022
• Low odor
• Fortified with anti-seize agents
• Easy-to-use can. Sprays anywhere, even upside-down
• Contains no chlorine or fluorocarbons
Redneck T-Post
Gravity Deer Feeder
Versatile, practical, flexible, and affordable,
the Redneck T-Post Gravity Deer Feeder
(#1196439) is a durable feeder that provides
multiple mounting options. Made of tough,
durable, heavy-duty, all-weather molded
polyethylene, this feeder features a unique
V-groove in the back for easy mounting
to a fencing T-post. Feeder also features a
concave back for easy mounting to a tree
or wooden post with ratchet straps (not
included). It has an easy-to-remove cover
for minimal effort in refilling the feeder from
the ground. A large 4-x-5-inch feeding mouth
makes it easy for deer to feed. Holds up to
80 pounds of corn. Comes with straps and
bolts for mounting to T-post.
Buyers Booster Cable
with plug-in connector
Ideal for fleet and service application, Buyers Booster Cable with
plug-in connector (#60785) provides a convenient connection to a
power source that utilizes a heavy-duty insulated 22-foot booster
cable plus 6-foot permanent connector. Weather-proof plug-in
connectors are polarity protected and feature 600-amp, heavyduty clamps with copper conductors. It is compatible with side or
top post batteries.
20
GhostBlind Predator FourPanel Mirror Ground Blind
The GhostBlind (#1184263) is a revolutionary hunting blind that
blends perfectly with its surroundings no matter what the situation. Using mirrors to reflect the ground beneath it, the blind
will disappear in any environment. The downward sloping panels
eliminate unwanted sun reflection and animal movements.
Features:
• Use with gun, compound bow, cross bow or traditional bow
• Constructed with weather resistant polypropylene panels
• Includes: Blind, carrying strap, four tent stakes, four tie downs, two bungee cords, and instructions
Neighborly Advice
Hunting
Don’t become a statistic — practice tree stand safety
O
ne of
the
most
popular
pieces of
equipment
used by deer
hunters is a
tree stand,
Chance Martin
but it can be
Home, Lawn, Specialty
dangerous if
Product Manager
used incorrectly or carelessly. Statistics
from the Tennessee Wildlife Resources Agency (TWRA) show
that 54 percent of the hunting
accidents reported in 2012 were
related to deer hunting and that
the leading cause (39 percent)
involved tree stands.
Falls from tree stands can be
caused by a variety of factors,
including structural weakness, incorrect installation,
or carelessness by the hunter.
Tree stands can also be a factor
in other hunting accidents, including injury from accidental
firing of a loaded firearm while
the hunter is climbing to the
stand.
To help prevent accidents,
follow these safety precautions:
l Most injuries from tree
stand accidents can be prevented if hunters use some type of
fall restraint system (FRS). Nationally, 82 percent of hunters
injured or killed in tree stand
accidents were not wearing an
FRS. The TWRA recommends
tree stand hunters use only a
full-body parachute harnesstype FRS that distributes body
weight throughout the shoulders, chest, waist, and legs.
l Never carry equipment
while climbing. Use a haul
line to raise or lower your gear.
Make sure guns are unloaded
and broadheads are covered.
l Choose only healthy, living
trees when using climbing devices. Rough-barked trees such
as oak are best. Do not use a tree
that is rotten or has dead limbs.
l Check permanent tree
stands every year before hunt-
ing from them, and replace any
worn or weak lumber.
l Read, understand, and
follow the factory-recommended
practices and procedures when
installing commercial stands.
Inspect the stand’s nuts and
bolts and look for worn straps
each time they are used.
l When choosing a commercial stand, get the one with
the biggest platform you can
afford. The bigger the platform,
the more foot room you have
and the less chance there is of
stepping off an edge.
l Climb higher than the
stand and step down onto it.
Climbing up onto it can dislodge it.
l Wear boots with non-skid
soles because steps or platforms
can be slippery in wet weather.
l Carry a whistle to call for
help and a first-aid kit, flashlight, and cell phone in your
gear. Tell a dependable person
where you’re hunting and when
you plan to return.
l Don’t fall asleep. This is a
common cause of accidents. If
you get drowsy, move your arms
rapidly until you feel alert.
l As a precautionary measure, remove all logs, upturned
and cutoff saplings, rocks
and other obstructions on the
ground below the tree stand.
l Use updated equipment.
When used properly, newer tree
stand equipment is solid, safe,
and secure. Older models of
safety belts offer some protection, but newer safety harnesses offer more protection.
l When you scout for hunting sites, don’t just look for
tree stand locations. Plan for
ground hunts, too, in case of
high winds, rain, snow, and ice,
which are not ideal for climbing into a tree stand.
Don’t become a statistic
when hunting this season.
Think about safety each time
you use a tree stand. If nothing
else, your family will thank you
for it.
21
Neighborly Advice Equine
Prepare your horses for cooler temperatures
T
hough
winter
conditions are not
as severe in
the Southeast as they
are in other
Jennifer Earing, Ph.D. areas of the
country,
TFC Equine Nutritionist they do warrant changes in management
practices in comparison to what
we’ve been doing with our horses in summer and fall. Here are
some things to consider:
First, assess your current
feeding program. As temperatures drop, horses require more
energy (i.e. calories) to maintain
body temperature. If horses are
not receiving adequate energy in
their diet, they will begin utilizing energy, or fat, stored in their
bodies to supply those requirements. This results in weight
loss and poor body condition
and is especially problematic if
the horse starts out the winter
in poor condition. The Hen-
neke Body Condition Scoring
System ranks a horse’s condition on a scale of 1 (poor) to
9 (extremely fat) and is a good
way to monitor his status. Visit
http://bit.ly/BCS-equine for
a complete description of the
scoring system and to see where
your horse falls. Ideally, horses
should be no lower than a 5 on
this scale going into winter.
Now is a good time to look at
your feeding program so you can
get your horse into appropriate
condition before cold weather.
This may mean providing more
of your current feeds (hay and
concentrate) or offering higherquality versions of these feeds.
Start with your forage. Normal, healthy horses can easily
consume 1.5 to 2 percent of
their body weight (16.5 to 22
pounds/day for a 1,100-pound
horse) as forage. Increasing the
amount or quality of forage offered can offset many increased
nutrient demands of winter.
Several factors can affect hay
quality, including field fertiliza-
tion, plant species, maturity at
harvest, harvesting techniques,
and storage.
Next, look at the feeding
directions on the concentrate
(or grain) being fed. Compare
the amount you’re feeding to the
recommended rate; there may
be room for adjustment. If your
feeding rate is at the upper end,
consider switching to a feed with
a higher energy content. You
may also need to feed problematic horses separately to ensure
they’re consuming the intended
amount. For more information,
visit with us at the Co-op. We’re
happy to help select the most appropriate feed for your situation.
As nutritionists, we talk about
the importance of water in hot,
humid conditions, but it’s just
as important during the winter. Before cold weather hits,
check automatic waterers and
water tanks. Make sure they’re
clean and functioning properly.
Among other things, water helps
to maintain proper gut motility. Reductions in water intake,
Ritchie manufactures a complete line of livestock watering products
with the highest specifications in the industry. From a single
horse Stall Fount to a fountain that waters up to 500 head, Ritchie
fountains are top quality. Plus, every Ritchie fountain is backed by
our 10 year limited warranty. For more information visit us online at:
www.RitchieFount.com
22
Tennessee Farmers Co-op
phone: 615-793-8518
[email protected]
whether from an inadequate
supply or unclean conditions,
may lead to impaction colic, particularly when dry hay makes up
a substantial part of the diet.
Also, consider the availability
and quality of shelter. Remember, shorter days mean you’ll
likely be working after dark, so
do you have adequate lighting?
If your horses are going to spend
a lot of time indoors, is your
ventilation adequate to prevent
respiratory issues?
Finally, don’t forget about pastures. Late fall is ideal to apply
herbicides and fertilizer. Weeds
compete for the same nutrients
as desirable species in our pastures, so eliminating them will
result in less competition and
stronger stands of grass. While
fall fertilizer application may
not significantly improve yield,
it helps build stronger roots and
allows for quicker green-up and
more vigorous growth in the
spring. Visit with your Co-op for
help with soil sampling and forage management advice.
Neighborly Advice
Crop Nutrients
Higher yields mean higher nutrient removal
A
fter
all is
said
and done,
2013 will
certainly
end up as
one of the
best crop
Alan Sparkman
years TenTFC Agronomy
nessee has
Marketing Manager
experienced
in the last several years. Good
growing conditions and ample
rainfall are pointing toward
excellent yields. But aboveaverage yields also mean aboveaverage nutrient removal from
soils. As the harvested portion
of a crop is removed from the
field, all of those nutrients that
were used to produce the crop
also are being hauled away.
For instance, a corn crop
harvested for grain removes .38
pounds of phosphorous (P) and
.27 pounds of potassium (K) for
each bushel. In a 200-bushel
harvest, that equates to 76
pounds of P and 54 pounds of
K being removed from the field.
Soybeans remove .84 pounds of
P and 1.3 pounds of K for each
bushel harvested. So for a 50bushel soybean crop, 42 pounds
of P and 65 pounds of K are
removed. Note that soybeans
actually remove more potassium per bushel than corn does.
Keep in mind that nutrient
removal will vary up or down
depending on specific field and
crop parameters.
It’s also important to look at
micronutrient removal. This
year’s soil tests already show
that 40 to 60 percent of the
samples have low to very low
levels of sulfur, zinc, and boron.
Couple that with increased
yields, and we could see even
lower micronutrient soil test
levels in 2014.
Another factor to consider is
the impact of increased rainfall on nutrient loss. While we
know that nitrogen can leach,
soil potassium can also be lost
to leaching, although much less
than nitrogen. Phosphorous can
leach as well but is more likely to
be lost due to surface runoff.
After this great growing
year, there is no better time to
consider soil-testing. It’s the
only true way to get an accurate
reading of soil nutrient levels.
There is no better, more cost-effective farm management practice than soil-testing. It gives
both grower and retailer a scientific-based start to planning an
efficient, effective soil fertility
program. By understanding your
crop nutrient status, you can
better determine how much P,
K, and lime should be applied
this fall to prepare for a successful crop next year.
However, the first step is taking your soil samples correctly.
PotashCorp has launched a new
website, www.potashcorpekonomics.com, with soil fertility tools for growers. The site
offers these four tips to ensure
you get the best soil sample:
1. Use clean tools: Make sure
soil probes and plastic buckets
are clean prior to sample collection. Using contaminated equipment can alter the test results.
2. Collect enough cores:
Collect a minimum of 15 random soil samples from a representative area. Too few samples
can cause inaccurate information and poor repeatability in
future years.
3. Sample at consistent
depths: Collecting samples
at too shallow of a depth may
cause nutrient concentrations
to appear higher than they really
are, and sampling too deeply can
cause nutrient concentrations to
appear lower than they are.
4. Thoroughly mix cores:
Put all your samples in a clean
bucket and mix them well before
collecting the sample that will
be submitted to the lab. The
total amount of soil that is actually analyzed is small, so a poorly
mixed sample can cause significant variability.
23
O
Leslie Pardue tees off at The Pines, a private “cowboy-style” golf course created by record producer Brent Maher, who “invented” the sport when he mowed fairways and
installed nine holes in unused pastures on his Franklin farm. Brent regularly invites friends like Leslie over to play for casual games and also hosts charity tournaments.
n a muggy July morning,
guys are gathering for a
round of golf at a picturesque private course in Franklin.
Nothing unusual about that,
right? But one glance at the
motley crew’s attire — cowboy
hats, ball caps, jeans, T-shirts,
bandanas, boots, tennis shoes
— makes it clear that this is no
typical game. It’s “cowboy-style”
golf on the farm of renowned
record producer Brent Maher,
who has carved out a simple
nine-hole course he calls “The
Pines” on the peaceful property
where he and wife Janel have
lived and raised horses since the
mid-1980s.
Here at The Pines, there’s no
dress code. No etiquette. No golf
carts. No bags. No tee times. No
expensive green fees. No pressure. No rules.
Well, almost no rules.
“Of course there are rules!”
laughs Chris Prothro, property
manager of nearby Arrington
Vineyards, as he and the other
players get in a few practice
swings. “It’s cowboy golf, not
bandito golf!”
That’s true, with some very
important differences. Each
player is limited to two clubs —
any two, except putters. Putters
aren’t allowed. Actually, they
aren’t needed because there
are no putting greens. Since
24
the course is laid out on what
used to be pastures, the playing surface consists of whatever
mixture of grass was already
there. Brent just mows it a little
shorter around each cup — a
buried 6-inch terra cotta flowerpot. Those regular 4.25-inch
cups would be too hard to hit in
cowboy golf, Brent explains.
l
Franklin
“Part of the strategy is choosing which clubs you take,” says
Dan Hays, general manager of
the historic Franklin Theatre
who’s played at such fabled
golf courses as St. Andrews in
Scotland. “Just seems like a fun
thing to do, and you don’t have
to worry about hauling all that
equipment around.”
The other striking contrast
between cowboy golf and a
serious round is the fun, casual
atmosphere. Most of the time,
these guys don’t even keep score.
They might heckle a player in his
backswing, laugh hysterically at
a wayward drive, and celebrate
a good shot like an NFL player
in the end zone. When a ball
inevitably gets lost in the roughs
— which, by the way, are really
rough — teammates stop to help
find it. If they can’t find the ball,
they’ll just pull out a new one
Cowboy golf is only one interesting chapter in the life of Brent Maher and wife
Janel, who have lived and raised horses on their picturesque property since 1986.
Brent is an acclaimed record producer, music engineer, and songwriter best known
for discovering The Judds and producing all of their albums. He’s holding one of
the Gretsch guitars he collects in a nod to the first guitar he purchased at age 17.
Janel, whom he married right after high school, is a talented sculptor and painter.
Her amazing work can be seen on the mantel and wall above the fireplace.
from the extras they’re carrying
in a plastic grocery bag.
“We’re just here to have fun
without all the trappings,” says
Dan. “I love the game of golf, but
this is totally different. There’s
no pressure. Even golf pros say
that a regular game is too long,
too hard, too expensive … and
this is everything golf is not.”
Plus, golfing prowess isn’t really a requirement on the cowboy
course. The links are far from
PGA-perfect, and the unpredictability of the terrain helps level
the playing field for even the
most inexperienced golfer.
“I stink at golf, and I don’t
have to worry about that here
because on some holes, everybody is going to stink,” says Tom
English, who managed Nashville’s vaunted WSM 650 AM
radio station until resigning last
month. “This is the most fun I’ve
had playing golf in years!”
That’s the spirit in which
Brent created his course
while mowing an overgrown
field one fall evening four
years ago. He wasn’t a
golfer, but something
about the view from his
tractor seat inspired him.
“It was so pretty, I got to
thinking that it would make
a cute little golf course,” says
Brent, a customer of Williamson
Farmers Cooperative, where the
Mahers purchase farm supplies
and feed for their horses. “So I
imagined where Hole 1 would
be, and then I just started making these goofy fairways. Janel
thought I was crazy because I
didn’t even own a golf club. But
all my friends play, and I thought
it would be fun.”
With no inkling that he
was actually inventing a sport,
Brent designed six holes, mowing cowboy-style fairways with
curves, doglegs, trees to hit
over, and anything to make it
fun and challenging. A couple
of weeks later, he invited a few
friends over to play. They probably thought he was crazy, too,
Brent admits, but after a hilarious, laughter-filled round on the
homemade course, he knew he
had a hit on his hands.
And, after all, Brent knows
a good hit. In his long and
admirable career in the music
business, the six-time Grammy
Award-winning producer, engineer, and songwriter has worked
with many of the industry’s most
famous artists in country music
and beyond, including Kenny
Rogers, Kathy Mattea, Jo Dee
Messina, Ray Charles, Olivia
Newton-John, Dottie West, Tina
Turner, and even Elvis.
Such success didn’t happen
easily or overnight. A native of
Kansas, Brent grew up near
Denver, Colo., where he and Janel met as teenagers and married
after high school. A four-year
stint in the Air Force brought
them to Tennessee when Brent
was stationed at Sewart Air
Force Base in Smyrna. After his
service, the aspiring guitar-player
landed a job as an assistant
recording engineer at a studio
in Nashville and later worked in
Las Vegas before returning to
Music City in the late 1970s.
Brent is most famous for discovering and developing motherdaughter duo The Judds in the
early 1980s. It all started
when the Mahers’
daughter, Dianna,
was in a serious
Brent has marked all
of the course’s holes
with clever names,
like this one where
golfers are often
tempted to hit over an
enormous rough area
of weeds and brush.
LEFT: The cowboy golf holes are actually 6-inch terra cotta flowerpots instead of normal 4.25-inch cups. There are no putting
greens, just an area of grass that’s mowed shorter than the fairways. RIGHT: In keeping with the light-hearted atmosphere of
cowboy-style golf, Chris Kyle, Jason Kyle, and Jeffrey East pause to make a silly pose during a game at The Pines.
car accident. While recovering
at Williamson County Hospital
in Franklin, she was cared for
by Naomi Judd, who was working as a nurse while she and her
then-teenage daughter, Wynnona, were trying to break into
the Nashville music scene. At
the end of Dianna’s hospital stay,
Naomi slipped Brent a homerecorded cassette tape.
“By then, I had quite a bit
of success as a producer, and
I promised her I’d listen to it
straight away,” says Brent. “Well,
I put the tape down in the kitchen, got busy, and forgot about it.
About three weeks later, Janel
asked me if I’d ever listened to it,
and I said, ‘No.’ She said, ‘That
is so rude! Naomi was great to
Dianna. Just don’t come home
tonight if you haven’t listened to
it and called that woman!’ So I
listened to it on my way to work
that morning, and I just loved it.
There was something so incredibly unique about their sound.
One thing led to another, and we
ended up with a great 10-year
run. Everything about it just
clicked.”
Brent not only nurtured The
Judds into superstars, but he
also produced all of their albums
and wrote many of their biggest
hits, including “Why Not Me”
that won the Academy of Country Music’s Song of the Year in
1984. He continued to work
with Wynonna on her solo career
that followed The Judds’ farewell
tour in 1991.
These days, Brent continues
to produce and engineer records
for an array of artists from his
Blue Room Studios in Nashville’s
Berry Hill and is the founder
and chief executive officer of
Moraine Music Group, an independent publishing company
whose stable includes many of
Music City’s top songwriters.
Dianna runs the company, and
the Mahers’ son, Brian, is making his mark as a songwriter and
just had a No. 1 hit, “Til My Last
Day,” with country singer Justin
Moore. Rounding out this talentfilled family, Janel is an amazing
artist, too, working as a sculptor and painter whose favorite
subjects are horses.
It may seem like a stretch to
connect cowboy golf to Brent’s
music career, but he has found
a way to creatively combine the
two passions. Of course, many of
his golfing guests are related to
the recording industry in some
way, and those first informal
games soon turned into some
loosely organized tournaments in
which the players would throw
money into a cowboy hat and the
winner would give it to a charity
or someone in need.
“We eventually started having
our own version of the Masters,
and instead of a green jacket,
we gave a green cowboy hat to
the winner,” says Brent. “When
we saw how much fun everybody was having, we thought we
might have just stumbled onto
something big.”
After attending one of these
tournaments, longtime friends
Dr. Michael and Sherrilyn Pasternak, fellow equine enthusiasts
whom the Mahers had met at
horse shows, recruited professional golfer John Reger Jr. to
join Brent in forming the “Boots
and Bandana Golf Association”
— what they claim is the first organization of its kind to promote
cowboy-style golf.
“I can’t imagine that I’m
the only person who has ever
thought to do this, but to my
knowledge, I am,” says Brent. “I
know we’re the first alternative
golf association to encourage
people to build golf courses on
farms and ranches. We just want
people to see how much fun you
(See Golf, page 26)
Ted Behar, a plastic surgeon in Franklin,
is thoroughly enjoying his first time
playing cowboy golf, celebrating with
exhilaration after sinking a difficult putt.
25
Golf
can have doing this. I think John
Reger said it best: ‘It just takes a
mower and some imagination.’”
With its motto “Have fun, give
back,” the Boots and Bandana
Golf Association (BBGA) now
hosts two big charity events each
year — an invitational championship, held Sept. 27 at the
Mahers’ farm, and the national
championship, planned for
Oct. 26 on a course that Brent,
Michael, and John designed in
Lake City, Fla., not far from the
Pasternaks’ home in Gainesville.
Proceeds from both events
benefit the BBGA’s major charities: MusiCares, which provides
emergency financial assistance
and outreach services for musicians in need, and the Facial
Pain Research Foundation,
which was established by the
Pasternaks to help find a cure for
trigeminal neuralgia, a rare nerve
disease that strikes its victims
with lightning-like shocks of pain
to their face. Michael Pasternak,
a former Vanderbilt University
professor and highly successful
26
hosiery store entrepreneur, suffered from this condition.
“I’ve known Michael for years,
and he kept saying there must
be a connection with music and
his foundation,” says Brent. “I
agreed, because music has such
healing power, but I just didn’t
know how to connect them.
Then this cowboy golf thing took
off, and it’s fallen into place. Our
whole agenda is to raise money
for lesser-known charities whose
needs are every bit as important
as the major charities.”
Further linking cowboy golf
and the music industry, the
BBGA’s tournaments are accompanied by entertainment from
Nashville singer-songwriters and
musicians — some of whom will
actually play in the game and
then play on stage during the
after-party. This year, the night
before the invitational tournament at The Pines, the Franklin
Theatre even hosted a fundraising concert by Texas musician
Red Steagall, a songwriter and
performer known as the “Great
American Storyteller.”
“What was once 10 to 12 guys
throwing a few bucks in a cowboy hat and giving it to someone
A rookie cowboy golfer, Tom English tees off on Hole 3 while, from left, Leslie
Pardue, Dan Hays, and Brent Maher wait their turn. Leslie and Dan, who play often
on “regular” courses, say they love the no-pressure atmosphere at The Pines.
in need has turned into more
than 100 men and women vying
for championship trophies and
nearly 40 corporate sponsors,”
says Brent. “The growth is just
phenomenal.”
As for the future, Brent plans
to continue balancing his time in
the studio with time on the golf
course. He’s not only developing
new artists but also new cowboystyle courses that will expand
the BBGA’s reach even further.
He’s been asked to design such
a course in Estes Park, Colo.,
that should be open by summer
2014 as the third official BBGA
site. The BBGA is also trying to
establish a membership program
so other interested golfers can
join the fun.
“I’ve been busier these last
four years than I’ve ever been,”
says Brent. “I hope to never really retire. I want to continue encouraging young songwriters and
working with new talent. That
has always been what I love the
best. And then this whole Boots
and Bandana thing … I can see
it really growing to be a lot of
what I do. It’s amazing to see
what has come from just being
bored one Saturday afternoon on
my tractor!”
For more information on cowboy golf, visit the BBGA’s website
at www.bootsandbandana.com.
27
Stan Butt named executive director of state dairy group
Heritage Festival
is Oct. 12 at
Ames Plantation
More than 150 folk artists
will demonstrate traditional
farming, cooking, and home life
skills at the 16th Annual Heritage Festival to be held Saturday, Oct. 12, at Ames Plantation
in Grand Junction.
Festival hours are 9 a.m. to
5 p.m., and admission is $5
for adults, $2 for children ages
4-16, and free for ages 3 and
under. Parking is free.
Activities include demonstrations of blacksmithing and other
crafts and shopping for handmade items like soap, candles,
and brooms. Visitors can
explore Heritage Village, an authentic replica of a 19th-century
rural settlement that includes
the nationally renowned Stencil
House. Named for the elaborate stencil designs on its walls,
the landmark is considered one
of the South’s most impressive
examples of this decorative art.
A large collection of antique
tractors and steam engines will
be on display, and re-enactors
will give artillery demonstrations
at a Civil War encampment.
Award-winning gospel and
bluegrass bands will also perform on two stages throughout
the day. Younger festival-goers
will have plenty to do, too, from
picking and ginning their own
cotton to taking a tractor-drawn
ride around the plantation
grounds.
For additional information,
call 901-878-1067 or visit
www.amesplantation.org.
28
wife, Sheila, have been married for 41 years and have three
sons of their own, an adopted
son, and 13 grandchildren.
“The TDPA board is excited
to have someone with Stan’s
experience to step into this new
position,” said the organization’s president, Tony White.
“We are confident that he will
bring continuity to our association and will be a positive voice
for our industry.”
As executive
director, 1Butt
is
Cooperator
Junior Ad_Layout
6/11/13
the contact person for TDPA,
a nonprofit organization formed
in 2009. Primary responsibilities include being a proactive
voice for the dairy industry,
increasing the association’s
membership, securing and
maintaining funding, working
to involve and retain youth in
the dairy industry, interacting
with the state’s livestock entities, and serving as a legislative
liaison in both Nashville and
Washington.
8:50
PM Page 1
Stan Butt
MADE MEASURE
TO
Stan Butt, who grew up
in Sumner County and was
introduced to dairying by
“hand-milking an old Jersey
cow belonging to a neighboring farmer,” has been named
executive director of the Tennessee Dairy Producers Association (TDPA).
Butt is a graduate of Portland High School and Tennessee Technological University in
Cookeville. His first position
was with the Middle Tennessee Council of Boy Scouts of
America in Nashville, serving
as district executive for the Dan
Beard District. He and his
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29
Tennessee Farmers Cooperative Home, Lawn, Specialty Department Manager Mark Morton announces a winning door prize number during the Sept. 14 Sportsman’s
Extravaganza at Montgomery Farmers Cooperative in Clarksville. The activity-filled event geared toward outdoorsmen drew a record crowd of some 1,500 people.
I
t takes something special
to get a hunter out of
the woods or a fisherman
off the lake on a September
Saturday.
But when there’s an event
centered around these two
outdoor sports and featuring
an appearance from national
hunting star Michael Waddell
of “Realtree Road Trips” and
“Bone Collector” TV fame, the
interruption is understandable.
Montgomery Farmers Cooperative was able to pull off this
feat Sept. 14 at its Fourth Annual Sportsman’s Extravaganza
in Clarksville.
l
Clarksville
Some 1,500 people — more
than double the average from
the prior three years, when
the Extravaganza was held on
Thursday evenings — came to
the Co-op to meet and hear
from Waddell, professional bass
angler Sam Lashlee, 33 outdoor-themed vendors, and other
experts who provided helpful
information on hunting, fishing,
boating, and land management.
The day’s activities also included
a special in-store sale on all outdoor items, numerous door prize
giveaways, food, and live music.
30
“I think it’s awesome to have
something like this,” said Jerry
Rutherford of Cunningham,
who was accompanied by son
and hunting partner Kenneth,
9. “We were just at the [Montgomery Crossroads branch]
Co-op this morning, and they
said that we needed to head
over here, so here we are!”
Even organizer Keith
Earhart, who conceived the
Sportsman’s Extravaganza with
fellow Co-op employee Josh
Briggs, said it was gratifying to
witness the turnout after many
months of planning.
“With the move to Saturday,
we were able to try a lot of
new things this time, and it’s
paid off,” said Earhart, the
Co-op’s outdoors/sporting
goods manager. “I’ve had
several folks tell me that they
came 60 or 70 miles away from
up in Kentucky just for this,
and a lot of people can bring
their whole family now that it’s
on the weekend.”
And, Earhart added, more
people mean more exposure
for the Co-op.
“It draws new people here,”
he explained. “I bet there are
400 to 500 people here today
who have never been to the
Co-op before. When people
come to something like this,
they see that we’re not just a
feed store and that we have a
little bit of everything.”
One of those first-timers,
Hunter Bennett of the Indian
Mound community in Stewart County, cut his duck hunt
short to attend the event.
“Wood duck season opened
this morning,” said Bennett. “I
wanted to come here, buy some
duck calls, and meet Michael
Waddell. I’ve been watching
him on TV for a long time, and
he’s one of my heroes. He’s a
hunting machine.”
Standing behind Bennett in
the line of people waiting to
TOP: In addition to
door prize giveaways
and speakers such as
professional hunter
Michael Waddell, the
Extravaganza’s big
tent was also home to
a musical performance
from the Lauren Stacey
Band, whose high-energy
set included renditions
of popular country hits.
LEFT: Event organizer
and Co-op employee
Keith Earhart, right,
talks during a live radio
interview with Marshall
Sidebottom of Elkton, Ky.,
radio station WEKT-AM.
meet Waddell was Clarksville
deer hunter Michael Holder,
who brought along 19-monthold son Jensen.
“I hunted this morning,
came here, and I’ll be back in
the woods to hunt some more
this afternoon,” said Holder. “I
didn’t get to come when they
had this last year, so I made
sure not to miss it. I think
this event will just keep getting
bigger and bigger because they
always have a good program
and some really good deals in
the store.”
And there were just as many
female admirers waiting to see
Waddell. Cathy Alexander and
daughters Tristan, 9, and Gracie, 6, and their friend, Samantha Manley, 8, were wide-eyed
with excitement as they chatted
with their favorite television
personality.
“We never miss an episode of
the Bone Collector,” said Cathy
as she watched Waddell sign
the back of each girl’s T-shirt.
“I remember watching him on
Realtree Roadtrips, too. It’s
so nice that he came here and
took the time to talk to us and
everyone else. It means a lot.”
As he shook hands, posed
for photographs, and then addressed attendees in a program
that capped off the day’s activities, Waddell said he felt “right
at home.”
“This is like a big family reunion for me,” said the Georgia
native, fresh from an elk hunt
in New Mexico earlier in the
week. “As I go across the country, a lot of people don’t understand folks like us who enjoy
God’s renewable resources. So
to have an event like this with
folks who do understand is
LEFT: Jarred Stacey, left, shares bowhunting tips with John Nicholas, right, and John Seay of Erin at the Hunter’s Den booth.
RIGHT: Samantha Manley, 8, of Clarksville gets her shirt signed by Michael Waddell of the highly popular “Bone Collector” TV series.
special. My hat’s off to the
Co-op for throwing such a
great sportsman’s celebration.
“It’s like a pep rally for everyone who is a part of the family
of hunters and fishermen.”
Besides sharing the many
adventures he’s had hunting
through the years, Waddell also
stressed to the audience the
importance of standing up for
their rights as outdoorsmen.
“We’ve got to continue to
speak up for our God-given
rights,” Waddell said. “We have
to let our congressmen and
congresswomen know what we
think, because you can bet your
bottom dollar that they’re going
to hear plenty from the other
side of the fence.”
Some of the Extravaganza
attendees were not only new to
the Co-op but also to the U.S.
Pascale Albrecht, an exchange
student from Switzerland who
attends Clarksville Northwest
High School, looked on with
keen interest as she joined
host parents John and Donna
Wolitski in watching a turkeycalling demonstration at the
Down-N-Dirty Outdoors booth.
Then there was Gilbert Powell, a recent Jamaican transplant whose son, Sean Wallace,
displayed intricate barbed wire
designs at his company’s booth,
Windows of Opportunity. In
his thick island accent, Powell
admitted that although he neither hunted nor fished, he still
gained a lot from the event.
“I’ve been very impressed,”
said Powell, who moved from
Jamaica to Cadiz, Ky., in
August. “It’s been very educa-
tional for me, and everyone has
been so nice.”
As the day ended, a weary
but happy Earhart was already
looking ahead to the future.
“It took everybody here at
the Co-op to put this together,”
he said. “This year was great,
and we’ll work hard to make it
even better in the future. We
plan to have two events next
year — one in the spring and
another in the fall. Where
there’s a will, there’s a way.”
Montgomery Farmers sales associate Tom Biggar, right, assists customer Kevin
Boyd of Dover with the purchase of hunting gear. Several Extravaganza attendees
took advantage of sale prices throughout the store on hunting and fishing items.
31
32
Power to the people
Tennessee cooperatives help improve well-being of rural residents, communities
Though they often go unnoticed, cooperatives are a powerful force all across our state, providing electricity and telephone
service in homes, financing for
land, products and services for
growing and marketing crops
and cattle, insurance for property owners, and even employment
for thousands of Tennesseans.
With October designated as
National Co-op Month, it’s an
appropriate time to recognize
and celebrate the role, achievements, and contributions of
co-ops to Tennessee families,
farms, and communities. A special “Co-op Week” is designated
nationwide for Oct. 13-19.
“Cooperative businesses are
an important part of Tennessee
history and remain a vital part of
life in our state today,” says Tennessee Commissioner of Agriculture Julius Johnson. “They will
also continue to help shape our
state’s future, especially in light
of Gov. Haslam’s focus on rural
economies.”
Tennesseans are served by
some 200 co-ops that provide a
wide range of services and products in the areas of agriculture,
electric, telephone, financing,
and marketing. What sets co-ops
apart from other types of businesses is that they are owned
and controlled by the people
who use their products and
Cooperatives:
FEED
MARKETING
ELECTRICITY
TELEPHONE
INTERNET
GENETICS
INSURANCE
CROP
NUTRIENTS
FINANCING
AND SO MUCH MORE!
FUEL
TIRES
SEED
CROP
PROTECTION
Take a look at a typical Tennessee farm,
and you’ll find examples of all types of
cooperatives at work.
Through the electricity and telephone service in your home,
the financing for your land, the growing and marketing of your
crops or cattle, or the insurance for your property, cooperatives are a vital part of life in rural America and around the
globe.
October is “Co-op Month,” and people around the world are
recognizing the accomplishments of cooperative businesses
that are financed, owned, and controlled by the people who
use them. Join us as we celebrate Tennessee cooperatives,
which represent a true democracy and mirror the very best of
the American way. Life here would look much different without them.
services. Cooperatives are led by
an elected board of directors and
share profits with their members
by reducing costs of their products or services or by providing
patronage refunds.
While they have a storied
history, cooperatives are still very
relevant, committed to making
new technology accessible and
affordable for their members.
For example, the same co-ops
that originally brought electricity and phone service to rural
Tennesseans are now working to
offer communications tools that
are just as essential today: Internet and broadband access.
“Rural economies face challenges beyond those typically
experienced by more populated
and industrialized areas,” says
Charles Curtis, president of the
Tennessee Council of Cooperatives (TCC), a non-profit organization that works to promote all
types of cooperatives in the state.
“Co-ops can help communities
empower themselves to improve
the lives of local residents; create, secure or expand markets;
and contribute to the economic
well-being of the state.”
With support of its members
like Tennessee Farmers Cooperative and its member Co-ops,
the TCC offers educational and
promotional events and opportunities, including scholarships
at each of the state’s universities
with a college of agriculture.
Other TCC members are Burley
Stabilization Corporation, CoBank, Dairy Farmers of America,
Farm Credit of Mid-America,
Maryland and Virginia Milk Producers Association, River Valley
AgCredit, Select Sires, Tennessee Electric Cooperative Association, Tennessee Farm Bureau
Federation, and eight different
telephone cooperatives.
“It’s in our best interest to
keep the cooperative spirit alive
in Tennessee,” says Curtis,
“educating our citizens about the
ways cooperative businesses already benefit them, and supporting cooperatives as they strive to
get rural people what they need
to succeed in the future.”
Visit www.tennesseecouncil
ofcoops.org for more information about co-ops and the TCC.
33
Jamboree visitors
will escape to
‘a simpler time’
Rural West Tennessee life
of centuries past will be dramatically depicted at the 15th
Annual Fall Folklore Jamboree on Saturday, Oct 19, at
the University of Tennessee’s
AgResearch and Education
Center at Milan.
Organizers say that from the
time gates open at 9 a.m. until
they close at 4 p.m., “visitors
will feel they have escaped to a
simpler time.” Admission is $5
for adults and $2 for children
ages 3 to 12.
Visitors of all ages will have
plenty to see and do. Nearly
150 folk artists will demonstrate activities from those
past eras — quilting, weaving,
broom-making, blacksmithing,
and even plowing with a team
of mules.
Many of the items made by
the artisans will be for sale, including pottery, candles, soaps,
brooms, beaded jewelry, and
turkey calls. Organizers say a
bag of cornmeal freshly ground
in a vintage grist mill is a favorite take-home souvenir.
Bluegrass bands will jam on
the front porch of a log cabin,
joining gospel groups and string
bands in providing entertainment throughout the day.
Plenty of activities are also
planned for youngsters, from
horse-drawn wagon rides, picking cotton, petting — or even
milking — a goat, and playing
in the “Crazy Corn” trough.
When they get hungry, visitors will find an array of tasty,
tempting food awaiting them,
including grilled tenderloin
sandwiches, hamburgers,
hotdogs, nachos, and old-fashioned kettle corn.
As a featured attraction of
the jamboree, festival-goers
can hop aboard a tractor-pulled
trailer for a narrated tour that
will detail the important and
extensive agricultural research
that is being carried out at the
center. They can also visit the
impressive West Tennessee
Agricultural Museum on the
center site.
For more information about
the jamboree, call 731-6868067 or visit http://milan.
tennessee.edu.
34
The Co-op “Run with the Bulls” team was among more than 100 participants in the Dairy Stampede 5K race on Saturday,
Sept. 14, at Middle Tennessee State University’s dairy in Lascassas. Proceeds from the race benefit the Farm Animal
Care Coalition of Tennessee (FACCT) and the Veteran’s Recovery Center Council. After the run, Co-op representatives
also presented FACCT Executive Director Lou Nave with TFC’s latest $25,000 donation to the organization.
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35
Toggenburgs, like this young resident at
John’s farm, are know for being curious
as well as gentle and friendly.
Hungry Toggenburg goats line up at the feed trough at John Plummer’s dairy operation in Sevier County. John, a retired
dairy science professor, and his late wife, Maxine, bought their first goat in 1972 while living in Pennsylvania and today, the
Neshaminy Acres purebred herd, as it’s called, is one of the nation’s most respected among dairy goat breeders.
W
hen fighting City Hall,
some folks start a petition campaign. Others
might hire legal counsel or
write a lengthy letter to the
editor of the local newspaper.
John Plummer bought a goat.
It was 1972, and John
and wife Maxine’s three-acre
Pennsylvania property on the
outskirts of Philadelphia was
set to be rezoned from agricultural to residential. Intent
on being grandfathered in to
the existing zoning setup, the
Plummers decided to add a
farm animal that would allow
them to do so.
“At first, we talked about
getting a pony,” says John, who
grew up in Clarksville, Tenn.,
but moved to Pennsylvania
where he and Maxine began
their careers as college profes-
36
sors. “Maxine knew where we
could get a goat, and I said,
‘Well, let’s go get one.’ It was a
Toggenburg, and Maxine just
fell in love. So we just kept
adding more and more.”
Acres, named for Neshaminy
Creek that flowed near the
Plummers’ home. In the ensuing years, the farm’s animal
lineup would grow to also
include Jersey show cattle.
“When Paul was 8, he start-
ed showing at county fairs,”
says John. “Amy was two years
behind him, and when she
turned 8, she started showing, too. We would go to 11
fairs each summer, and after
they got a little older we began
participating in the national
shows. There were about 10
kids who would travel together
to the fairs, and the mothers
stayed with them while the
fathers came on the weekend,
took clothes home to wash,
then came back to help move
everybody to the next fair. It
was exhausting but fun.”
With countless titles to
show for their efforts, including both the national champion and reserve national
champion at the 2008 American Dairy Goat Association national show in Louisville, Ky.,
Neshaminy Acres cemented its
reputation as one of the finest
purebred Toggenburg herds in
the country.
“We’ve bred a national senior
champion, a reserve national
Boyds Creek l
While they built their goat
numbers, the Plummers also
added two more “kids” to the
family over the next few years
— son Paul and daughter Amy.
As the children and the herd
grew, so did the family’s desire
to show their Toggenburgs,
a breed that originated in
Switzerland and is the oldest
dairy goat breed in the U.S.
The Plummers began showing
at both regional and national
competitions as Neshaminy
John, center, talks with Sevier Farmers Cooperative salesmen John Delozier, left, and
Joe Woods about his Jersey show cattle, two of which are grazing in the field at right.
senior champion, and three
junior national champions,” says
John, who notes that Paul and
Amy together earned more than
$25,000 in college scholarship
money through showing. “And
the year we won both national
and reserve national champion,
that had only happened one
other time in the history of the
event. We’ve competed at every
national show but two since
1988.”
Now, the operation has
migrated from Pennsylvania to
Tennessee in the Boyds Creek
Community of Sevier County.
The Plummers moved five years
ago to be nearer Maxine’s ailing
parents, both of whom have
since passed away. Sadly, Maxine lost her own 13-year battle
with leukemia last year.
“I had talked to Maxine about
retiring from the goats after we
won the national championship,
but they were a big part of her
life and are really what helped
keep her alive for so long after
she was diagnosed,” John says
quietly. “She loved the shows
and got to know so many people
who were like family.”
At one time, the Neshaminy
Acres herd was “in excess of
170 head,” but John, now 71,
has streamlined the operation
to its present-day figure of 45
head, with 30 adult goats and
15 kids. John, who at one time
milked as many as 40 does twice
daily, now only milks 10. All of
the kids are bottle-raised.
Both children are now grown
and working as veterinarians —
Paul in Iowa and Amy (Weatherly) at Ames Plantation in West
Tennessee — but they maintain
interest in the herd. Paul even
raises his own herd of 25 goats,
using the same bloodlines under
the name Neshaminy Oaks.
“We have probably the most
closed herd in the United
States,” says John, who taught
dairy science for 38 years at
Delaware Valley College of
Science and Agriculture in
Doylestown, Pa. “We buy semen
and bucks, but we’ve never
added a female to the herd.
Everything we have is a descendant of our first doe. That’s
really unusual.”
John adds that it’s also rare
to find strictly purebred Toggenburg breeders these days.
“There are only about 20
left in the entire country,” he
LEFT: John says that Jersey cattle are “a beautiful animal to show.” He prefers to use
Canadian breeding with his stock because “they tend to be more structurally correct.”
ABOVE: A group of kids inside the barn vie for John’s attention.
says. “Once you’ve diluted your
herd, you can never go back. So
there’s a pretty good demand
for our genetics. We’ve exported
bucks to Canada, Brazil, and
Africa.”
Currently, John says he gets
“a little over 10 gallons a day”
out of the 10 does he milks.
“And I do something different
with it,” he explains. “I treat it
with formic acid. Paul and I are
the only ones doing this in the
U.S. When you take the milk
and treat it with formic acid, it
gets the pH down to between
4.2 and 4.4. That helps it keep
for three to four days without
souring. So, I’m able to give it
free choice to the kids. Before
that, I was pasteurizing the milk
in five-gallon batches, which
was a pretty time-consuming
process.”
But the kids aren’t the only
ones benefiting from goat milk,
John says.
“Our Jersey calves are raised
on goat milk,” he explains. “You
can give a Jersey calf four gallons of goat milk a day, and it’s
more easily digestible. Paul has
some pigs that he raises with
goat milk, too.”
Cheese-making is another
way that John utilizes his goat
milk. Maxine enjoyed the process of making different varieties, he says, and even won Best
in Show at the 2008 national
competition.
“Before she passed away, we
looked into getting a license
for a production facility, but it
was going to cost $80,000 just
to build a plant to meet specs,
so we decided it was going
to be a little too expensive to
market our cheese,” John says.
“I make some now for family
At the 2008 National Dairy Goat Show in Louisville, John, left and Maxine, far right,
stand with children Paul and Amy after showing the national champion, Neshaminy
Acres Aloha, at left, and reserve champion, Neshaminy Acres Havarti.
— Photo provided by John Plummer
and friends. There’s a pretty big
demand for it in the larger metropolitan areas. I know someone
who sells 80 pounds a week at a
market in New York City for $25
a pound.”
When it comes to the health
and nutrition of his goats and
cattle, John relies on Sevier
Farmers Cooperative, where
he visits “several times a week”
for items such as Co-op 16%
Coarse Goat Feed (#348). He
says the feed provides the right
combination of vitamins and
minerals for his lactating does.
“They really like the 348 a
lot,” says John, who buys his
feed in bulk. “I’m happy with
how it helps them look and
feel. I’m always at the Co-op for
something, whether it’s feed or
supplements or inputs that we
use here on the farm. I enjoy
going there.”
Another enjoyable endeavor
for John is watching a whole
new generation of his family
become active in the show ring.
Granddaughter McKindry, 6, is
already showing her prowess as
an exhibitor and grandsons R.J.,
4, and Caleb, 1, are sure to follow. All three are the children of
Paul and his wife, Cassi, who is
also a veterinarian.
“It’s been a way of life for
me and my family for 40 years,”
John says. “I’ll continue on as
long as I’m able.”
John milks 10 goats twice each day.
Toggenburg milk is known for high
quality and low butterfat content.
37
‘Butterflies Are Free’
Giant exhibit is part of admission at Music & Molasses Festival Oct. 19, 20
By Jerry Kirk
“
B
utterflies Are Free” —
title of a 1972 hit movie
starring Goldie Hawn
and Edward Albert — would
also work in giving top billing for an attraction at this
year’s Music & Molasses Arts
& Crafts Festival on Saturday
and Sunday, Oct. 19 and 20,
at the Tennessee Agricultural
Museum in Nashville.
When the popular event
makes its 2013 weekend
run at Ellington Agricultural
Center, home to the museum
and Tennessee Department of
Agriculture (TDA), a one-of-akind display of 10,300 butterfly
and moth specimens will fill
the spacious Ed Jones Auditorium, located a few steps away
from the main festival activities. Cleverly dubbed “Painted
Wings & Delicate Things,“ the
exhibit is free with paid admis-
38
sion to the festival — $5 per
person (children 4 and under
get in free). Festival hours are
9 a.m. to 4 p.m. Saturday and
10 a.m. to 4 p.m. Sunday. Parking is free.
Besides the butterflies, Music & Molasses visitors can enjoy plenty of down-home music
and entertainment — picking,
singing, and clogging — as well
as a continuous live demonstration of molasses-making the
old-timey way. Throughout the
sprawling festival site, dozens
of area artisans will demonstrate their skills and sell their
handcrafted items.
The Music & Molasses
Festival is staged annually to
raise funds for the ag museum,
and the facility’s director, Anne
Dale, says the addition of the
butterfly exhibit is a real coup
for this year’s event.
“Honestly, this is so exciting,” she says, pulling together
notes in her office. “This is a
private collection, and not only
is this the first time it has been
shown, but it will be the ONLY
time. It’s a one-and-done situation, and we’re thrilled to host
it here at the festival.”
The colorful exhibit, which
boasts120 display cases of butterflies and moths, combines
the extensive collections of two
devoted friends — Pennsylvanian John M. McWilliams,
who died in 2003 at the age of
85, and Tennessean Timothy
Genter, a biology teacher at
Independence High School at
Thompson’s Station in Williamson County. McWilliams’
family passed his collection
on to Genter so it could be
“preserved intact and used for
education purposes.”
“That makes it perfect for
our festival,” Dale says. “Education is a huge part of what
we do here at the museum,
A striking one-time-only exhibit of
10,300 butterflies and moths highlights
this year’s Music & Molasses Arts &
Crafts Festival in Nashville.
and the butterfly exhibit will
complement all the other activities that will be of interest to
everyone who comes to the
festival.”
This year, younger festival
visitors will find plenty of things
to enjoy, including a new activity sponsored by Rutherford
Farmers Cooperative. “The
Co-op will fill a good-sized area
with shelled corn, and kids can
get in there and play to their
hearts’ content,“ Dale says.
“There’ll even be toy replicas of
farm equipment and vehicles
for them to play with in the
corn.”
The Co-op corn event will
be in a popular area known
as “Farmer for a Day,” where
youngsters can have what Dale
refers to as “farm-tastic” experiences. “Many parents say their
children don’t want to leave the
area,” she adds.
Other festival activities for
the younger set include pony
rides, stick horse races, pigsnorting contests, and facepainting. They can also pick
a pumpkin to decorate, visit
with Smokey the Bear, and feed
and milk goats. Small fees are
charged for some of the activities.
Visitors of all ages will enjoy
country and bluegrass music
from various locations of the
festival grounds, including
Country Hollow. Performances
by spirited cloggers are always
crowd-pleasers, too.
And, of course, most everyone who attends the festival
takes time to visit the shady
spot where Muddy Pond, Tenn.,
icons Mark and Sherrie Guenther and crew make sorghum
at their popular attraction in
which a horse-powered mill is a
top attraction.
In contrast to the Guenthers,
who have appeared at the festival for more than two decades,
several demonstrators will be
making their debuts this year.
Included are Bud and Yolanda
Heuser of Crossville, who’ll
be cooking “Mamaw Teen’s
Apple Butter” over an open fire
(they’ll be using their family’s
secret recipe).
Among other creative vendors participating for the first
time this year are Ruthe Winget
of Brentwood with her “glass
gardens;” Linda Anderson and
Kathy Logan of Spring Hill,
who make rustic birdhouses in
the shapes of guitars, banjos,
and fiddles; and Joe Horton
Studio, which offers “spectacular prints of historic Nashville.”
And when it’s time to grab
a bite to eat at the festival,
choices run the gamut from
fried pies, corn dogs, and burgers to barbecued ribs and fried
Snickers bars. Among vendors
bringing their culinary treats
to the festival for the first
time this year is Nashville’s
Tyler Shaw, who’ll offer Tyler’s
roasted corn, baked sweet potatoes, brisket, white beans, and
smoked “baloney.”
For more information on
the festival or directions to the
festival site, call 615-837-5197
or visit tnagmuseum.org.
Rustic birdhouses shaped like musical instruments used in a country band will be
offered by festival exhibitors Linda Anderson and Kathy Logan of Spring Hill.
Pasture
Management
Tips
Since 1938, Gallagher has brought experience and technology
together to create quality animal and pasture management
solutions for Tennessee producers.
E L E CT R I C F E N C I N G • M I R AC O WAT E R E R S • W E I G H I N G & E I D
Helping Tennessee producers do and achieve more with educational clinics & many quality
products that meet TN NRCS cost share standards. Visit your local Tennessee Farmers
Co-op to see our full line of electric fencing, weighing, data collection and Miraco watering
systems.
While you are there, be sure to ask about upcoming fencing and grazing clinics in your area.
Available at select local
www.GallagherUSA.com
39
40
41
What’s Cookin’?
Apple
appeal
Favorite recipes feature flavor of fall
A
s satisfying as it is to eat freshly picked
apples raw and unadorned, autumn’s chill
makes it equally tempting to head back to
the kitchen and make them into something even
better. While fresh apples are in abundance this
season, now’s the time to try some new dishes
and savor this quintessential flavor of fall.
This month’s “What’s cookin’?” column can help you do just
that. From traditional treats like pie, bread, cobbler, and cake to
more unusual creations like pizza, salad, and baked beans, our
readers have provided a bushel-basket full of wonderful recipe submissions featuring this favorite fall ingredient.
Patsy Kelley’s “Apple Cake with Buttermilk Sauce” is a rich concoction of fresh apples baked with the perfect pairing of sugar and
spices and then topped with a drizzle of creamy cooked buttermilk
sauce. The recipe has earned Patsy Cook-of-the-Month honors for
October-November.
Other recipes featured are Easy Skillet Apple Pie, Harvest Waldorf Salad, Taffy Apple Pizza, Apple Baked Beans, Caramel Apple
Cobbler, Grandma’s Apples and Rice, Fresh Apple Nut Bread, and
Mountain Dew Apple Dumplings.
Enjoy!
A buttermilk sauce makes a rich topping for this fresh apple cake, a flavorful fall recipe
submitted by Patsy Kelley of Lexington, our Cook-of-the-Month for September. — Photo and food styling by Allison Morgan
Clip, save, and serve
Apple Cake with
Buttermilk Sauce
winning recipe
What you will need:
Directions:
•13⁄4 cups fresh unpeeled apples
•11⁄2 cups sugar
•11⁄2 cups flour
• 1⁄2 teaspoon salt
• 1⁄2 teaspoon baking soda
• 1 teaspoon cinnamon
• 1⁄2 teaspoon allspice
• 1 egg
• 1 stick melted butter
• 1⁄2 cup chopped nuts
Buttermilk Sauce:
• 1 cup sugar
• 1⁄2 cup buttermilk
• 1⁄2 teaspoon baking soda
• 1 tablespoon white corn syrup
• 1⁄2 teaspoon vanilla
Chop apples into small pieces. Add sugar and let
mixture stand for 10 minutes.
Sift flour and measure. Add salt, baking soda, cinnamon, and allspice. Sift again and set aside.
Add egg and melted butter to apples and blend. Add
flour mixture and nuts to apple mixture.
Pour into greased and floured pan. Bake at 300º for
55 minutes.
To make sauce,
place sugar, buttermilk, baking
soda, and syrup
into a sauce pan
and cook for seven
minutes. Add vanilla
and pour over hot cake.
Patsy Kelley, Lexington, First Farmers Cooperative
42
Easy Skillet
Apple Pie
2 pounds Granny Smith
apples
2 pounds Braeburn apples
1 teaspoon cinnamon
3
⁄4 cup sugar
1
⁄2 cup butter
1 cup firmly packed brown
sugar
1 package refrigerated pie
crust
1 egg white
2 tablespoons sugar
Preheat oven to 350º. Peel
apples and cut into slices of desired thickness. Toss apples with
cinnamon and 3⁄4 cup sugar. Melt
butter in 10-inch iron skillet over
medium heat. Add brown sugar
and cook, stirring constantly, for
one to two minutes or until sugar
dissolves. Remove from heat and
place one pie crust in skillet over
brown sugar. Cover with apple
mixture and top with remaining
crust.
Whisk egg white until foamy.
Brush top of pie crust with egg
white. Sprinkle with 2 tablespoons sugar. Cut 4 slits in top
for steam to escape. Bake one
hour to one hour and 10 minutes until brown and bubbly.
If necessary, shield edge with
foil during the last 10 minutes
to prevent excessive browning.
Cool 30 minutes before serving.
Serve from skillet.
Phyllis Lance
McMinnville
Warren Farmers Cooperative
T
Harvest Waldorf
Salad
2 cups chunk pineapple,
drained; reserve juice
1
⁄2 cup chopped celery
2 cups seedless grapes
6 diced apples, cored
1
⁄2 cup chopped pecans,
optional
Dressing:
1 cup pineapple juice
2
⁄3 cup sugar
1 tablespoon cornstarch
1
⁄2 teaspoon salt
1 egg, beaten
Combine first five ingredients
in a salad bowl.
Bring 1 cup reserved pineapple juice to a boil. Stir together
sugar, cornstarch, salt, and egg;
blend well. Stir in 3 tablespoons
hot pineapple juice; add to juice
in pan. Cook thoroughly over
low heat, but do not overcook.
Cool and pour over salad.
Marie Delffs
Normandy
Bedford Moore
Farmers Cooperative
T
Taffy Apple Pizza
1 (18-ounce) tube sugar
cookie dough
1
⁄4 cup peanut butter
8 ounces cream cheese
1
⁄2 cup brown sugar
1
⁄2 teaspoon vanilla
2 medium apples
Cinnamon to taste
1
⁄4 cup caramel ice cream
topping
1
⁄2 cup peanuts
Roll out dough to fit a 14-x15-inch pizza pan. Bake 11 to
14 minutes; cool 10 minutes.
Loosen from pan and cool completely.
Combine peanut butter,
cream cheese, brown ugar, and
vanilla, beating until smooth.
Spread over cookie. Peel and
slice apples and place on top.
Sprinkle with cinnamon. Heat
caramel topping and drizzle over
apples. Sprinkle with nuts. Cut
with a pizza cutter to serve.
Klaudene Gourley
Hendersonville
Sumner Farmers Cooperative
T
Apple Baked Beans
1 (20- to 28-ounce) can
vegetable-style baked
beans
1 cup fresh apples, peeled,
cored, diced
1
⁄2 cup pecans, chopped
1
⁄4 cup brown sugar, packed
2 tablespoons maple syrup
2 tablespoons ketchup or
favorite barbecue sauce
1
⁄2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
Dash nutmeg
2 tablespoons minced onion
Mix all ingredients in a
casserole dish. Bake 50-60
minutes at 375º.
Yield: Four to six servings.
Lorraine Darocha
Mountain City
Tri-State Growers, Inc.
T
Caramel Apple
Cobbler
2 cans apple pie filling
1
⁄2 cup caramel ice cream
topping
1 box yellow cake mix
1 cup melted butter
Pour pie filling in the bottom
of a 9-x-13-inch dish. Cover
with caramel topping and then
dry cake mix. Pour melted butter over dry cake mix; don’t stir.
Bake at 350º for 45 minutes.
Tricia Bratcher
Smithville
Warren Farmers Cooperative
T
Grandma’s Apples
and Rice
11⁄4 cups uncooked brown rice
4 tablespoons butter, divided
21⁄2 cups chunky applesauce
1 cup cubed, peeled apples
1
⁄4 cup brown sugar
Dash salt
13⁄4 teaspoons ground
cinnamon, divided
Cook rice according to package directions. Stir 2 table-
spoons butter into hot rice. Add
applesauce, apples, brown sugar,
11⁄2 teaspoons cinnamon, and
salt. Spoon into a greased deep
2-quart baking dish. Dot with remaining butter and sprinkle with
remaining cinnamon.
Bake, uncovered, at 350º
for 35 minutes or until heated
through. Serve warm or cold.
Yield: Six to eight servings.
Ester Stoltzfus
Pembroke, Ky.
Montgomery Farmers Cooperative
T
Fresh Apple Nut
Bread
3 cups flour
1 teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon cinnamon
1
⁄2 teaspoon cloves
11⁄2 cups oil
2 cups sugar
3 eggs
2 teaspoons vanilla
2 cups finely chopped apples
1 cup chopped nuts
Grease and flour two loaf
pans. Stir together flour, baking
soda, salt, and spices. In a large
bowl, combine oil, sugar, eggs,
and vanilla; beat on medium
speed with an electric mixer.
Gradually add flour mixture,
beating until smooth. Fold in
apples and nuts. Pour into pans
and bake one hour at 350º.
Sandra Wilkinson
Pelham
Franklin Farmers Cooperative
Mountain Dew
Apple Dumplings
2 (8-count) cans crescent
rolls
3-4 tart apples
11⁄2 cups sugar
1
⁄2 cup butter
1 teaspoon cinnamon
1 (12-ounce) can Mountain
Dew soda
Spray a 13-x-9-inch baking dish or pan. Peel and slice
apples into 16 pieces. Roll each
apple slice in one section of crescent roll. Place rolled slices in
the pan in two rows with extras
along the sides. Melt butter; add
sugar and cinnamon and pour
over apples. Pour can of Mountain Dew over all. Bake at 350º
for 45 minutes. Serve warm with
vanilla ice cream.
Note: This recipe is submitted
by the sales ladies at Grainger
Farmers Cooperative.
Joan Stansberry
Rutledge
Grainger Farmers Cooperative
Facebook exclusive!
We receive so many great
recipes each month, we can’t
print them all! But visit us on
Facebook for more recipes
available only to fans of our
page. Visit www.facebook.com/
TennesseeFarmersCooperative
and click on “Notes” to get
the recipes.
January’s challenge:
New recipes for the new year
For our January “What’s cookin’?” column, we’re issuing a challenge to
all our loyal readers: To celebrate the new year, we want you to ask a friend
or family member to share a new recipe … and then we want you to share
it with us. We’d also love to know who gave you the recipe and, perhaps,
if you shared a recipe in return. It’s a fresh approach to our recipe theme
here, so we hope you’ll play along.
The person submitting the best
recipe will be named Cook-of-the-Month
and receive $10. Others sending recipes
chosen for publication will receive $5.
Monday, Dec. 2, is the deadline
for your “new” recipes.
Don’t forget: Only recipes with
complete, easy-to-follow instructions will be considered for publication.
Several recipes are disqualified each month because they do not contain all
the information needed to prepare the dishes successfully. Recipes featured
in “What’s cookin’?” are not independently tested, so we must depend on
the accuracy of the cooks sending them. Always use safe food-handling,
preparation, and cooking procedures.
Send entries to: Recipes, Tennessee Cooperator, P.O. Box 3003,
LaVergne, TN 37086. You can submit more than one recipe in the same
envelope. You can also e-mail them to: [email protected]. Be sure
to include your name, address, telephone number, and the Co-op with
which you do business. Recipes that appear in the “What’s cookin’?” column will also be published on our website at www.ourcoop.com.
43
GEAR FOR THOSE WHO
WORK HARD ALL WEEK AND
VOLUNTEER ON SATURDAYS.
100800
Men’s Tennessee
Ripstop Active Jac
100798
Men’s Tennessee
Sandstone Detroit Jacket
Quilted-Flannel Lined
100804
Men’s Tennessee
Sandstone Vest
Arctic-Quilt Lined
100801 / 100900
Men’s Tennessee Acrylic Watch Hats
100799
Men’s Tennessee Sandstone Active Jac
A18
Men’s Acrylic Watch Hat
A202
Men’s Fleece
2-in-1 Headwear
K126
Men’s Workwear Pocket
Long-Sleeve T-Shirt
K288
Men’s Midweight Signature
Sleeve Logo Hooded
Sweatshirt
WA002
Women’s Striped
Knit Hat / Fleece-Lined
100665
Women’s Rockford
Insulated Windbreaker
101020
Women’s Long-Sleeve
Signature T-Shirt
WA018
Women’s Acrylic Watch Hat
WJ130
Women’s Sandstone Active Jac
Every Farmer Has A Story Tom and Regina Tesnow
Story and photos by Sarah Geyer
‘Best of the breed’
From German shepherds in Wisconsin to red Devons in Waynesboro,
Tom and Regina Tesnow have a passion for producing the perfect animal
I
t only took one long weekend in Wayne County for
Regina and Tom Tesnow to
realize they’d found their retirement home.
The Wisconsin residents
had dreamed of moving to the
South, envisioning themselves
living out their golden years
on a small farm. They wanted
a place with warmer weather
where they could still enjoy the
seasons. They wanted reasonable taxes and cost of living
where the price of land would
allow them to have some acreage. When an Internet search
pointed to properties in Arkansas and Tennessee, a particularly promising parcel of land in
Waynesboro caught their eye.
l
Waynesboro
The Tesnows say it was love
at first sight when they visited
the farm, complete with a
house, outbuilding, barn, and
60 acres of land.
“It had everything we wanted,” says Tom. “So we bought it
on the spot.”
They planned to retire from
their jobs within a year — Tom
was an operating engineer and
Regina worked for the Milwaukee Building & Construction
Trades Council — but were so
eager to get to their new farm
that they moved to Tennessee
six months later.
“We just couldn’t hold out,”
laughs Regina.
During that time, the
Tesnows made plans for what
they would do with their prize
property they named Tomina
Farm by combining parts of
their first names. They decided
to focus on cattle and began to
research the different breeds.
They weren’t farmers, but they
had built a solid reputation for
breeding, raising, and showing
German shepherd dogs and felt
like they could translate some
46
of those skills into livestock
production.
“The dogs are a big part of our
story,” explains Regina. “We’d
never farmed before, but we understand genetics and breeding.”
“They have lots of beef even
though they’re not big animals,”
says Tom. “After all, legs don’t
have meat on them.”
At first, Regina was concerned about how their Devons
Usually accompanied by their dogs, Regina and Tom Tesnow make daily visits to feed
the red Devon cattle on their Waynesboro farm. The Tesnows carry a brush with them
and often groom the cattle to help “gentle” them.
They found their inspiration in a Hobby Farm Magazine
article on heritage red Devon
cattle, one of the oldest beef
breeds in existence today. Originating in England, Devon cattle
are known for their fertility,
ease of calving, hardiness, and
ability to adapt to temperature
extremes. They’re also excellent
foragers, which would allow the
Tesnows to make good use of
their pastures.
But the docility of the Devon
breed was the main attraction
for these rookie farmers, who
now have 20 head with five
calves on the way.
“We wanted something we
didn’t have to worry about chasing us all over the farm,” says
Tom.
“The Devons are just the
sweetest animals,” adds Regina.
“They just love to be groomed
and touched. Even the bull
comes up to me and drops his
head for me to pet him.”
The Devons also have a
distinctive look in that they are
shorter in stature than other,
more common beef-type breeds,
but they still have an excellent
size and quality to their carcass.
were developing when other
farmers mentioned that the
cattle looked fat.
“I worried about that until
I butchered the first one, and
then I worried about whether I
was going to have enough fat for
hamburger,” she says. “So the
way we are feeding, we’re getting
maximum production out of the
animal without excessive fat.”
The Tesnows train their cattle
on Co-op 12% Beef Builder
Pellets (#94441) purchased
from Wayne Farmers Cooperative. Tom and Regina say they’ve
relied heavily on the knowledge
of the Co-op’s manager, Harold
Pope, and salesman, Willard
Pope, in getting their operation
off the ground.
“Harold and Willard have
been a tremendous help with
the Devons,” says Regina. “They
helped us with choosing our
feed and gave us advice on the
best minerals. I just went to
them and said, ‘Teach me about
this.’”
Since their Devons are
mainly grass-fed, the Tesnows
also needed help with managing their forages. Because their
pastures hadn’t been farmed in
years, quality of the grass wasn’t
up to par.
“Harold and Willard suggested seed varieties, and the Co-op
fertilized for us,” says Regina.
“It’s like a family down there at
the Co-op. When I tell them
we have a problem, they always
come through for us.”
For example, during a visit to
the Tesnows’ farm, Harold suggested the couple try harrowing
their fields to spread the manure and accelerate the forage
growth.
“We bought a harrow from
the Co-op,” says Tom. “It pulled
out that packed-up stuff and
spread it out nicely, and the
grass just jumped out of the
ground.”
With big plans for the future,
the Tesnows have made other
improvements to their farm,
including expanding the barn
and turning an outbuilding
into an on-site butcher shop.
Last year they processed nearly
2,000 pounds of beef for use by
themselves, friends, and clients.
“We cull ruthlessly because
we want to sell seed stock that
is true to Devon standards,”
explains Regina.
“Which gives us good eatin’!”
adds Tom.
As members of the Red
Devon USA association, the
Tesnows are part of a community committed to making
sure that the breed is healthy
and diversified. Their approach
harkens back to their days of
producing German shepherds,
when the Tesnows paid close attention to genetics and carefully
researched pedigrees. Producing a “cookie cutter” dog was
the benchmark, and as it turns
out, it’s not all that different in
cattle, Regina says.
“You couldn’t tell one puppy
from another,” she says. “That’s
the standard that we want with
our Devons, but it will take
some time. We want to produce
the best of the breed.”
Regina and Tom, along with German
shepherd Dixie and her adopted Boston
Terrier, CuJo, spend several hours a day
tending to their herd of heritage red Devons
on their 60-acre farm in Waynesboro.
47

Complete turnaround - Our CO-OP

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