Country girl at heart - Our CO-OP

April 2014
Country girl
at heart
With a passion for horses
and hunting, Hailey Dotson
prefers life in the great
outdoors to other typical
teenage pastimes
Also inside
Tissue-sampling helps protect a crop’s
profit potential - p. 8
FOCUS ON YOUTH
SPECIAL ISSUE
Unaka High School offers students
unique meat-processing class - p. 28
Co-op sends bright young leaders to
annual conference - p. 36
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contents
April 2014
Cover Story
12 Country girl at heart
Dickson County’s Hailey Dotson won’t be found engaged in many typical teenage pastimes —
video games, shopping at the mall, or chatting with friends on social media. She’d much rather
be outdoors riding her horse, shooting skeet, training her dogs, or hunting ’coon, deer, turkeys,
squirrels, or rabbits. Learn more about this impressive young lady in our special “Focus on Youth”
edition of the Cooperator, which also features related stories on pages 14, 24, 28, 32, 36, and 46.
ON THE COVER: An accomplished barrel-racer, Hailey now competes with her 8-year-old quarter horse, Scat, in Tri-Cities
Saddle Club events around her Vanleer home. Hailey first rode a horse on her own at age 3.
— Photos by Allison Morgan
News and features
5
8 14
24
28
32
Legacy of leadership
Williamson County’s Ag Expo Park arena is dedicated in the name of TFC director and lifelong farmer Clint Callicott.
In-season insights
Tissue-sampling service provides valuable information to protect a crop’s profit potential.
Field of study
Co-op test plot yields money and an outdoor classroom for Lincoln County High School.
24
Window of opportunity
4-H supporters are hopeful for a new camp and conference center at Lone Oaks Farm.
Cutting class
Unaka High School’s ag department offers a unique meat-processing program for students.
‘Dream come true’
28
Tennessee’s Mitch Baker is enjoying once-in-a-lifetime experience as a National FFA Officer.
TenneScene
In every issue
4 As I Was Saying
Jerry Kirk enjoys a long-overdue trip to eat at
Miss Mary Bobo’s in Lynchburg.
4 Our Country Churches
Wolf River Methodist Church in Fentress County.
16 New at Co-op
Learn about 10 new products available
at your hometown store.
18 Neighborly Advice
Youth opportunities, preventing laminitis, pond
care, hydraulic hose repair, poultry preparation.
With spring-like temperatures, blue skies, and nearly 500 attendees, the inaugural
Cattleman’s Profit Plus Replacement Heifer Sale and Tradeshow at First Farmers
Cooperative’s Lexington store was considered a rousing success by organizers.
Sales of open and bred heifers and weaned calves from 34 lots totaled $181,375. — Photo courtesy of First Farmers Cooperative
40 What’s cookin’?
Celebrating celery’s versatility and flavor.
46 Every Farmer Has A Story
Meet Greene County’s Ben Seaton, who is
carrying on his family’s dairy tradition.
April 2014
3
As I Was Saying
Folks eat well at Miss Mary Bobo’s
I
t had been way too many years since I’d pulled up a chair to dine on the fine
home-cooked specialties at Miss Mary Bobo’s Boarding House in quaint
Lynchburg, home to world-renowned Jack Daniel, the oldest registered distillery in the U.S.
But you can bet your last nip of Jack Daniel’s 703 sour mash whiskey that
I made up for lost time at 11 a.m. on Thursday, March 13, when Jane and I
joined 19 fine folks from our church — Christ United Methodist in Franklin —
for lunch at Miss Mary’s. In our delegation of hungry Methodists were 18 JOY
(Just Older Youth) Club members, a couple of guests, and one of our ministers,
Jerry Kirk
Rev. Mark Price. Because of the number in our party, we were divided into two
Contributing Editor
groups — 11 in one dining room and 10 in another.
In keeping with tradition that dates back a little more than 100 years, Miss Mary’s guests eat
“boarding house” style. Those of us at long tables had bowls of piping hot food set in front of us and
were instructed by our congenial hostess — who sat at the head of the table — to pass the food to
our left. Other rooms featured some round tables with lazy susans in the center. For our lunch, there was plenty of great food to pass: real Southern-fried chicken whose crunchy
flavor and moist consistency led me to surmise the plump pieces on the platter were just a few
minutes removed from an iron skillet; moist, tasty, perfectly flavored meatloaf; boiled potatoes;
fried okra; cabbage casserole; white beans and relish; and chess pie for dessert. The biggest hit for
at least one in our church group was wonderful cooked apples, a dish our hostess said was a Miss
Mary original. Mark Price, who sat at the far end of the table from me, admitted to devouring FIVE
helpings of Miss Mary’s apples to which, our hostess told us, a touch of Lynchburg’s most famous
product is always added.
Frankly, I didn’t pay too much attention to Mark’s apple-eating binge. I was much too interested
in what was piled on my own plate to be concerned about anyone else’s. As we ate, though, any
time the bowl of fried okra like Mama used to make — little bitty pieces that were perfectly crisp
and tasty — made its way to me, I’d take an extra helping (I had three servings in all). What a treat!
Good friend Pat Warner, who loves fried okra as much as anyone I’ve ever known, was sitting with
husband Glenn across the table from Jane and me. Pat kept a close eye on where the okra bowl
was at all times during the meal. Finally, when the third bowl of crunchy goodness got to her, she
cradled it, saying in jest, “I’ll watch over the okra!”
Once we’d finished the fine meal and gathered to head home, JOY Clubbers discussed what impressed them most about eating at Miss Mary Bobo’s:
“It was the meat loaf,” said Judy Turner. “That’s not usually my favorite thing, but what we had
today was really good ... the best I’ve ever had!”
“Those corn muffins were to die for!” said Dr. Louis Johnson, a retired Alabama opthalmologist
who’ll soon be moving to Brentwood. “They were really good!”
Peggy Bowling especially liked the chess pie. As Judy said of the meat loaf, Peggy deemed the
chess pie the best she had ever had. Peggy did not say, however, whether the “little bit of Lynchburg
product” our hostess said was in the pie’s meringue swayed her judgment.
If you get the chance, head to Miss Mary Bobo’s Boarding House located at 295 Main Street, not
far from Lynchburg’s quaint courthouse square. For reservations, which are required, call 931759-7394. Also plan to tour Jack Daniel Distillery and visit the wide array of businesses around the
town’s picturesque square.
Enjoy!
Our Country Churches
Wolf River Methodist Church in Fentress County
Wolf River Methodist Church in Fentress
County is located in the Sgt. Alvin C. York
State Historic Park along the banks of the
Wolf River in Pall Mall. Situated northeast of
the York house, the church was established
in 1840. The adjacent Wolf River Cemetery
is even older, with the earliest known burial
dating to 1826. York and his family are buried here. Sunday School is held every week at
the church at 10 a.m., with worship services
every second and fourth Sundays.
— Photo courtesy of Brian Stansberry
4
April 2014
227th in a series to show where our rural Co-op friends worship
April 2014
Volume 55, Number 4
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
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Tennessee Cooperator
P.O. Box 3003
LaVergne, TN 37086
Phone: (615) 793-8339
E-mail: [email protected]
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Cooperative at the above address.
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TnFarmersCooperative
TFC Board of Directors:
Chairman — Kenneth Nixon,
Carthage, Zone 2
Vice Chairman — Johnny Brady,
Riceville, Zone 3
Larry Paul Harris, Wildersville, Zone 1
Amos Huey, Kenton, Zone 1
Richard Jameson, Brownsville, Zone 1
Clint Callicott, Only, Zone 2
Stephen Philpott, Shelbyville, Zone 2
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.
®
Legacy of leadership
Williamson County Ag Expo Park arena dedicated
in name of TFC director, farmer Clint Callicott
Story and photos by Allison Morgan
L
egacies are rarely recognized in a person’s
lifetime, but Tennessee
Farmers Cooperative director
Clint Callicott received just
such an honor last month when
Williamson County Ag Expo
Park’s main arena in Franklin
was dedicated in his name.
More than 400 friends, family, and state and local leaders
attended the March 5 unveiling
of a permanent plaque inscribed
with “Clint Callicott Arena” and
his dates of service as a popular
and influential elected official.
Callicott played a significant
role in making the agricultural
center a reality while serving as
Williamson County executive
from 1998 to 2002. He also
served as Williamson County
commissioner from 1982 to
1986 and District 61 state
representative from 1988 to
1996. In fact, former Speaker
of the House Jimmy Naifeh and
current Speaker Beth Harwell
were among those on hand to
honor their longtime friend and
colleague.
l
Franklin
“There’s a lifetime of friends
in there,” said Callicott as he,
wife Carolyn, sons Claude and
Clayton, and their families
made their way into a standingroom-only reception that preceded the dedication. During
the ceremony, Callicott and
colleagues spoke about the years
leading up to the park’s construction, driven in large part by
the need for a facility to accommodate growing participation in
the county’s 4-H program.
“Clint Callicott doesn’t settle
for status quo,” said current
Williamson County Commis-
Clint Callicott begins to unveil the plaque
(inset) that now bears his name outside the
doors of the Williamson County Ag Expo
Park’s main arena. Helping to celebrate this
honor are his wife, Carolyn, right, and their
sons and families at left. In back, from left,
are Lee Ann and Claude, Molly and Clayton,
and the Callicotts’ grandchildren in front
from left, Ella, Sarah Beth, Marian, and Nolan.
sioner Judy Hayes. “He took a
dream and grew it into what you
see here today. A true sign of a
leader is to make a difference.
Clint made a difference. He listened, he learned, and he stayed
positive throughout the whole
process. He realized we could
have a state-of-the-art facility
and worked to get that done.”
Since its opening in May
2001, the $14 million park
(See Callicott, page 6)
News briefs
‘Food for Profit’ workshops April 8-10
To help fruit and vegetable producers interested in starting their
own food-processing enterprises, University of Tennessee Extension is partnering with Pennsylvania State Extension to offer “Food
for Profit” workshops, which will take participants through each
step necessary to start and run a small food product business.
Workshops will be held in three locations across the state: Tuesday, April 8, in Alcoa; Wednesday, April 9, in Chattanooga; and
Thursday, April 10, in Murfreesboro. Pre-registration is required
and must be received by April 2. There is a fee of $30 per person,
and space is limited to 25 participants per location. Sessions begin
at 9 a.m. and end at 4 p.m. local time. Lunch is provided.
For more information or to register online, visit ag.tennessee.
edu/cpa and click on “Educational Events.” Contact Megan Bruch
with questions at 931-486-2777 or [email protected].
Sheep shearing class is April 18-19
Whether you are a beginner or a more advanced shearer,
there is something for everyone to learn at the 2014 Tennessee Sheep Shearing School on Friday and Saturday, April 18
and 19, at Middle Tennessee State University’s Tennessee
Livestock Center in Murfreesboro.
The school is sponsored by the Tennessee Sheep Producers Association, Tennessee Farmers Cooperative, University of
Tennessee Extension, and the MTSU School of Agribusiness.
Seasoned shearer Doug Rathke will lead the class.
The school begins at 10 a.m. Friday and at 8 a.m. Saturday. Cost is $125 per person. Pre-registration is required, and
participation is limited to the first 20 paid applicants. For more
information and to download a registration form, visit http://
bit.ly/ShearingSchool2014.
April 2014
5
Callicott
(continued from page 5)
has become a popular destination for trade shows, agricultural events, and everything in
between. The 110-acre site
annually hosts more than 45
events, including the Williamson County Fair and the
famed Franklin Noon Rodeo, a
longstanding community tradition that will celebrate its 65th
anniversary in May.
It’s quite fitting that the
rodeo will now be held in the
Clint Callicott Arena, considering that its namesake was one
of the founding members of
the University of Tennessee at
Martin’s rodeo team in the late
1960s. That’s where he and
Carolyn met (she raced barrels and he roped) along with
Larry Dale, who would go on
to become Williamson Farmers Cooperative’s manager and
remains a good friend of the
Callicotts.
“This facility helps keep
agriculture alive in Williamson County,” Larry Dale said.
“Clint had a vision of this place,
and at first I didn’t see how we
were ever going to get enough
support to get it done, but he
surrounded himself with the
right people and the community
came together. It’s a part of his
life that has now come to total
fruition.”
In addressing the appreciative audience, Callicott stressed
the importance of agriculture
in his life and credited his
mother, Catherine, and father,
Claude, who farmed and was
also a Vanderbilt Law School
graduate, for fostering that love.
Callicott was raised on his family’s 700-acre farm off Highway
96 on the West Harpeth River
in Franklin and began farming
some of this land on his own in
1972 after earning his agriculture degree from UT Martin.
Callicott continued to live and
work on the farm until the
death of his father in 1994, and
then he and his family moved
to the tiny town of Only on the
Hickman-Humphreys county
line and established a new rowcrop and beef cattle operation.
“My mother gave me a background of history, family values,
and tradition,” said Callicott, a
longtime member of both Williamson and Humphreys Farmers Cooperatives who served as
a director on both of those local boards before being elected
as a TFC director in 2009.
“Daddy loved the land, and he
gave me that and the ability
to communicate. Everything I
did, I always had agriculture in
the back of my mind. I learned
that I wasn’t going to survive in
this county as a farmer the way
we were growing if I didn’t get
involved.”
While he farmed for a living,
Callicott also got involved in
local government and began
establishing himself as a community leader. His humble,
agricultural upbringing was an
advantage in political circles,
said Commissioner Hayes.
“If I had to sum up Clint in
one word it would be genuine,”
she said. “When he first got
elected to the House and had
to go to the governor’s mansion,
how do you think he went? In
a pickup with hay on the back.
He was a country boy, and
he wasn’t going to change for
anyone. Clint is true blue, and
there’s nothing more appropriate than for this to be the Clint
Callicott Arena.”
Now called the “Clint Callicott Arena,” this showcase facility of Williamson County Ag
Expo Park is 150-by-300 feet and has permanent seating for 4,180 people. The arena
is home to numerous events throughout the year, including the Franklin Noon Rodeo
each May. On the weekend that the arena was dedicated to Callicott in March, the
venue hosted the Country Music Cluster of Dogs show.
6
April 2014
Speaking before a standing-room-only crowd of friends, family, community leaders,
and elected officials, Clint Callicott expresses his appreciation for the recognition he
received with the naming of the Williamson County Ag Expo Park arena in his honor.
Making the Ag Expo Park a
reality, however, wasn’t an easy
feat, even for a proven leader
like Callicott, said Bob Ring,
former Williamson County
executive.
“Trying to convince people
that we needed an ag park
wasn’t so easy,” said Ring,
speaking to Callicott’s crowd of
supporters. “There was vocal opposition from those who
didn’t have the vision for what
this facility could become and
has become. We thank Clint for
having that vision and getting
it done. It’s a fine tribute for
everything he’s done for Williamson County.”
Callicott accepted all these
accolades with his characteristic
humility and dedicated much
of his speech to the friends and
colleagues who helped him
through the years.
“The people who have influenced me over the past 60 years
are the reason this is here, not
me,” said Callicott. “This is
their arena, not mine.”
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April 2014
7
Story and photos
by Allison Morgan
Trevor Smith, left, First Farmers Cooperative agronomist, reviews WinField’s NutriSolutions program with grower Trent Blankenship at his Parsons farm shop. Trent is a
firm believer in the value of the Co-op’s tissue-sampling services and resulting analyses as a way to identify and correct potential nutritional deficiencies in his crops.
Co-op tissue-sampling programs provide valuable
information to protect a crop’s profit potential
S
eeing is believing — unless it’s the practice of
tissue-sampling plants. In
that case, growers have to believe
before they can see problems
they didn’t even know they had.
“Most of the time, when
we’re tissue-sampling, it looks
like a healthy, beautiful crop,”
says Trent Blankenship, who
grows corn and soybeans in
Decatur, Henderson, and Benton counties. “If we’re seeing
problems, then we’ve got real
problems. Tissue-sampling helps
us find nutrient deficiencies
that won’t show up until later.
You have to trust the program.”
And trust it he does. The
37-year-old row-crop grower has
been working closely with First
Farmers Cooperative on an intensive soil-testing and fertility
program for more than a decade
but over the past few years has
expanded into a total farm approach to nutrient management
that includes crop-scouting,
tissue-sampling, and application
8
April 2014
of foliar micronutrients to correct deficiencies as needed.
“This is as big as no-till to
me,” says Trent. “That’s how
much it’s changed the way I
farm. It’s given us another way to
monitor and deal with the nutrition that you apply in-season. We
always seem like we have more
data than we have time to sort
through, but when you can take
the soil information and tissue
samples, you start to see trends
and get a clearer, bigger picture
of the whole nutrition piece.”
Co-op helps link all these
insights together through WinField’s NutriSolutions program,
which combines comprehensive
soil and tissue analyses with a
complete portfolio of products
to address any nutritional deficiencies. The program covers
a wide range of crops: corn,
soybeans, wheat, cotton, grain
sorghum, alfalfa, a variety of
specialty crops, and new this
year, tobacco.
“Co-op has always promoted
soil-sampling as a science-based
way to make plant nutrient
recommendations,” says Alan
Sparkman, Tennessee Farmers
Cooperative agronomy marketing manager. “The NutriSolutions tool is the next step. It extends nutrient management into
the season to correct deficiencies before yield-limiting damage occurs. Our agronomists
can take the detailed information from the NutriSolutions
reports to make very specific
recommendations for growers.”
Since 2009, some 250,000
plant tissue samples have been
collected nationwide through
WinField’s NutriSolutions program, and those samples can
be used in additional applications, such as WinField’s R7
Tool database, for even more
targeted ways to help farmers
capitalize on in-season opportunities to improve return on
investment. Combined with
results from replicated side-byside trials at Answer Plot loca-
l Parsons
tions across the country, these
resources allow Co-op agronomists to help farmers find the
greatest potential to increase
their return on investment.
In fact, it was Answer Plot
data that convinced Trent to use
the NutriSolutions approach in
the first place.
“The information that
they’ve collected at the Answer
Plots throughout the years is
really what showed me that
this is worth taking a look at
across a lot of acres,” says
Trent. “Those tests prove that
this stuff will work. That was
the seller for me.”
For Trent, NutriSolutions
and other Co-op services are
ways to manage the explosive
growth in his farming operation,
from fewer than 200 acres of
row crops about 15 years ago to
7,000 acres for the 2014 season.
With that many acres to cover,
he says it would be impossible
to manage his farm effectively
without such programs.
“I never have to leave the
fields,” says Trent. “That’s what
keeps us moving. The Co-op is
a critical part of my operation
these days. They keep me knowing where I’m going instead of
running around trying to find
out where I need to be going.”
There are two different approaches to tissue-sampling,
explains Trevor Smith, First
Farmers Cooperative agronomist: diagnosing visible problem
areas or identifying unseen
nutrient deficiencies that could
be stunting growth, harming
health, and limiting yield. In the
latter case, looking at the plants
or consulting the soil test won’t
help identify those problems.
The only way to know whether a
crop is adequately nourished is
to have the plant tissue analyzed
during the growing season.
“These tests can either give
producers peace of mind that
their fertility program is working
or find problems that we can fix
so the crop will reach optimal
productivity,” says Trevor. “In no
way does this replace a good fertilizer program. That’s the basis
for everything we do. This mainly
helps manage uptake issues.”
LEFT: Bethany Wood, who interned with First Farmers Cooperative last year, takes a tissue sample of a corn plant in mid
season. RIGHT: Each sample is geo-referenced with a NutriSolutions smartphone app to pinpoint its location in the field.
That’s especially important
with micronutrient deficiencies, which are hard to diagnose
without a tissue sample, explains Trevor. Although needed
in smaller amounts than the
major elements of nitrogen,
phosphorus, and potassium,
micronutrients such as boron,
copper, manganese, and zinc
are also key to plant health and
production.
Tissue-sampling can allow
growers to catch micronutrient deficiencies and correct
them with a foliar fertilizer
before they do much harm,
explains Trevor. Typically, the
first samples are taken two to
three weeks after planting and
again at critical growth stages,
depending on the crop. First
Farmers Cooperative utilizes an
intern who is specifically trained
in tissue-testing techniques to
pull the samples and submit
them for analysis.
“Everything is geo-referenced
with a smartphone using a
NutriSolutions app,” says Trevor.
“A barcode on the sample bag is
scanned, and that logs the GPS
location of where it’s taken. The
sample is then sent to A&L Labs
in Memphis, where the results
are turned around most of the
time within 24 hours.”
As soon as it’s processed,
Trevor receives an email with a
detailed report with the crop’s
nutritional profile that allows
him to evaluate its health
status and make recommendations if necessary.
“From the time that the
sample’s taken, we need to get
the results back, find out what
we need, get the product on the
farm, and apply it within a seven(See Insights, page 10)
April 2014
9
Insights
(continued from page 9)
to 10-day period,” says Trevor.
“We’re trying to address these
issues as early as possible. Timeliness is a huge factor. There’s a
small window of opportunity, and
if you miss it, you’ve missed it.”
To address fertility issues
identified by the tissue analysis,
Co-op offers WinField’s MAXIN line of liquid micronutrients
that can be conveniently applied
when crop protectants such as
glyphosate or fungicides are
being sprayed mid-season. The
MAX-IN line includes products
for boron, calcium, copper, magnesium, manganese, and zinc
along with MAX-IN Ultra ZMB,
which supplies a combination of
zinc, manganese, and boron.
At Blankenship Farms, tissue
samples pinpointed deficiencies in boron in 2012, which
Trent was able to correct with a
MAX-IN application. In 2013,
however, the samples showed
that no nutrients were lacking
in Trent’s corn and soybean
crops, and he says he couldn’t
have been happier — although
he was a little skeptical.
“It sounded too good to
be true,” he admits. “I asked
Trevor, ‘Are you sure?’ because
there’s got to be something out
there to fix! I mean, he’s supposed to be a salesman! But
that’s what I appreciate about
this program. The samples can
also give you peace of mind that
things are good and you’ve got
the best yield potential possible.
When I’m not having problems,
that tells me it works.”
Tissue-sampling can prove
particularly valuable when growers begin farming new acreage
for which they don’t know previous fertility practices, points out
Trevor.
“Trent and other customers
who are very mindful of their
crop nutrition make sure that
those nutrients are present in
the soil, so deficiencies are usually related to environmental
issues,” he says. “When a new
farm gets picked up, we’ll see
new problems show up, and we
can use this program to get that
ground up to par.”
“We’ve taken on some land
this year that’s probably going to
be that way,” adds Trent. “Tissue-sampling is going to be big
10
April 2014
on those acres. It’ll take a little
while to get that soil built up to
the levels we want, but if there’s
a deficiency, this program will
more than likely catch it.”
Though there’s a cost associated with Co-op services like
tissue-sampling, Trent says he
doesn’t consider it “extra expense.”
“I consider it protecting my
investment,” he says. “When
you’re that far into the ballgame, it’s foolish not to address
the little things. There’s so
much potential yield in a bag
of seed, and every day
you have stress, you’re
losing yield that
you’re not going to
get back. The weather
and certain elements
can’t be controlled,
but if you manage
the nutritional side of
things, it gives you a
better chance.”
County-based grower Trent Blankenship
For more informa- Decatur
intends for First Farmers Cooperative to take a total
tion on tissue-samfarm approach with the NutriSolutions program on his
pling, NutriSolutions, entire 7,000 acres of corn and soybeans this year.
Co-op agronomist or visit
and MAX-IN microwww.winfield.com.
nutrients, visit with your local
Rose selected to lead Tennessee FFA Foundation
Rutherford County native
and former national FFA officer
Chelsea Rose has been named
executive director of the Tennessee FFA Foundation following a
nationwide search. Rose joined
the foundation staff March 24
and will work with agricultural
industry stakeholders, FFA
alumni and foundation board
members to raise funds and
provide support.
Rose succeeds Jimmy Loftis,
who retired in April 2013. Tennessee FFA Foundation Board
Chairman Dr. Ben Byler had
served as interim director following Loftis’ retirement.
“Chelsea brings a tremendous
amount of experience within the
FFA, having served as Tennessee
state FFA president and national
FFA vice president,” Byler said.
“It says a lot for our foundation
that we’re able to attract this
caliber of talent. Chelsea will
bring a fresh perspective to the
foundation’s work and will, no
doubt, serve Tennessee FFA with
professionalism and a high level
of energy.”
Rose began her involvement
in FFA in 2003 as a student
at Eagleville High School.
Through her years of successful involvement, she earned
the highest level of FFA membership, the American FFA
Degree. Under Eagleville’s FFA
advisor, Bruce Haley, Rose
served as chapter president and
state president and was elected
as national vice president as a
student at Tennessee Technological University in Cookeville.
“This is an incredible opportunity to serve the organization
that molded me during my formative years,” said Rose, who
graduated from Tennessee Tech
in 2012 with a bachelor of science degree in agriculture. “I
am excited to apply my experience and skill set in a way that
will maximize the potential of
the Tennessee FFA Foundation while fostering meaningful relationships with industry
stakeholders. The FFA holds
a special place in my heart,
and I am proud to be given the
chance to work with donors,
teachers, students, and alumni
in this role.”
Before coming to Tennessee
FFA, Rose served as government affairs specialist for the
Tennessee Electric Cooperative
Association (TECA). In her
role there, she lobbied state
legislators to raise funds for the
association’s Political Action
Committee (PAC) and conducted board of director training. Rose’s career with TECA
resulted in consecutive years of
growth in contributions to the
PAC.
Rose is a former Tennessee
Farmers Cooperative Communications Department
intern who also gained valuable
experience as a college student
working for the Tennessee
Farm Bureau Federation and
Ron Ramsey, the state’s lieutenant governor and speaker
of the senate. Highlighting
her graduation from Tennessee Tech, Rose was named the
recipient of the Derryberry
Award, the university’s highest
student honor. She is cur-
Chelsea Rose
rently enrolled part time in the
master of science program in
agriculture at the University of
Tennessee Knoxville and hopes
to graduate later this year.
Rose and her husband, John,
a lifelong volunteer for FFA,
live in the Smith County community of Hickman, where they
raise beef cattle, tobacco, hay,
and Kentucky 31 Fescue seed.
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April 2014
11
Story and photos by Allison Morgan
Hailey Dotson of Vanleer enjoys nothing better than riding her quarter horse Scat — unless it’s training her walker coonhounds … or shooting skeet … or hunting ’coons,
deer, turkeys, squirrels, and rabbits. The 14-year-old is also a popular student at Charlotte Middle School, where she was selected for the homecoming court this fall.
A
t 3 years old, Hailey
Dotson of Vanleer hit the
ground running as fast as
her barrel-racing horse would
go. Her parents, Jesse and Tammy, have been trying to keep up
with her ever since.
“She’d get on that little pony,
go to the far corner of the arena,
and take off,” says Tammy. “She
only knew one speed, and that
was wide open. She’s like that in
everything she does.”
l
Vanleer
And “everything” is quite a
list for Hailey. Not only is the
energetic, soon-to-be 15-yearold an accomplished barrelracer, but she’s also a successful hunter, skeet-shooter, and
dog-trainer — not to mention
a popular A-and-B student at
Charlotte Middle School. All
these hobbies are more than
pastimes for Hailey; they’re passions that consume every free
moment. But she wouldn’t have
it any other way.
“I stay busy, but these are
things I like to do — actually,
love to do,” says Hailey. “Hunting is in the fall and winter,
12
April 2014
shooting skeet is in the spring,
and riding horses is in the summer, so it all works out.”
Horses were Hailey’s first
love, encouraged by parents who
put her in the saddle before she
could even walk. By age 2, she
was barrel-racing at horse shows
with Tammy leading the pony
and by age 3 was riding on her
own. The next year, she made
it to the finals of the International Barrel Racing Association
(IBRA)’s “PeeWee” division, and
the accomplishments have just
kept on coming.
In 2013, Hailey was named
champion barrel-racer and
earned a prized saddle from the
Tri-Cities Quarter Horse Club,
a community organization based
in nearby Tennessee City. Hailey rides in open competition
among all age groups aboard her
8-year-old quarter horse, Scat.
“I don’t remember a time
when I wasn’t riding horses,”
says Hailey. “I’ve been around
them my whole life. I like the
excitement of going fast, and
I’ve never been scared, even
when I was little.”
On the other hand, Tammy
and Jesse say they were frightened at first to watch their
toddler run barrels at full
throttle, but they’ve never shied
away from letting Hailey pursue activities that she loves. In
fact, they’re overjoyed that her
choices mirror their own appreciation for animals and the
outdoors and allow the entire
family, including Hailey’s 3-yearold brother, Jed, to share quality
time together.
“We like it because it keeps
her out of trouble,” says Tammy.
“I know where she is at all times.
Kids, this day and time, aren’t in-
volved in outdoor stuff anymore.
But we love to be outside. We’ve
never had video games; we don’t
even have a computer. That’s just
how we are.”
Indeed, when many of today’s
teens might be hanging out at
the mall, playing Xbox, watching TV, or posting on Facebook,
Hailey says she’d much rather
be riding horses or four-wheelers, hunting in the woods, or
shooting at clay targets.
“I’ve watched Hailey grow up
into a beautiful young lady who
Each evening after school, Hailey feeds and works with her walker coonhound
hunting dogs — Maggie, pictured here, and Bones. She first went ’coon hunting
with her father and uncle at age 7 and asked for her own dog to train soon after.
is setting the standards for her
friends to get out and enjoy life,”
says Paul Sullivan, manager of
Dickson Farmers Cooperative,
where the Dotsons buy feed,
hunting gear, and other supplies.
“She’s not living in a fantasy
world of phones and computers and video games. She’s out
there enjoying what God gave
us. There aren’t that many young
people these days who are into
outdoor sports, and it tickles me
to see what she’s doing.”
After horses, hunting became
Hailey’s next obsession. Her first
experience was at age 7 when
she begged to go on a ’coonhunting trip with her father and
her uncle, Ronnie Lewis.
“I thought it wouldn’t last
long,” says Jesse. “I figured after
we shot the ’coon out of the
tree, she wouldn’t like it when
the dogs got ahold of it. But she
was hooked, and her interest
started from there. Now I can’t
go without her.”
Soon after, Hailey wanted
her own rifle and her own dog
to train. Uncle Ronnie gave her
a treeing walker coonhound
puppy, and she’s since raised
and trained several others,
including her current hunting
buddies, Bones and Maggie.
“I love the action of ’coonhunting,” says Hailey. “It’s exciting when you hear the dogs start
running a track. I love it more
and more every year.”
It wasn’t long before Hailey
added other species to her hunting repertoire — deer, turkey,
squirrel, and rabbit — and she
finds it hard to choose which
follows ’coon-hunting as her
second-most favorite sport.
“I guess they’re all my favorite,” Hailey says, adding that
she’d like to try duck-hunting if
she could find time. “I love the
thrill of seeing big bucks, and
it’s fun to watch turkey strut. I
enjoy the challenge of it.”
During each hunting season,
Hailey hits the woods most
weekends and often one or two
weekdays. She’s now a proficient hunter, and, with help
from her dad, has honed her
shooting prowess along the way.
“Most of the time, kids don’t
have the patience for these
things,” says Jesse. “But there’s
always been something about
Hailey that was different. She
had the patience and the desire.”
Hailey’s marksmanship
skills logically led her to try
After proving her prowess as a skilled hunter, Hailey decided to put her marksmanship to use on the Charlotte Middle School’s
“Clay Gunners” skeet-shooting team last fall. She credits her father, Jesse, with helping her learn how to shoot.
skeet-shooting, and last fall the
talented teen joined her school’s
Clay Gunners team. Her first
season is just now gearing up,
and Hailey hopes to be in the
running for “Rookie of the Year”
by the time finals roll around in
June.
“Everybody told me I should
be on the team because I was
good at it,” says Hailey. “It’s a lot
of fun.”
There are only a few female
members on the skeet-shooting
team, but Hailey says she’s
used to being outnumbered by
boys in the sports and hobbies
she enjoys. She’s actually quite
proud of this fact.
“I think it’s cool that not
many other girls do this kind
of stuff,” says Hailey. “I have
friends who hunt and ride horses, but they don’t do everything
that I do.”
Hailey says that when she
grows up she wants to be a
nurse, not an unusual career
path for a smart, ambitious
young girl. But then she explains that the flexible schedule
of nursing will allow her to
pursue her real passions “on the
side”— taxidermy and training
horses and dogs.
Her parents say they have no
doubt that Hailey will accomplish those goals.
“She’s so determined,” says
Tammy, “and she won’t stop until she succeeds at something.”
This past fall, Hailey was se-
LEFT: Hailey says she loves the thrill of hunting “big bucks,” making early morning
trips to the woods nearly every weekend during deer season. — Photo provided by
the Dotson family. RIGHT: Hailey and Scat ride nearly every day on the family’s 30acre Vanleer farm, where she also has a barrel course set up to practice.
“I tell her all the time that
lected for the homecoming court
I’m proud of her,” says Tammy.
at Charlotte Middle School. It
“I wouldn’t change a thing. I
would be considered an honor
wouldn’t want her to be any
for most eighth-grade girls. For
other way.”
Hailey, though, it meant she had
to trade in her camo,
jeans, and boots for a
formal gown and dress
shoes, and she wasn’t all
that happy about it.
“I didn’t want to do
it,” she says, “but if they
vote for you, you don’t
have a choice.”
Her mother coaxed
the reluctant teen into
homecoming-appropriate attire, but the
makeover lasted only
one night. That’s OK,
says Tammy, who says
she prefers Hailey as
The Dotsons, from left, Jed, Jesse, Tammy, and Hailey,
her adventurous coun- say they enjoy activities like horses and hunting that
try girl at heart.
allow them to do things together as a family.
April 2014
13
Story and photos by Sarah Geyer
Proceeds from Lincoln County High School’s test plot of corn helped FFA members travel to conferences and competitions. The corn was harvested in early October 2013.
M
ost public school teachers
work with a shoestring
budget, and Lincoln
County High School’s Jennifer
Snoddy, Brad Parton, and Tim
Bradford are no different.
So when Mark Posey,
manager of Lincoln Farmers
Cooperative, proposed creating an ongoing row-crop test
plot on the school’s Fayetteville
property — providing all the
inputs and labor and donating the harvest’s profit to the
agriculture program — the
three teachers jumped at the
opportunity.
Fayetteville
l
“Of course, knowing that
we’ll have this yearly income
is huge, but this project is
more than just about money,”
explains Brad. “With the Common Core curriculum stressing
hands-on learning, we saw a
chance to get the kids outside
while enhancing their skills
in science, math, and writing.
They can take that knowledge and apply it to their core
classes as well.”
But the test plot wasn’t just
14
April 2014
for teaching future farmers.
The Co-op needed the local
test plot, too, for two main
reasons: to help train staff on
the products they sell throughout the growing process and to
show farmers how various crop
inputs perform in a local environment that mirrored their
own farms.
“It gives us a real-life laboratory, so to speak,” says Mark.
“We can feel confident recommending this variety after we
have seen it and have experience with it. So not only is it an
educational tool for the school,
but also for us.”
Focusing first on corn, the
joint project began last spring
with GPS mapping the vacant 12-acre field to plan the
location and number of corn
hybrids to be used in the test,
including some CROPLAN
hybrids that are not yet on the
market.
Co-op employees sprayed,
fertilized, and performed all
the recommended management practices that the average
farmer might do so that the
information would be helpful to
local customers.
One section of the corn plot
featured a trial on Avail, a phosphate fertilizer enhancer. According to Mark, soil tests show
that phosphorous is abundant
in Lincoln County, so very few
people add the nutrient before
they plant.
“Avail’s claim to fame is that
it makes phosphate more available to the plant, so we added
it to about 90 rows of corn,”
says Mark, adding that records
show the Avail section averaged
about 12 more bushels per acre
than the same hybrid on the
untreated side.
During the growing process,
Co-op personnel also took tissue samples.
“This service is available to
our farmers, but because it’s
relatively new, a lot of them
ABOVE: From left, LCHS students Susan
Cowley, senior and FFA president,
Ashley Atkinson, junior and FFA
parliamentarian, and Ty Wolaver, junior
and FFA vice president, inspect recently
harvested corn with Jack Christian,
former Tennessee Farmers Cooperative
agronomist. LEFT: Susan proudly
drives her John Deere home at the end
of the popular Tractor Day celebration
at LCHS. In addition to her leadership
in the school’s agricultural activities,
she was also voted both Miss LCHS and
homecoming queen.
haven’t used it yet,” Mark
explains. “But we did it and
had that information to share
so they could see how it might
help on their farm.”
Jennifer, Brad, and Tim
wasted no time getting students
involved. Even while the field
was being prepared for planting
last spring, classes were creating
topography maps, testing soil,
measuring slope, and calculating input cost projections.
“You can stand up in front
of the classroom and talk about
yield calculation, soil properties,
seed count, germination, genetics, that sort of thing, and they’ll
sit there and listen,” explains
Tim. “But when they get out
there, it really clicks. For many,
it’s an Aha! moment.”
And when the students
returned in August — with the
corn beginning to mature —
lessons incorporated the stock
market, management practices,
and frequent visits to the outdoor lab to document stages of
growth and differences in the
corn hybrids.
“We are fortunate that the
Co-op would provide us the supplies so that we would be able to
go out there and see each step
of the growing process,” says
Susan Cowley, LCHS senior
and the Lincoln County FFA
chapter president. “It allows
students that aren’t from agricultural backgrounds to see how
much work a person really puts
into growing something. I think
all the students involved have a
new respect for farmers now.”
With Lincoln Farmers Co-op
covering all of the input costs,
sale of the Oct. 2, 2013, harvest provided enough money to
greatly reduce the transportation costs to FFA career development events as well as state
and national conventions. The
school’s FFA program, which
also includes the Ninth-Grade
Academy, has more than 250
members and is among Tennessee’s most active and awardwinning chapters.
The outstanding FFA program is a direct reflection of the
hard work and dedication of the
LCHS agriculture teachers who
were recognized in 2008 by the
National Association of Agricultural Educators as the top ag
department in the Southeast.
The LCHS program is known
for its curriculum depth, offer-
LCHS culminates its celebration of National FFA Week each February with the popular Tractor Day, when students are invited to
drive their favorite farm machines to school.
LEFT: The study of hydroponics gives students a chance to witness an alternative for germination within the classroom
setting. RIGHT: From left, Cole Newton, Jamie Peery, Rachel Laman, Susan Cowley, Devon Beasley, and Nick Warden check the
progress of the school’s wheat crop as LCHS ag teacher Tim Bradford, far right, discusses next steps planned for the plot.
ing classes on ag mechanics,
livestock, and soil science. Jennifer’s livestock class is currently
raising chicks donated by Tyson
and will process them in the
classroom. As part of Tim’s ag
machinery class, his students recently built several hay wagons,
while ag engineering students
designed and fabricated hitches
that allowed them to convert
an eight-row no-till planter into
one four-row and two two-row
no-till planters. Students in
Brad’s hydroponics class grow
donated Co-op seed in water
to learn about nontraditional
methods of germination. This
school year alone, ag students
had the opportunity to choose
from more than 15 different
classes — and each utilized the
outdoor row-crop lab.
“The three instructors have
diverse in-depth content knowledge and, as a result, give 110
percent to their students to help
build their skills sets on their
way to becoming productive agriculturists,” says Louis Thomp-
Visiting the school’s wheat crop on a cold spring day are, from left, Louis
Thompson, CTE director, ag teachers Brad Parton and Tim Bradford, Lincoln
Farmers Co-op Manager Mark Posey, and ag teacher Jennifer Snoddy.
son, the school system’s career
and technical supervisor.
After harvesting the corn, the
Co-op planted a wheat cover
crop, with plans to raise soybeans for the school this year,
rotating back to corn in 2105.
Plans for future funds include
building a new greenhouse.
“We would also like to add
livestock and a working facility
to our land as well, and with the
money we get from these crops,
that could happen,” says Jennifer. “We’re really excited about
the possibilities this arrangement with Co-op can bring us.
It will make a big difference in
the lives of our students —
our future farmers.”
April 2014
15
New at Co-op
Beesst Carpenter Bee Trap
For carpenter bee infestations
and problems, the Beesst Carpenter Bee Trap can help get
rid of those woes. Holes
in the Beesst carpenter bee trap mimic the
entrance of a carpenter
bee nest, so these pests
are initially attracted to
the trap by sight. When
#6803615
they fly near, they smell the
Bees N Things Homemade attractant that has been pre-treated
in the trap. The busy bee goes inside, and then cannot get out.
The trap is designed to hang where carpenter bees are swarming. The jar is removable so you can empty it. No chemicals or
tools needed.
®
Land O’Lakes® Colostrum
Replacement
A strong herd or flock begins with top-notch newborn
care. Land O’Lakes Colostrum
Replacement for Kid Goats and
Lambs is formulated to protect
newborns, setting them up to
meet their full potential.
• Provides consistent protection.
• Reduces risk of disease
transmission.
• Minimizes variability in quality
or quantity.
• Contains greater than 20 percent immunoglobulins,
providing essential antibodies.
• Up to 9 feedings per pack.
#901917
Lucas Tool Box Buddy
MDS Cobra Brush Master+
With its “forked tongue” and “flexible jaws,” the Cobra Brush Master+ attacks its prey and doesn’t allow it to escape its grip! Cobra
Brush Master+ is a vertical slat bucket designed for skid-steer loaders, tractor loaders, and the telehandler industry. It handles trash,
rocks, silage, loose hay, rubble, branches, roots, and debris from
bricks, stone, concrete and more. The grapple has a 57-inch opening and can work with most bucket designs. The bucket is available
in widths ranging from 66 inches to 96 inches. The bucket and the
grapple are sold separately.
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 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.
• Low odor.
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• Fortified with anti-seize agents.
• Easy-to-use can. Sprays anywhere, even upside-down.
• Contains no chlorine or fluorocarbons.
Henke Bale Movers
Zammr Handle
The Zammr handle (#219195) is a multipurpose handle that, in
temporary fencing, can be used as a live hook, insulated hook,
or gate break. The handle has a strong stainless steel backbone
for high conductivity and corrosion resistance. The single covermould ensures a fully insulated handle. This handle has a durable
design for use in the toughest conditions, and the live wire hook
ensures a secure connection to your fence line. The handle is
made of high-density, UV-stabilized polyethylene for long life and
offers a nonslip hand grip for easy use.
16
April 2014
Henke Bale Movers are a one-person loading, hauling, and unloading system for large round bales of hay, straw, corn stalks, or
bean stubble. Henke’s Buffalo Quarter-Turn Arm is the key to
faster, more efficient, and gentler bale loading.
• Available in four models: 26-foot single row, 41-foot single row,
34-foot double row, and 41-foot double row.
• Can carry 5-6 bales (26-foot model), 7-10 bales (41-foot model)
or 10-14 bales (double-row models).
• All Quarter-Turn Arm operations are controlled from
the tractor seat, utilizing one hydraulic lever.
• Highly maneuverable with ample clearance for any terrain.
• Dual remote hydraulics required — one system for the
Quarter-Turn Arm and the other for the deck chain.
New at Co-op
®
Garden Row Builder
If you haven’t discovered the benefits of building up your planting rows, you may not quickly appreciate garden row builders. Planting in raised mounds keeps plants from becoming
water-logged during heavy rains and provides many of the same
benefits of growing in a raised bed.
Standard-Duty Row
Builder is ideal for tractors with 12-30 horsepower and is designed
for building rows in small
gardens. Consists of one
2-x-48-inch square toolbar, two mounting clamps,
and two economy 14-inch
disc hillers.
#CRBK16-HD
#CRBK14
Heavy-Duty Row Builder
is ideal for large gardening
and truck patch operations.
Consists of one 21/2-x60-inch square toolbar, two
mounting clamps, and two
heavy-duty sealed ball-bearing 16-inch disc hillers.
Stampede Premium
Forage Products
Stampede offers a comprehensive line of forage products
specifically designed to meet the various nutritional needs
of your horses or other animals.
Stampede Hay Cubes have naturally sun-cured forages to
maximize palatability and performance while offering optimum
horse nutrition. Full-sized cubes are available in Alfalfa Hay
(#1736), Timothy/Alfalfa Hay (#1738). Mini cubes are available
in Alfalfa Hay (#1737) and Orchard/Alfalfa Hay (#1739).
Stampede Compressed
Alfalfa Hay (#1741) is a premium long-stem, alfalfa hay from
western Canada. Bales average 60
pounds. On the farm, Stampede
can serve as the sole hay source
or to supplement current forages for increased nutrient intake. The high energy, protein, and
calcium levels, paired with the highly digestible fiber of premium
alfalfa hay make Stampede Compressed Alfalfa Hay an excellent
choice for breeding, growing, and showing animals of any species.
April 2014
17
Youth Neighborly Advice
Co-op’s commitment to the next generation
G
rowing
up,
the only
way for me
to get away
from ag was
to be in the
classroom.
Joe Huffine
For a large
TFC Livestock Division percentage
Manager
of young
people today, the only exposure
that they get to agriculture is in
the classroom. With the average
household two and three generations removed from the farm,
modern-day agriculture can be
a mystery to many young people
and their families. It’s important
to advocate for our industry and
support those involved.
Since July 1996, my various
roles at Tennessee Farmers Cooperative have given me a chance
to work directly or indirectly
with many of the ways that our
Co-op system supports agriculture both now and in the future.
18
April 2014
I had never looked at this from a
“big picture” perspective until a
couple of months ago. Because
of a job change, I had to meet
with co-workers who were also
assuming new responsibilities. In
preparation, I listed everything
Co-op does to encourage and
educate young people in agriculture. Summarized here are some
of the more significant efforts:
Annually, our cooperatives
and TFC support local farm
days as participants, as speakers, or with products. We have
been a longstanding financial
supporter of Farm Bureau’s
Ag-in-the-Classroom program.
Students who participate in 4-H
and FFA can’t help but hear
“Co-op” as a sponsor of local,
regional, or statewide events.
This past year, our Co-ops
celebrated a milestone with
more than $250,000 distributed to FFA and 4-H through
our commemorative Case knife
program since its inception in
2001. In the past two years, an-
other nearly $100,000 has been
delivered to each organization
through a matching program
from CoBank for its members to
assist important causes.
Monetary support is important, but it doesn’t stop there.
Many of our employees volunteer as leaders, coaches, or
instructors for different events.
Each of these efforts gives
our Co-ops a chance to aid,
and it makes perfect sense.
Most of the students are sons,
daughters, or grandchildren
of our member-owners. Plus,
many TFC and member Co-op
employees are former 4-H and
FFA members and understand
the value from participation.
As our young people headed
to college, TFC offers 32 scholarships to students who come
from Co-op families and plan
on majoring in agriculture at
the University of Tennessee at
Knoxville, Tennessee Tech, Middle Tennessee State University,
or UT Martin. These $1,500
scholarships are renewable for
up to two years. Through the
years, several former scholarship
winners have gone on to work
at Co-op and, more importantly,
several have returned to the
farm and are our next generation of member-owners.
College students also have
the opportunity to participate
in internships at some of our
member cooperatives or TFC.
This 12-week paid internship is
a great way to get both handson experience and classroom
instruction on cooperatives and
agriculture. This past year, we
had interns representing eight
different colleges and junior
colleges.
I realize this is not a typical
Neighborly Advice column but
more of a “right-to-know” piece.
I hope that Co-op’s commitment to the next generation
of agriculture gives you, as
members and customers, some
satisfaction that we are doing
our part to make a difference.
Neighborly Advice
Equine
Manage spring grazing to limit laminitis
S
pring
is a
favorite time
of year for
many horse
owners.
The days
are getting
Dr. Jennifer Earing
longer, temTFC Nutritionist
peratures
are climbing, and if you look
close enough, you can see the
grass is getting greener.
As horse owners, we welcome
green grass because it often
means we’ll be able to scale
back the amount of hay we’re
feeding. However, in the excitement of turning our horses out
to graze, we must not forget that
those luscious pastures come
with hazards, like the potential
for laminitis, or inflammation of
the laminae of the hoof.
While there are many causes
of laminitis, overconsumption
of fresh green grass has been
implicated as one of the most
common causes. Lush, rapidly
growing grasses contain higher
levels of non-structural carbohydrates than mature grasses,
and this can be problematic for
horses. You see, in the normal,
healthy horse, non-structural
carbohydrates (including sugars
and starch) are primarily digested in the small intestine. When
excessive amounts of these
carbohydrates are consumed,
the digestive capacity of the
small intestine is exceeded, and
undigested carbohydrates spill
over into the hindgut, which is
designed to ferment fiber. So,
when these carbohydrates are
fermented, the pH of the hindgut is altered and the activity
of normal microbial population
is disrupted. This results in a
release of toxins from the microbes that will eventually reach
the bloodstream. Once in the
bloodstream, those toxins set
off a cascade of events that alter
blood flow to the laminae in the
hoof, initiating laminitis.
Laminae are the finger-like
projections that connect the hoof
wall to the coffin bone. When
blood flow is altered, the laminae
begin to degrade and the structural support they provide to the
coffin bone weakens, allowing
it to rotate downward or sink.
Rotation of the coffin bone is
referred to as founder. In severe
cases, the coffin bone can actually penetrate the sole of the foot.
While laminitis can affect all four
feet, it is most commonly seen
in the front, as the horse bears
more than 60 percent of its body
weight on its front quarters.
Non-structural carbohydrate
content in pastures varies among
seasons but tends to be highest
when forage is rapidly growing
(spring or late fall). So, one way
to prevent laminitis is to manage
your horses’ access to and excessive intake of non-structural
carbohydrates. We recommend
that that you gradually introduce
your horses to spring pastures,
since they have not been eating
fresh forage for several months.
Begin with just a few hours
each day and gradually increase
access over two to three weeks.
Feeding hay prior to turnout can
help reduce pasture intake by
increasing the horses’ gut fill.
Horses that have foundered
in the past are often predisposed
to laminitis. For those horses,
consider limiting their access to
fresh pasture to a few hours per
day until the forage matures.
Any change in a horse’s diet
should be done gradually to
allow microbial populations a
chance to adapt. Forage is really
no different. Managing pastures
to limit the problem is a much
better alternative to managing a
lifetime of laminitis.
For more information or feeding recommendations, visit with
your local Co-op or contact me
at [email protected].
April 2014
19
Ponds
Neighborly Advice
Pond care takes work, knowledge, and right products
P
ond
care is
more
than just
making your
pond look
beautiful.
Proper pond
care will
Carrie Sheets
ensure your
Director of Marketing,
body of water
Sanco Industries
is clean,
balanced, safe for fish … and
beautiful!
It is important to care for a
pond for several reasons. Ponds
are made to collect run-off that
can contain fertilizer, livestock
waste, septic material, and leaves.
All of these things contribute to
growth and, left unmanaged, will
“choke” the pond and make it
useless or harmful to fish.
Successful pond treatment can
be achieved with a little work,
some knowledge, and the right
products. A pond owner must
be committed to monitoring and
treating the water regularly and
20
April 2014
learning about the products and
how they work. Treatments
should occur one or two times a
month, depending on weather.
Don’t let pond management
seem like a daunting task. If you
are willing to give the effort, the
right products can be found at
your local Co-op. And here is
some information to help you get
started:
Equipment — First, you’ll
need a sprayer. You can use a
hand pump but, if you have
the option, consider a backpack sprayer. You’ll also need
gloves to protect your skin and a
paddleboat or canoe to reach the
middle of the pond. An aerator
is also highly recommended to
maximize your efforts and ensure
your pond has plenty of oxygen
for the health of your fish.
Maintenance — Pond dye
(Crystal Blue) and beneficial
pond bacteria (Natural Pond
Cleaner) will help maintain the
beauty and clarity of your pond.
With these products, 1 gallon
will treat an acre with an average depth of four to six feet. Use
these maintenance products
every 30 days or when color
fades. Just pour in several places
around the pond. For thick
muck deposits or beach areas,
use a highly concentrated bacteria product like Muck Doctor.
Use these products when
ice melts to help prevent and
slow down growth. They do not
guarantee you won’t get growth
but simply make it easier to get
control of growth when it starts.
Curative — When you have
growth, you need to identify the
problem and use the appropriate product. Use an algaecide
(Crystal Plex) to control many
types of algae that are going to
grow. A gallon treats one acre
at one to two feet deep. Using a
spray application, treat only half
of the pond at a time. For example, mix 1 gallon with 1 gallon
of water and spray half the pond;
wait five days and do the same to
the other side. Killing too much
algae at one time will affect your
oxygen levels and could cause a
fish kill. Algae will turn brown in
24 to 48 hours.
Use a herbicide like Tsunami
DQ for submerged and marginally floating pond weeds. Application varies by type of weed,
and we can help you with dosing
if you need this product. The
maximum dose is 2 gallons per
acre and is sprayed on. This
is a contact herbicide and will
take up to five days to burn back
plants.
Use contact herbicides like
Catt Plex along with Plex Mate
surfactant for emerged weeds
like cattails and water lilies. Mix
at a rate of 3 ounces of Catt Plex
and 1 ounce of Plex Mate to every gallon of water and saturate
your growth. Emerged weeds
treated with Catt Plex will take
seven to 14 days to yellow.
For more information on any
of these products or their uses,
check with the experts at your
local Co-op.
Neighborly Advice
Equipment Repair
Hydraulic hose kit helps keep equipment running
Y
ou’ve
no
doubt
experienced
the following scenario
if you operate off-road
hydraulic
Ed Robbins
equipment:
Tires, Batteries, Accessories Everything
Product Manager
is humming
along when suddenly you hear
a pop and smell hot oil hissing
in the air.
Your fears are confirmed —
it’s a broken hose. Just like that,
you’re done for the day. At best,
you’ll lose hours of work getting
a replacement from the nearest
hose shop. And lost time equals
lost production and lost money
on the farm, especially this time
of year with so many spring
chores to be done.
But imagine being able to
have your machinery back up
and running in 10 minutes
with a high-quality replacement
hose that lets you finish your
work and get your equipment
back home again. It’s not a
fantasy. Thanks to Nitta Corporation of America, a solution
to this costly problem is now
available at your local Co-op.
Nitta has introduced a line
of Hydraulic Hose Field Repair
Kits (#162912 for a 3⁄8-inch
kit and #162913 for a 1⁄2-inch
kit) that are perfect not just for
farming, but also for forestry,
construction, and other offroad industries as well as utility
service vehicles. This is one of
the few things you can buy that
should pay for itself after the
first use.
There are several advantages
to the Nitta Hydraulic Hose
Field Repair Kits:
• Eliminate costly down time
with no special tools required
— With the kits, you can
easily repair medium-pressure
hydraulic hoses with hand tools
in the field.
• Provide a quick fix for
hydraulic hose failure — Assemble a hose in 10 minutes on
site with no crimping needed
and up to a 3,480 PSI operating pressure for the 3⁄8-inch size
and up to 2,900 PSI for the
1
⁄2-inch size.
• Assemble easily in the field
— Kits come in durable, waterand oil-resistant cases complete
with all components needed.
The only tools required, such
as vise-grips and a wrench, can
be found in the average toolbox.
Larry Johnson, Nitta’s hose
product specialist, has a background in logging and performed two years’ worth of field
trials on logging equipment
using the Hydraulic Hose Field
Repair Kits. Here’s what he
had to say about those tests:
“After hose assemblies had
survived on multiple pieces of
logging equipment for a year,
I decided I was going to bust
one to see where it failed. I
put assemblies on two dozers, replacing the blade angle
cylinder hoses. I was thinking
they might last a week, but to
my amazement the hoses have
survived on both machines for
more than a year and a half.”
These kits use a thermoplastic hose reinforced with a
synthetic thread. No wire is
needed. A cutter comes with
the kits to quickly and cleanly
cut the hose to length for assembly.
Next time you’re at Co-op,
ask to see one of these kits,
or for more information, visit
www.nitta.com/repairkit.htm.
By making a small investment,
you can save precious time and
money by keeping your equipment rolling.
April 2014
21
Poultry Neighborly Advice
Preparation is essential for raising healthy poultry
I
f you’ve
visited
a Co-op
lately to look
for spring
supplies,
you likely
noticed (or
heard) the
Dr. Jennifer Earing
presence
TFC Nutritionist
of young
chicks or ducks. Regardless of
whether or not you’re a poultry
lover, you can’t help but stop
to take a look at the cute little
creatures.
Raising young chicks can be
an educational and entertaining
experience for young and old
alike. Planning for the arrival of
new chicks is exciting, especially
if children are involved. As with
any young animal, preparation
for proper care and nutrition is
important. Start a few weeks before the chicks’ arrival so there is
plenty of time to get things ready.
Begin by preparing a clean,
dry area for the young birds. The
22
April 2014
area should be well ventilated but
free from drafts. If you plan on
repurposing an old building, clear
dust and cobwebs and disinfect
the area with an appropriate
household cleaner. Dry the area,
and then bed with pine shavings.
Prepare a brooder area using
a heat lamp with a 250-watt infrared bulb and a “brooder ring”
to keep the chicks near the heat
source — anything from corrugated cardboard to a kiddy pool
can be used. Position the heat
lamp so that the temperature at
chick level (two to three inches
above the litter) is 95 degrees
Fahrenheit. Over time, adjust
the lamp’s height to reduce the
brooder temperature by 5 degrees
per week until 70 degrees is
reached. Monitor the chicks’ behavior; this will tell you whether
or not they’re comfortable. If
conditions are too chilly, chicks
will pile up on each other to keep
warm; if it’s too hot, they will
move far from the heat source.
After seven to 10 days, the brood-
er ring can be removed, but the
heat lamp should remain.
Clean and disinfect feeders
and waterers with a solution of
1 tablespoon chlorine bleach per
gallon of water. If you don’t have
feeding equipment, consider
purchasing it instead of using old
bowls or tubs. Young chicks can
easily drown in shallow water,
and chick feeders are designed to
reduce fecal contamination. As
a general rule, use two quartsized waterers and 48 inches of
double-sided feeder space per
100 chicks. As chicks grow, their
space requirements increase,
so replace small waterers with
gallon-sized ones and allow three
linear inches of space per bird.
Nutrition is important to the
health and growth of young
birds. Always provide access to
clean, fresh water. This often
means changing soiled water
multiple times each day. Start
chicks on a crumble or mash
feed formulated specifically for
their nutritional needs. A suit-
able chick starter should contain
18 to 22 percent protein, be
relatively high in energy, and include an appropriate balance of
amino acids, vitamins, and minerals. Co-op’s All Natural Chick
Starter/Grower is great for the
first several weeks of a chick’s
life. Resist supplementing their
diet with additional corn, wheat,
or other grains as it can create
dietary imbalance.
Baby chicks often need to be
encouraged to eat. Try placing
some crumbles on paper plates
so they can easily see the feed.
Once they begin eating from the
feeder, remove the plates. Broilers can be finished on Co-op’s
All Natural Starter/Grower while
pullets should be introduced to a
product like Co-op’s All Natural
Layer Feed at 20 weeks of age,
or at the first laid egg.
If you’ve decided to raise a
batch of chicks this spring, visit
your local Co-op for equipment,
feed, health supplies, and advice
to get them off to the right start.
April 2014
23
Story and photos by Sarah Geyer
ABOVE: From left, Allie Jo Shankle, Stephanie Pennington, Hayden Quick, Samuel Sides, Hannah Banhill, and Anna Holt take advantage of one of the many seating areas
found near the 18 lakes and ponds of Lone Oaks Farm in Hardeman County, the proposed site of a new 4-H camp for West Tennessee. INSET: After selling the farm,
owners Kathy, left, and Scott Ledbetter plan to build a house next to the 1,200-acre property.
4-H supporters hopeful for the chance to build new camp,
conference center at Lone Oaks Farm in Middleton
W
hen Tim Smith,
University of Tennessee Extension
director for Obion County,
saw the most recent 4-H camp
statistics, the facts were undeniable. Since the closing of the
Buford Ellington 4-H Center
in Milan in 2009, the number
of young people attending 4-H
camp has dropped 25 percent
across the state.
But Smith and other Extension leaders are hopeful that
this trend will soon turn around
because a site has been chosen
for a new West Tennessee 4-H
Center at Lone Oaks Farm, a
picturesque, 1,200-acre property in Hardeman County. If the
Tennessee General Assembly
approves funding for the $15
million price tag before the end
of its April session, then 4-H’ers
might be camping in the region
again as soon as next year.
“Lone Oaks Farm is a unique
opportunity for us in that much
of the infrastructure is already
there,” says Tim Cross, dean of
UT Extension in Knoxville. “All
24
April 2014
that this property offers is worth
so much more than the seller’s
asking price, so even at $15
million, it’s still less expensive
than if we started from scratch
somewhere else.”
l Middleton
State budget reductions and
the need for extensive renovations caused the closure of
the Milan 4-H facility, and the
void has been noticeable ever
since, said Smith. That’s why a
search for a new site began just
a year later in 2010, when Cross
announced a 10-year strategic
plan, “Advancing Tennessee,”
that included plans to create
a premier, multipurpose West
Tennessee 4-H Center.
By spring 2013, a committee that included Smith, the
initiative leader for the project,
and 29 other Extension agents
and 4-H supporters identified
the top three sites from a pool
of 19. By the end of June 2013,
this site selection team, after
When the Ledbetters derevisiting the three options and
cided to invest in Hardeman
considering many different
criteria, named Lone Oaks Farm County farmland, they had big
plans. Kathy, a native of the
in Middleton as its unanimous
county, wanted space to house
choice.
and ride her beloved horses,
Smith says that on his first
and Scott, a city boy, had
visit to Lone Oaks he was
always dreamed of running
overwhelmed by its beauty and
his own cattle operation. So
immediately saw potential in
when the couple bought the
the stunning, well-equipped
property owned and operated as first parcel of Lone Oaks Farm
some 16 years ago, they knew
a working cattle, hay, and horse
they had found a jewel even
farm by Kathy and Scott Ledthough it was overgrown and
better.
in poor condition at the time.
“I saw how this place could
The couple also had a vision
be a first-rate educational cenof an aesthetically beautiter,” says Smith. “I knew where
ful landscape with forests,
the camp could be built. The
facilities for
animals as well
as the abundant
woodland areas
and waterways
would make
the site perfect
for specialty
camps. I would
also love to see
a huge zipline
The Chicken Chapel at Lone Oaks seems to be the perfect
running across name for this fowl house with its antique stained glass
window, purchased originally for the Ledbetters’ home.
the property.”
pastures, and waterways, and
after purchasing 30 more adjacent parcels, they called on
friend and well-known Nashville landscape architect Ben
Page to help them turn their
dream into reality.
Page walked every acre with
the Ledbetters, planning each
pasture, each woodland area,
each lake, pond, road, and trail.
Together, the three created dozens of vignettes of natural beauty throughout the farm. Pastures
and woodlands are divided by
14 miles of black four-board and
diamond-mesh fencing, with 15
miles of limestone gravel roads
and extra-wide, mulch-covered
wooded trails that interconnect
the 18 lakes and ponds. And to
ensure the view would never
be obstructed by wires, part of
the plan included underground
electricity for the entire acreage.
By the time they were ready
to host their first cattle sale,
the Ledbetters had built or
refurbished 13 residences and
built seven farm structures, including a state-of-the-art cattlehandling facility for up to 500
head and an eight-stall horse
stable with tack room, feed
area, two wash bays, a small
den, and an upstairs apartment.
The largest buildings were
constructed with a crowd in
mind, including the three-story
shop with an open main floor
that resembles a gymnasium.
The sale barn features an amphitheater-style ring with seating
for 300, a commercial-sized
industrial kitchen, and one of the
most comprehensive antique tool
displays in the country. Just a few
feet away, the hay storage facility
covers more than an acre under
its 26-foot-high roof.
One of the residences — a
180-year-old log cabin — was
moved from Lambuth University in Jackson after it closed in
2011. The Ledbetters relocated
the cabin near a waterfall created
on the farm’s seven-acre lake.
Another unique residence
was inspired by the Ledbetters’
honeymoon trip to Africa. Upon
their return, they ordered a tent
from Africa much like the one
they stayed in during their visit,
designing it with a front porch
and a small but luxurious bathroom. It sits next to a stream and
waterfall.
“I can see kids hiking to this
spot and having an old storyteller
LEFT: Taylor Braxter makes a friend while touring the $1.5 million horse barn and exercise area designed by Ben Page and
Kathy Ledbetter. RIGHT: 4-H director Gary Rodgers leads a March 8 session for Congress Readiness Day in the sale barn.
Nearly 200 people attended this event.
sitting on the porch,” says Matt
Fennel, Farm Bureau field agent
and member of the site selection team. “The kids can gather
around a bonfire for some good,
old-fashioned ghost stories, with
the sounds of a stream and a
small waterfall running in the
background.”
Because of the property’s
origins as a farm, Fennel also
envisions a 4-H center focused
on agricultural education.
“We would have the facilities
to showcase all areas of Tennessee agriculture, not only crops
and livestock but also aquaculture, forestry, and green energy
sources,” he says. “We could
provide kids with hands-on experiences that aren’t yet available
at any other 4-H center in the
country.”
One requirement for any 4-H
property is the ability to generate enough income to be selfsustaining. With the existing residences privately nestled throughout the farm, Smith points out
that the property lends itself
nicely to corporate retreats and
weekend getaways, which could
provide a revenue source beyond
4-H activities. With the addition
of an inn, the facility could host
several different groups at once,
like weddings, family reunions,
and other events, he adds.
To help UT during the initial
phase of the project, the Ledbetters have offered to provide two
years’ salaries for their seven-person team to maintain and care
for the grounds and facilities.
“We would be thrilled if the
hard work and passion that we
put into developing this property
will go to people who appreciate
nature and will use the property
as a 4-H center,” says Scott. “The
fun was in creating it, and now,
after nearly 20 years, we’re get-
Nearly all of the 18 lakes and ponds, like the one pictured above, have at least one
seating area, and most feature a deck and/or a waterfall.
ting to the age when it’s
just too much for two
people.”
The Ledbetters have
agreed to keep their
property off the real
estate market until after the April legislative
session and are hopeful
that they can pass on
their prized property for
the benefit of agricultural education.
Obion County Extension Director Tim Smith, far
right, has given dozens of tours of Lone Oaks Farm
“To have a 4-H
since it was chosen the select 4-H site. He says he
camp and convention
still marvels at the beauty of the farm’s 180-year-old
center in this area
cabin relocated from Lambuth University in Jackson.
would mean so much
Request for Proposal (RFP) proto me and the 4-H kids coming
cess, which typically takes from
up after me,” says Chad Lewis,
six to eight years to complete.
a junior at Halls High School in
“If we are forced to go with
Lauderdale County who hasn’t
the RFP, chances are this propattended a 4-H summer camp
erty will no longer be on the
since the Milan location closed.
market by the time the process is
Other than lodging and a
complete,” says Smith.
cafeteria for campers, Smith
Fennel stresses the public’s
says very little needs to be built
help
is needed to make sure this
or renovated before opening
doesn’t
happen.
the facility to the public, which
“We’d like to have the legiscould mean a very short wait for
lature vote for this expenditure
excited 4-H supporters.
before the end of April,” he
Should the state legislature
not approve the purchase of this says.“We need 4-H supporters to
land before the end of the spring contact their representatives and
let them know how important
session, Smith says UT still has
this facility is to our state.”
some options, including the
April 2014
25
BQA — making a
difference
With his unique perspective of research and real
world knowledge of the checkoff-funded Beef Quality
Assurance (BQA) program, Dr. Clyde Lane, the 2014
BQA Educator of the Year, has been translating that
information into practical tools for Tennessee beef cattle
producers for nearly four decades. Dr. Lane is proud
that nearly half of the 40,000 beef cattle
producers in his state are BQA certified.
“BQA is the right thing to do. I’ve
worked to create tools that make its
on-farm application easy, so cattlemen
can provide a quality beef product.”
Learn more at BQA.org
Dr. Clyde Lane
University of Tennessee
26
April 2014
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Story and photos by Chris Villines
Packages of fresh ground beef are ready for the cooler at Unaka High School, reflecting the work of students in the agriculture program’s meat-processing class. Since its
establishment in 1981, the class has helped many graduates continue on to have successful meat-cutting careers right out of school.
Students of Unaka High School’s one-of-a-kind meat-processing
program learn a trade they can apply immediately upon graduation
t’s not unusual to find
students wielding knives in
Unaka High School’s agriculture building. And they have full
support from the rural institution’s faculty and administration.
What in the name of higher
education is going on at this
Carter County school located in
the Stoney Creek community?
I
Stoney Creek l
Hands-on learning, that’s
what. The kids in question are
brandishing cutlery because
they’re members of Unaka’s
highly acclaimed meat-processing program, which was established in 1981. This “custom
meat shop” is the only program
of its kind in a Tennessee high
school and one of a handful in
the entire country.
Each semester, more than 30
students take part in the class
that covers every aspect of meat
processing — from slaughter to
packaging. With a mix of teamwork and sweat equity, the class
participants — boys and girls
alike — can process a whole beef
carcass in under two hours. And
because of the vocational possibilities that exist, students can
take the meat-processing course
more than once.
“This is my first year in the
class, and I absolutely love it,”
says sophomore Savannah Agan,
who was recently selected as
Teacher Joshua Armentrout, standing, has been at the helm of Unaka’s meatprocessing program for three years. He says that because the two class periods
offered daily are so popular, they fill up quickly with eager students.
28
April 2014
secretary of the East Tennessee
Regional FFA Officer Team for
2014-15. “At the start, I wasn’t
all that excited because cutting
meat didn’t really appeal to me.
I’m kind of a girly girl. But once
I got in here, I began to learn so
much that I totally changed my
mindset. Now, I’m right in there
with the boys!”
With students using sharp
knives, saws, and power-cutting
equipment in class on a daily
basis, numerous precautionary
steps must be taken before any
new class can get to the meat of
the course.
“Everyone has to pass safety
tests on knives, [U.S. Department of Agriculture] safety
regulations, and equipment to
get in the meat-processing class,”
explains Joshua Armentrout, now
in his third year as instructor for
the program. “We try to really
hammer safety hard because
these kids have access to cutting
and skinning knives and a saw.
If they run the saw, I make sure
my assistant, Dana Grindstaff, is
with them at all times.”
The meat they’re processing is
not for sale.
“We just take what people
bring to us and process it for
them,” says Joshua. “On average
per year, we’ll slaughter between
40 and 50 beef cattle, 20 hogs,
and a few sheep. Our profit
comes from what we get paid for
processing, and with what we
make we buy supplies and help
send the kids to FFA State Convention and the National Farm
Machinery Show in Louisville.”
As the program’s reputation
has grown through the years,
so has the number of livestock
producers clamoring for their
services. Dana — who, thanks
to the class, launched her own
meat-cutting career before
returning to help Joshua — says
that people routinely travel from
two hours away to have their
beef processed.
One regular customer who
is decidedly more local is Mike
Nidifer, a Stoney Creek beef producer whose ties to Unaka High
date back to when he began attending the school in 1965.
“I’m proud to help a place
where I graduated and taught
for several years,” says Mike, a
Washington Farmers Cooperative member who serves on the
advisory committee for the meatprocessing program. “I’ve been
so impressed by the kids who
come through the program. They
work really hard and take their
jobs seriously, and that’s a credit
to leaders like Joshua.”
Dr. Melissa Loveless, Unaka
High’s career and technical
education principal, says pride in
this one-of-a-kind endeavor runs
throughout the school’s student
body — which numbers just
under 300 — and beyond.
“It’s a community thing,” she
says. “I dare say that if there was
ever talk about getting rid of the
program, people would go crazy.
There are so many folks who
have been positively impacted
by it, whether they’ve taken the
class or have been bringing their
cattle up here for years.”
Unaka High School Principal
Betsy Oliver says it is an “honor”
to have the unique class at the
school.
“Our students have career
choices to enhance their future,” says Betsy, a 1985 Unaka
graduate. “The meat-processing
class provides a way for those
who enroll to make a good living
immediately upon graduation.
When you can make $15 to
$17 an hour right out of school,
that’s great! Our goal at Unaka
is to ensure every student has
an opportunity to be successful
in whatever path they choose to
follow.”
Matt Campbell is a shining
example of someone who successfully applied what he learned
through the program. Less
than six months after his 2003
graduation from Unaka, Matt
was hired by grocery store chain
Food City and has progressed his
career with the company. Presently, he’s the meat department
manager at Food City’s Roane
Street store in Johnson City.
“The hands-on experience
that I got taking meat processing at Unaka helped me know
what to expect once I got into my
meat-cutting career,” says Matt,
who was involved in the program
from his sophomore through
senior years. “And the communications aspect of what we
were doing in class helped a lot,
too. We had 15 people at a time
working on a whole beef, and
everyone had to know how to effectively communicate with each
other. The interaction I had with
my classmates back then has
translated into what I do today
— talking with customers and
my employees on a daily basis.
“I’ll forever be grateful that
I went to Unaka High School
because, if not for the meatprocessing program, more than
likely I wouldn’t be doing what I
am now.”
Joshua, standing at far left, and assistant Dana Grindstaff, kneeling at left, have more than 30 students enrolled in the class
each semester. Here, they pause for a group photo with, kneeling from left, Malea Lacy, Latasha Presley, Kadence Hughes,
Savannah Agan, and Brittany Burleson. Standing are students Austin Babb, Phillip Bradley, Jacob Greybeal, Jason Weitzman,
Andy Guinn, Brandon Guinn, Jamie Erickson, Chris Erickson, Keelan Townsend, Matthew Bentley, Tyler Carrier, Taylor
Edwards, Dylan Carrier, Casey Rutter, Jacob Day, Gary Hughes, Black Blevins, Michael McCool, and Ryan Peele.
LEFT: Savannah Agan uses a saw to cut a beef carcass with help from classmate Chris Erickson. Each animal the class
processes is provided by area producers, who are charged a processing fee and given the various cuts of meat upon
completion of work. RIGHT: Joshua helps Gary Hughes, at right, Jason Weitzman, and Ryan Peele at the cutting table.
Comments like
Matt’s are gratifying
to both Joshua and
the man who began
Unaka’s program
33 years ago, John
Hardin. John says
the East Tennessee
countryside is ripe
with meat cutters who
got their start during
the class.
LEFT: Andy Guinn helps guide 40 pounds of hamburger into a tub for packaging. RIGHT: Class
“If you go to any
members like Kadence Hughes clean and sanitize the room after each processing session.
butcher shop or
cessing location for “Hunters for
supermarket meat department
Unaka from a high school near
the Hungry,” a program of the
in our area, it will most likely
Los Angeles last year.
Tennessee Wildlife Federation.
have someone who went through
“There wasn’t anything like
Joshua says that since many of
Unaka,” says John, who operated this in California,” says Jason,
the program until retiring from
who attended a school there with his students are deer hunters
teaching in 2002 and now runs
an enrollment of 4,800 students. anyway, it made for a natural fit.
“If we can help hungry
H&H Meat Market near Eliza“I’ve enjoyed learning how to cut
people
have healthy meat to
bethton with son Jeremy. “Most
steaks, process hamburger, and
eat while teaching the students
of my students weren’t planning
use a saw blade. If I decide to
an important skill, then it’s a
on going to college, so I’m glad
apply for a job as a meat cutwin-win situation,” says Joshua.
I was able to teach them a little
ter after I graduate, I’m gaining
“Anything we can do to stay
about life and how to make a liv- some awesome skills. And it’s
busy and help the community,
ing after high school.”
fun because I’m in class with a
I’m all for it. Without the comIt’s definitely been an eyebunch of my friends.”
munity’s support of bringing
opening experience for senior
Recently, the program added
in meat for us to process, our
Jason Weitzman, who is taking
another dimension by becomprogram wouldn’t be able to
the class for the first time this
ing a Tennessee Department of
function.”
semester after transferring to
Agriculture-certified deer-pro-
April 2014
29
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I131252
Tradition continues at Franklin Rodeo May 15-17
Free Wednesday ‘Down-in-the-Dirt’ party scheduled at the 65th annual event
Tradition will be a recurring theme at this year’s 65th
edition of the widely heralded
Franklin Rodeo set for Thursday, May 15, through Saturday,
May 17, at Williamson County
Ag Expo Park located just south
of the city on Interstate 65.
“Being a historic town,
Franklin is big on tradition, and
certainly celebrating 65 years
is a milestone for our rodeo,”
says Darby Jones, president of
the event’s sponsor, Franklin
Noon Rotary Club. Organizers say that since the rodeo’s
beginning, $2.4 million has
been given back to Williamson
County charities, including
the Breast Health Center at
Williamson Medical Center,
Boys and Girls Clubs of Frank-
lin, Tucker’s House, academic
and music arts programs at
high schools in the county, and
Habitat for Humanity.
A noon parade through
downtown Franklin on Saturday, May 10, will kick off this
year’s rodeo week activities.
New is a free “Franklin Rodeo
Experience — Down in the Dirt
Kick-off Party” from 6 p.m. to
10 p.m. at the Expo Center.
Organizers say the free event
will give fans an opportunity
to get “down on the dirt in the
arena” for behind-the-chutes
tours, meet-and-greet opportunities with rodeo personalities,
live music, food, and pony and
mechanical bull rides.
As for the Thursday, Friday,
and Saturday night events,
Jones, who has been involved
with the Franklin Rodeo since
2007, says the program will be
“action-packed from beginning
to end.”
Tickets are $20 for adults
and $10 for children ages 12
and under. All seats are reserved, and tickets can be purchased at the rodeo’s website:
franklinrodeo.com. For more
information, visit the website or
call 615-RODEO11.
UT offers online
Master Nursery
Producer training
University of Tennessee Extension is now providing online
training for nursery operators
and their employees who wish
to become certified as a Tennessee Master Nursery Producer (TMNP).
A committee of scientists
and nursery specialists from
the UT Institute of Agriculture,
Tennessee State University and
U.S. Department of Agriculture
developed the novel program,
which is unlike any nursery
training offered in the U.S.
The online training modules
cover container and field production, fertilization, irrigation,
pest management, and many
more topics.
Interested producers can enroll in the training through the
UT Extension Online Learning
(exTOL) website at https://extol.
tennessee.edu/people/. Fee for
this program is $125. Live versions of the TMNP training are
not scheduled for 2014.
For more details, contact Amy
Fulcher at the UT Department
of Plant Sciences at afulcher@
utk.edu or 865-974-7152.
April 2014
31
‘Dream come true’
Tennessee’s Mitch Baker enjoying once-in-a-lifetime experience as national FFA officer
Story by Chris Villines
T
his past Nov. 2, University of Tennessee Knoxville sophomore Mitch
Baker’s life changed forever. It
was on this day — at the 86th
National FFA Convention and
Expo in Louisville, Ky. — that
the agricultural communications
major from Cookeville became
one of six students elected by
delegates to represent the organization as a national FFA officer.
Baker, 20, follows in the footsteps of James Flatt and Chelsea
Doss Rose as Tennesseans who
have earned this distinct honor
in the last five years and is only
the 12th person from Tennessee to serve as a national officer.
In his role as secretary, Baker,
along with the other members
of the officer team, committed
to a year of service in which
each will travel more than
100,000 miles in the U.S. and
abroad representing the national
FFA organization.
Their mission? To visit with
thousands of FFA members
and teachers, government and
education officials, and various
business and industry leaders.
“It’s a dream come true,” says
Baker, who attended Upperman
High School in Baxter and was
the Tennessee FFA Association
secretary in 2012-13. “I’ve been
around the blue jackets since I
was a small boy, when my father,
Phillip, who was also a former
state FFA officer, would take me
to the State FFA Convention.
I’ve been working toward the
goal of being a national officer
for a long time.”
The Tennessee Cooperator
recently caught up with Baker
as he waited in a Houston
airport for a flight to Salt Lake
City to attend Utah’s State
FFA Convention:
Cooperator: What was your
reaction when you learned
you were elected as a national
officer?
Baker: Pure adrenaline,
without a doubt. In that moment, I started sprinting to the
stage as fast as I could. I’m not
sure how I managed to do this,
32
April 2014
but there were five steps leading up to the stage, and I only
touched one before reaching the
stage. I was so excited!
Cooperator: What was the
impetus for your wanting to
be a national officer?
Baker: There are a number
of different reasons. I love to
represent Tennessee FFA, and
service has always been something that’s been instilled in my
life by my parents, my church,
and my family. But the biggest
reason that I ran for national office is a calling of mine: to take
off people’s life blinders and
remind them just how incredible they are. Throughout the
year, I’ll be able to meet with so
many people. And there might
be something different about
every single person I meet, but
my responsibility and my calling as a national officer are to
encourage them to be all that
they can be.
Cooperator: James Flatt
and Chelsea Doss Rose were
the two most recent Tennessee national FFA officers from
Tennessee before you. Have you
been interacting with them?
Baker: Yes. Chelsea and
James have been there for me
from Day 1 of my candidacy for
national office. I’ve been fortunate in that I knew both of them
for many years before I even ran
for national officer. Every step
of the way, they were there to
offer their support, their love,
and their encouragement. They
both understand the process so
well and know what it takes to
be a good candidate. They also
both have a lot of life wisdom
— I always learn something
new when I talk to either one of
them. They are two great people
I’m proud to call my friends.
Cooperator: What type of
preparation did running for
national officer require?
Baker: Running for national officer was without a doubt
the hardest thing I’ve done
in my life thus far. It was a
process that entailed finding a
mentor, different coaches, and
doing rigorous day-in-andday-out preparation. I had
After he graduates from the University of Tennessee Knoxville, National FFA Secretary
Mitch Baker plans to serve with a mission-based organization on hunger relief efforts.
to prepare for seven different
interviews, a written test, and
another exam on agricultural
education and application.
I had an entire network of
supporters to help me every
step of the way, whether it was
telling me what I needed to
improve on or to calm down,
because it can be a pretty
stressful process.
Cooperator: You’re in the
midst of traveling more than
100,000 miles during your
service year. Where have you
been so far?
Baker: In the past four
months, we’ve been to Arkansas, Indiana, Wisconsin, Texas,
Oklahoma, and Minnesota. In
February, we went as a team to
Japan for two weeks. We’ve also
been to Puerto Rico and the
Virgin Islands. We’ve been doing
rigorous, team-intensive training
day in and day out to prepare
for what we’re about to do now,
which is entering into FFA convention season. For the next four
months, almost every state is going to be holding its convention,
and at least one national officer
will visit every single convention.
Cooperator: When you go
on these trips, what is your
schedule like?
Baker: We’re doing a number of things. We’re able to
advocate for agriculture education with career and technical
education leaders and elected
officials. We’re learning more
about the agriculture industry that we represent. When
we were in Japan, we learned
more about the global scale
and demand for agriculture. In
some cases, like when we were
in Wisconsin, it was just a
straight week of giving workshops and speeches at breakfast, lunch, and dinner for FFA
members. We’re always going
to be serving the membership
of our organization, the people
who make things happen
educationally, and members
of the agriculture community.
Everywhere we go, those are
the three audiences that we’re
engaged with.
Cooperator: Talk about
some of the eye-opening experiences you’ve had so far in
your travels.
Baker: I’ve never seen any-
thing like I saw agriculturally
in Japan. These are people who
are growing more with less. As a
nation, the Japanese don’t have
enough land to grow enough
food to feed themselves, so
they’re always looking for new
ways to grow food to put on their
tables. One visit in particular was
to Chiba University in Tokyo,
where we visited a hydroponic
facility that had stacks on stacks
on stacks of lettuce seedlings
that were being grown through
hydroponics into lettuce heads.
That was a great example of
people who have such a clean,
efficient growing process that
they can literally pluck the lettuce off the tray, put it in a bag,
and send it to a local restaurant.
It’s amazing.
We were in Japan for two
weeks and visited Tokyo and
other cities like Kyoto and Ito.
We even got to stay in a home
for two nights with a 15-yearold Japanese FFA member and
his family. Actually, it’s called
FFJ over there, Future Farmers
of Japan. That was a big time.
Living with a Japanese family
for two days … I’ll never forget
that!
Cooperator: What is the
message that you’re sharing
with FFA students you encounter across the country?
Baker: There are so many
different chapters and so many
different stories across the entire
organization, but there’s always
one common theme: a family of
like-minded people who come
together for one purpose. So the
advice that we give our members
is to really get engaged in any opportunity that FFA can offer. And
even more than that, we emphasize to them to not be afraid of
failure. I think that sometimes
we can convince ourselves not to
get engaged with some opportunities for the fear that they’re not
going to work out.
Cooperator: In addition
to the travel, what are some
other perks that you’ve experienced being an FFA national
officer?
Baker: I think one of the
perks we have as national officers is really getting to represent our respective schools. All
six of us come from land-grant
universities. We’re all proud of
where we come from. I can’t
tell you just how happy I am to
tell students from around the
world that I go to the University of Tennessee and “Go Vols!”
Cooperator: How do you
think this experience will help
you once you get back to UT?
Baker: More than anything,
I think being an FFA national
officer has matured me in ways
that I’m still measuring. What
I’ve seen and learned already has
changed me in some dramatic
ways. I’m a lot more organized.
I’m much more aware of just
how diverse the agriculture
industry is and especially where
Tennessee fits into making a
difference around the globe.
During a national officer visit to Japan in February, Mitch thanks a Mitsui Corporation
employee for his hospitality and sharing information about the company.
The maturity and awareness I’ve
gained as a 20-year-old college
student who’s able to make a dif-
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ference as a national officer are
things I’ll take with me for the
rest of my life.
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2014 Tennessee Beef Ambassadors named
Young people who are passionate about the beef industry
have been named Tennessee
Beef Ambassadors as winners
of competition held March 8
in conjunction with the Tennessee Beef Agribition at
the James E. Ward Agricultural Center in Wilson County.
Contestants from ages 13 to 20
competed for the honors.
In the Senior Division for
contestants ages 17-20, Claire
Garrell of Marshall County
emerged as high individual after sweeping top honors in the
competition’s three segments:
Issues Response Essay, Consumer Promotions, and Media
Interview.
Samantha Reese of Marshall
County finished second in
the Senior Division, and third
‘Fun for all’
promised at
‘Farmers CARE’
“Farmers CARE” is the
theme for this year’s Adventures
in Agriculture, an event billed
by organizers as a “family fun
day for all ages,” to be held
from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. Saturday, April 12, at Lane Agri-Park
in Murfreesboro.
The program, which is
free and open to the public,
will highlight ways producers
maintain and preserve their
crops, animals, recreation, and
the environment. Parents and
children will hear from farmers
about their knowledge of animals, crops, homegrown foods,
and other topics.
The event, hosted by members and partners of the Rutherford County agriculture community, will provide hands-on
activities to teach families about
the impact of agriculture on
everyday lives. Plans call for
animal exhibits, food displays,
and other features. Children
can be a “Farmer for a Day”
as they play in an interactive
exhibit. Master Gardeners will
also be on hand to explain how
vegetables can be grown in
backyard or container gardens.
For more information, contact Charlotte Y. Peay at 615944-2060 or Peaybrain14@
gmail.com.
34
April 2014
place went to Cumberland
County’s Taylor Green.
Abigayle Pollock of Lincoln
County captured high individual honors in the Junior Division
(ages 13-16) after being judged
highest in the Media Interview
category and tying for first in
Issues Response Essay.
Taking second place in the
Junior Division was Kendall
Garrell of Marshall County,
who tied with Abigayle in the
Issues Response Essay category. Leanna Tanner of Wilson
County took third place.
As Senior Division winner,
Claire will represent Tennessee at the National Beef
Ambassador competition in
Denver Sept. 26-27 where
she’ll compete for a spot on the
five-member 2015 National
Beef Ambassadors team that
will travel across the country
promoting beef.
Abigayle Pollock, left, and Claire Garrell
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35
Co-op family sends 22 of its best to
Young Leaders Conference
T
ennessee’s Co-op family
sent 22 outstanding
representatives to the
2014 Young Leaders Conference Feb. 21 and 22 at Drury
Plaza Hotel in Franklin, a popular event staged annually by the
Tennessee Council of Cooperatives (TCC) and Tennessee Farm
Bureau Federation (TFBF).
Co-op attendees joined some
400 others — many of them
members of Farm Bureau’s
Young Farmers & Ranchers
organization — from across the
state for the annual weekend
of motivation, recreation, and
education. Sponsored by Co-op
were Grant and Crystal Norwood, Henry Farmers; Adam and
Heather Martin, Jefferson Farmers; Matt and Rebecca Blount,
Lincoln Farmers; Drew and
Misty Bailey, Mid-South Farmers; Jay Head and Tara Jo Moss,
Montgomery Farmers; Clint and
Emily Workman, Obion Farmers; Amy and Jack Carey, Putnam Farmers; Tracy and Taylor
Sullivan, Tipton Farmers; Travis
Crisp, Valley Farmers; Jay and Alice Ann Yeargin, Weakley Farmers; Ray and Kelly Lyons, White
County Farmers; and Justin
Maxwell, Tennessee Farmers.
l Franklin
The conference brings together couples and individuals
from across the state who are
eager to learn more about cooperatives, share their views about
agriculture, and discuss current
issues facing rural Americans.
“It’s amazing how most of
the attendees have connections to all the cooperatives
that make up TCC,” says Keith
Harrison, TFC’s marketing
manager who was elected as
president of the council during
the meeting. “It’s important
for these future leaders to be
involved and trained to prepare
them for their leadership roles
when their turn comes. The
networking among the conference participants enhances
cooperation in the long term.”
The 2014 conference offered
36
April 2014
During the 2014 Young Leaders Conference, Jerry Kirk, center, retired Tennessee Farmers Cooperative Communications
Department manager, is honored by the Tennessee Council of Cooperatives for his longtime support of co-ops in the state. With
Jerry are his wife, Jane, and son, Chris, a Tennessee Electric Cooperative Association employee who presented the award.
a wide range of sessions, from
developing leadership skills to
apps and unmanned aerial vehicles. The event also included
a tour of Nashville’s LP Field,
home of the Tennessee Titans,
and addresses by State Sen. Jack
Johnson of Franklin and Butch
Jones, University of Tennessee
Volunteers head football coach.
On Saturday afternoon, Jerry
Kirk, who retired in April 2001
as manager of TFC’s Communications Department and editor
of the Tennessee Cooperator,
was presented an annual award
given by TCC to an individual
who has shown dedication to
the cooperative cause in Tennessee. The award was presented by his son, Chris Kirk,
associate editor of The Tennessee Magazine, membership
publication of the Tennessee
Electric Cooperative Association
(TECA).
Jerry became editor of the
Cooperator, TFC’s membership
publication, in November 1972.
For a few years in the late 1980s,
he was editor of both the Cooperator and The Tennessee Magazine at the same time. Since his
retirement, he has continued his
association with both publications, lending an editing hand in
helping get each issue produced.
“By the time I came into the
world, Dad had already spent
more than a decade in ag communications and spreading the
cooperative message,” said Chris
in heartfelt remarks before presenting the award. “I was thrilled
to join the co-op family myself
and couldn’t be more proud to be
here to recognize his contributions to Tennessee cooperatives.”
TCC made a $1,000 contribution in Jerry’s honor to the John
Willis Memorial Scholarship
fund, which provides financial
assistance to deserving college
agriculture students in the state.
“I’m flattered and honored to
receive this special award,” Jerry
told the conference audience.
“Of course, it’s special that my
son, Chris, presented it to me
and that my wife, Jane, was here
for the presentation, too.
“I’m now in my 42nd year of
working with cooperatives in Tennessee. A few years after retiring
from TFC, I was administrative secretary of the Tennessee
Council of Cooperatives and saw
firsthand how co-ops contribute to agriculture. To the farm
couples here today, I thank you
for everything you do. We literally could not live without you.”
TCC also elected new leaders
during the meeting. In addition
to Harrison as president, other
officers are Bruce Bradfod, River
Valley Ag Credit; vice president,
adult programs; Todd Blocker,
TECA, vice president, education;
Dan Strasser, TFBF, secretary/
treasurer. Co-op is also represented on the board by Paul Sullivan, Dickson Farmers manager,
and Scott Cooper, Davidson
Farmers manager.
Along with educational and informational sessions, one of the conference activities
was a tour of LP Field, home of the Tennessee Titans in Nashville.
Co-op delegates at the 2014 Young Leaders Conference
Drew and Misty Bailey, Mid-South
Farmers Cooperative
Matt and Rebecca Blount with son
Easton, Lincoln Farmers Cooperative
Justin Maxwell, Tennessee Farmers
Cooperative
Ray and Kelly Lyons, White County
Farmers Cooperative
Adam and Heather Martin with
children Wyatt, Ansley, and Clint;
Jefferson Farmers Cooperative
Tracey and Taylor Sullivan, Tipton
Farmers Cooperative
For more information
about the Tennessee
Council of Cooperatives
and the Young Leaders
Conference, visit online at
tennesseecouncilofcoops.org
Jay and Alice Ann Yeargin, Weakley
Farmers Cooperative
April 2014
37
38
April 2014
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39
What’s Cookin’?
Stalk
of the town
Recipes celebrate the
versatility of savory celery
T
his month, we’re making up for all the times
that celery sticks have sat sadly next to
your Buffalo wings, lonely and jealous. Our
readers have brought this versatile veggie into the
spotlight with a wide range of recipes that feature
crunchy, savory celery as the star attraction.
Many cooks may have celery languishing in the refrigerator, just
waiting to be put in tuna salad or chopped up for the stockpot. But
celery’s attraction goes well beyond its traditional uses, as the selection of recipes in this month’s “What’s cookin’?” column proves. With
April proclaimed as “National Celery Month,” this is the perfect
time to give celery a new look. And don’t forget that it’s one of the
healthier vegetables around.
Barbara Troxler’s recipe for Stuffed Celery is a new twist on an
old favorite, combining cream cheese, craisins, and pecans for a
flavorful filling in fresh celery pieces. Her creative concoction earns
Barbara Cook-of-the-Month honors for April.
Other featured recipes are Savory Chicken Soup, Celery Slaw,
Fresh Celery Fritters, Celery Fry, Cream of Celery Soup, Crab Salad
Tea Sandwiches, Chicken Fricassee, and Celery and Carrot Stir-Fry.
Enjoy!
It’s the perfect spring-time appetizer, Stuffed Celery, with fresh celery stalks filled with
a flavorful combination of cream cheese, craisins, and pecans. The recipe comes from
Barbara Troxler of Normandy, our Cook-of-the-Month for April.
— Photo and food styling by Allison Morgan
Clip, save, and serve
Stuffed Celery
What you will need:
•11⁄2 cups chopped craisins or raisins
• 1 (8-ounce) package cream cheese,
softened
•11⁄2 cups finely chopped pecans,
toasted
• 1 tablespoon mayonnaise
• 1 bunch celery stalks, washed and
cut into 3- to 4-inch pieces
April 2014 winning recipe
Directions:
Place craisins or raisins in a bowl. Cover with a
small amount of boiling water for about five minutes or until they become plumper; drain.
Mix cream cheese, pecans, mayonnaise, and
craisins or raisins. Stuff celery and serve.
These will keep in the refrigerator for several
days.
Barbara Troxler, Normandy, Bedford Moore Farmers Cooperative
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April 2014
Savory Chicken
Soup
2 chicken legs and thighs or
2 large chicken breasts
1 teaspoon basil leaves
1 teaspoon garlic salt
1
⁄2 teaspoon ginger
1
⁄2 teaspoon cumin
1 (8-ounce) package frozen
mixed vegetables
1 (6-ounce) bag of egg
noodles
1 (14-ounce) can chicken
broth
2 cups diced white potatoes
11⁄2 cups diced celery
1 medium-size onion
Cover chicken in water in a
large pot. Add spices and boil until chicken is done; cool. Remove
bones, shred chicken in pieces,
and place in leftover broth. Add
canned broth. Add celery and
other ingredients. Cook slowly
on low heat until potatoes are
done. Add more broth if needed.
Yield: Eight to 10 servings.
Annis Talley
Cookeville
Putnam Farmers Cooperative
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Celery Slaw
1 bunch celery, washed,
trimmed, and thinly
sliced
1 cup mayonnaise
1 cup sour cream
1 tablespoon sugar
1
⁄2 teaspoon pepper
2 teaspoons horseradish
1
⁄2 teaspoon celery seeds
Put celery in a bowl. Combine mayonnaise, sour cream,
sugar, pepper, and horseradish.
Stir into celery. Sprinkle top
with celery seeds. Chill at least
two hours to combine flavors.
Yield: Six servings.
Andrea Bolden
Unionville
Marshall Farmers Cooperative
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Fresh Celery
Fritters
⁄4 cup all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon baking powder
1 teaspoon salt
1
⁄4 teaspoon ground white
pepper
1
⁄4 teaspoon ground nutmeg
Dash cayenne pepper
2 large eggs, well beaten
11⁄2 cups chopped celery
2 teaspoons finely chopped
onion
1
⁄2 cup milk
Oil for frying
Combine the first six ingredients. Stir in eggs, celery, onion,
and milk; mix well. Heat oil in
fryer. Drop batter from a tablespoon into hot oil 1⁄4 inch deep.
Fry until browned, turning to
cook both sides. Add more oil as
needed. Drain on paper towels.
Note: These can be used as
bread for a meal or as appetizers
with a dip.
Marie Delffs
Normandy
Bedford Moore
Farmers Cooperative
3
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Celery Fry
⁄2 cup cornmeal
⁄2 cup flour
1
1
1 bunch celery, cleaned and
chopped
1 large onion, chopped
1 large bell pepper, chopped
2 large potatoes, sliced
1
⁄2 teaspoon chopped garlic
1 cup sliced okra
Salt and pepper to taste
Oil for frying
Mix all in large bowl, making
sure flour and meal coats all vegetables. Pour in oiled frying pan.
Cover and cook on medium heat
until all vegetables are tender.
Linda Bain
Bethel Springs
Mid-South Farmers Cooperative
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Cream of Celery
Soup
1 stick butter or margarine
6 tablespoons all-purpose
flour
1
⁄8 teaspoon salt
1
⁄8 teaspoon pepper
2 cups milk
2 ribs celery, chopped fine
In a saucepan, place butter,
flour, salt, and pepper. Whisk
together on medium heat until
margarine is melted and flour
is incorporated. Gradually add
milk, whisking to blend. Add
celery and whisk continually,
cooking until thickened. Remove from heat. Use in recipes
that call for cream of celery soup
or thin with additional milk for a
delicious soup by itself.
Rose Anne Hartman
Petersburg
Lincoln Farmers Cooperative
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Crab Salad
Tea Sandwiches
4 ribs celery, finely chopped
2 cups reduced-fat mayonnaise
4 green onions, chopped
1
⁄4 cup lime juice
1
⁄4 cup chili sauce
1
⁄2 teaspoon seasoned salt
8 cups cooked fresh or
canned crabmeat
6 hard-cooked eggs, chopped
48 slices whole wheat bread
1
⁄2 cup butter, softened
48 lettuce leaves
1
⁄2 teaspoon paprika
Green onions, cut into thin
strips, optional
In a large bowl, combine the
first six ingredients; gently stir in
crab and eggs. Refrigerate until
assembling.
With a 3-inch round cookie
cutter, cut a circle from each slice
of bread. Spread each with 1⁄2
teaspoon butter. Top with lettuce
and 2 rounded tablespoonfuls of
crab salad; sprinkle with paprika.
Garnish with onion strips if desired. Serve immediately.
Yield: 4 dozen sandwiches.
Mildred H. Edwards
Lebanon
Wilson Farmers Cooperative
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Chicken Fricassee
3 to 4 pounds boneless chicken breasts, cut into strips
1
⁄2 cup all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon salt
1
⁄8 teaspoon pepper
1 teaspoon garlic salt,
optional
1
⁄4 cup cooking oil
1
⁄2 cup chopped celery
1
⁄4 cup chopped onion
1 (101⁄2-ounce) can condensed cream of mushroom soup
1 tablespoon chopped
pimientos, optional
3
⁄4 cup water
Coat chicken with a mixture
of flour, salt, pepper, and garlic
salt, if desired. Brown chicken
in hot cooking oil. Arrange in a
3-quart casserole dish that has
been sprayed with oil.
Cook celery and onions in the
skillet that was used to brown
chicken until tender, not brown.
Drain excess oil. Stir in soup,
pimientos, and water. Pour over
chicken in casserole dish. Cover
and bake at 350º until tender,
about one hour. Can be served
with rice.
Helen E. Hamm
Coeburn, Va.
Washington Farmers Cooperative
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Celery and Carrot
Stir-Fry
4 cups diagonally sliced
celery
21⁄2 cups diagonally sliced
carrots (about 1 pound)
1 medium-size onion,
chopped
1
⁄4 teaspoon pepper
2 tablespoons butter or
margarine
1
⁄4 teaspoon salt
Sauté onion in butter in a large
skillet for two minutes. Add carrots and sauté two minutes longer,
stirring occasionally. Add celery;
sauté one minute. Sprinkle with
salt and pepper. Lower heat; cover
and cook for three minutes.
Lois Parvin
Russellville
Cocke 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.
Proof is in the pudding
with June recipes
When June Dairy Month rolls around,
it’s fitting that we celebrate the goodness
of milk and other dairy products in this
“What’s cookin’?” column. For this June,
we’re asking for pudding recipes. They can
either use pudding as a main ingredient or
simply be a recipe for pudding itself.
The person submitting the recipe judged best will be named Cook-ofthe-Month for June and receive $10. Others sending recipes chosen for
publication will receive $5. Each winner will also receive a special “What’s
cookin’?” certificate.
Monday, May 5, is the deadline for your pudding 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.
April 2014
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April 2014
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April 2014
Programs prepare
future ag leaders
Participants and organizers of the 2014 AgriLeadership 20/20 program are, from left, Jeff Griggs,
Tennessee Farmers Cooperative; Daniel Duarte, Quebeck; Becky Margura, WCTE television; Brandon
Savage, Farm Credit; Deloris Key, Cookeville; Jerry Jolley, U.S. Department of Agriculture; Alan Fisher,
Cookeville; Martin Schubert, Oliver Springs; Peyton Harper, Cookeville; Jason Evitts, Hartsville; and
Eddie Clark, Tennessee Farm Bureau Federation. Not pictured are Brad Canfield, Margaret Martin-Jones,
Bob Swanson, Katie Gibbs, and Matthew Rigsby.
Participants and organizers of the 2014 AgStar program are, from left, Matt Fennel, Tennessee Farm
Bureau Federation; JoAnn Waterman, Shelby County; Chris Stewart, Dyer County; Jennifer Blankenship,
Madison County; Holden McConnell, Obion County; Morgan Morrissett, Carroll County; Ryan Blackword,
Henderson County; Jessica Quinn, Weakley County; Joe McKinnon, Farm Bureau; April Ashe, McNairy
County; Cory Workman, Obion County; Michele Sides, Chester County; and Kurt Baggett, Obion County.
Not pictured are Kyle Baggett, Obion County; and Jarrod White, Hardin County.
A new batch of farmers and agribusiness representatives have graduated from the state’s 2014
agricultural leadership development programs —
AgLead in East Tennessee, AgriLeadership 20/20
in Middle Tennessee, and AgStar in West Tennessee. The programs are designed to develop the
leadership skills of producers and agribusiness
representatives by “empowering them to advance
the agricultural industry through the education
and understanding of technological advances,
policies, laws, and regulations and to communicate this philosophy and knowledge to others to
improve the quality of rural life.”
During their course of study, the participants
met once a month for intense, hands-on sessions
involving ag issues and opportunities, technology, communications, and government. The last
session involved a trip to Nashville, where participants met with Tennessee Department of Agriculture leaders and toured Ellington Agricultural
Center before visiting one-on-one with their state
legislators at the Capitol.
The AgriLeadership 20/20 and AgStar groups
also visited Tennessee Farmers Cooperative’s
LaVergne complex, where they toured the feed
mill and grounds, received an overview of the
cooperative system, and were treated to dinner.
These programs are annually sponsored and
developed by some of Tennessee’s top agricultural
organizations, including TFC.
April 2014
45
Every Farmer Has A Story Ben Seaton
Story and photos by Chris Villines
Ahead of the curve
Colleges wanted Ben Seaton for his pitching prowess, but he knew what
he wanted after high school — to farm with ‘Daddy’ and ‘Papaw’
B
rowse through old editions of the Greeneville
Sun sports section from
the past couple of years, and
the name of a hard-throwing,
right-handed pitcher would
likely pop up in stories about
the South Greene High School
baseball team.
“Ben Seaton leads South
Greene past Buffaloes,” reads
the headline of one article. “Ben
Seaton and the South Greene
defense shut down Cumberland
Gap’s offense…” starts the lead
paragraph of another. College
baseball programs were making
a “pitch” of their own for the services of the two-time Blue Ridge
Athletic Conference All-Conference selection upon his high
school graduation last May.
“I played a lot of travel ball
growing up, and this one man
from Bob Jones University in
South Carolina started recruiting
me when I was about 12 years
old,” says Ben. “There were
several colleges that asked if I
would be interested in playing
for them, but …”
main interest. I started raking
hay when I was 7 years old and
began milking a lot when I was
in the sixth grade. I learned
how to AI [artificially inseminate] cattle my junior year.
Going off to college would’ve
taken me away from all of that,
and I would have missed it too
much. Somebody’s got to run
this farm one day, and it might
as well be me.”
Ben Seaton, right, is joined by his father, Frankie, left, and grandfather, Ray, during
afternoon milking at their dairy in Greeneville. Ray, 89, purchased the farm in 1955.
Spend time around the
energetic 18-year-old, and it’s
clear that he possesses a matuGreeneville l
rity and agricultural knowledge
level beyond his age. According to Jeremiah Harrison, Ben’s
What these suitors didn’t know agriculture teacher at South
— couldn’t know — was that Ben Greene, these traits — combined
had long ago made up his mind
with the wisdom and knowledge
about exactly what his future
Ben is soaking in from “Daddy”
held. Instead of kicking up dirt
and “Papaw” — bode well for the
on the baseball diamond, he’d be farm’s long-term outlook.
plowing it alongside his father,
“Ben was almost like having
Frankie, and 89-year-old grandfa- another teacher in class,” Jerther, Ray, as the third generation emiah says. “He had exposure
to farm fulltime at the family’s
to different parts of agriculture
200-acre dairy, beef cattle, and
that I didn’t have, and a lot of
tobacco operation in Greeneville. times he would help the entire
Ben also helps his grandmother,
class learn about things like
Louise Payne, care for the 120sowing and raising tobacco. As a
head beef cattle herd she owns a matter of fact, we grew 10 trays
few miles from the farm.
of tobacco in our greenhouse
“I’d say it was around my
last year just for the experience,
freshman year when I really
thanks to Ben’s help.
knew that this is what I wanted
“If I asked Ben to do someto do for the rest of my life,”
thing, I didn’t have to worry
says Ben, the middle of Frankie about it getting done or going
and wife Katrina’s five children. back and second-guessing. He
“Farming has always been my
comes over and takes care of my
46
April 2014
animals when I’m out of town.
That’s how much I trust him.
Plus, he’s always smiling, and
he’s good-natured. You couldn’t
ask for a better student.”
It’s no surprise, then, that Ben
was voted “Best All Around” by
his fellow South Greene seniors.
Also while in high school, he
was an active FFA member who
was selected as a chapter Star
Farmer, served as junior chair-
man of Greene County’s June
Dairy Days Celebration, and was
a 4-H Proficiency Award winner.
While appreciative of the
praise, Ben says he’s proudest of
the work ethic he developed at
an early age and the discipline he
now shows.
“This may be hard for some
people to believe, but I’ve never
played a video game in my entire
life,” he says. “Growing up, all I
ever wanted to do was be outside
riding the tractor with Daddy or
helping Papaw teat-dip the cows
at milking time. Now, it’s my
turn. I don’t stay out too late at
night anymore like I did sometimes when I was in high school.
I’ve got to be at the barn to milk
by about 6:15 every morning, or
I won’t get finished by the time
the milk truck runs.”
Ben currently milks around
35 head of Holstein and Jerseycross cows and helps manage
the farm’s 70-head, mixed-breed
beef cattle herd. The farm also
produced eight acres of burley
tobacco last year — Ben raised
five of the acres while Frankie
grew the other three — and
some 4,000 square bales of Bermuda hay.
The tobacco crop is the
source of some good-natured ribbing between Ben and his father.
“Daddy’s tobacco looks so
good because he puts all of our
cow manure on it,” Ben says
with a laugh. “He won’t let me
put it on my patch. He makes
sure he gets it in there about a
foot deep!”
Frankie and Katrina first
met while working in a tobacco
patch, and, fittingly, Ben has had
help from his girlfriend in raising
the crop.
“She was out there with us
cutting tobacco,” says Ben. “And
she and Papaw graded just about
all of it. She’s a hard worker.
When my Mamaw, Mary Seaton,
was living [she passed away in
December 2010], Daddy said
she would outwork just about
any man in the field.”
As for higher education, Ben
says working alongside his father
and grandfather each day gives
him the kind of hands-on lessons
that no classroom can match.
“They’ve taught me everything
I know about farming and about
life,” he says. “Like being real
careful managing my money — I
don’t waste money at all. And
they’ve taught me that when you
farm for a living, you’ve got to
be a mechanic, a veterinarian,
an electrician, and an all-around
handyman. You can’t hire someone to do all of these things, or
you won’t stay in business.”
Every day presents its own
new set of challenges on the
farm. Ben knows there will be a
swinging pendulum of ups and
downs and plenty of doubters,
but he thinks he’s equipped to
handle everything well.
“I’ve had some people tell
me there’s no future in farming,” Ben says. “But I don’t
believe that. I’m going to give
it all I’ve got.”
After attending his graduation from South
Greene High School last year, Ben immediately
came home and prepared to milk cows. “A lot
of my buddies went to the beach, but I didn’t
want to. All I could think about was how
exciting it was to finally be able to farm all day,
every day.” In addition to the dairy, Ben helps
manage the farm’s beef cattle, tobacco, and
hay. He also assists his grandmother, Louise
Payne, with her beef cattle herd.
April 2014
47