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Tennessee Farm Bureau News - July 2010
www.tnfarmbureau.org
Innovative Agriculture By Melissa Burniston Assistant Director of Communications Photos courtesy of TDA
Ag Enhancement Program makes positive impact Six years ago, Governor Phil Bredesen and the General Assembly approved and began a program that would have a positive, far-reaching impact on our state agricultural industry and our
economy. The Tennessee Agricultural Enhancement Program (TAEP) was founded with the goal of providing cost share dollars for farmers across the state in order that they could make improvements on their farm they couldn’t have made otherwise. Participation allows producers to maximize farm profits, adapt to changing market situations, improve operation safety, increase farm efficiency and make a positive economic impact in their communities. In fact, for every TAEP dollar invested, $4 - $5 is generated in additional economic activity. The original money in the TAEP fund came from tobacco buyout monies and totaled $26.3 million, and although that money has been cut several times since the inception of the program, this year TAEP had $16.3 million available for farmers to apply for. Commissioner of Agriculture Ken Givens says the program has been wildly successful and continues to make a positive impact on farmers
across the state, “It’s been a good year; I’m very pleased with what the General Assembly ended up approving, and we’d like to thank Governor Phil Bredesen and our legislators for being so supportive. We actually have the same level of funding this year as we had last year at $16.3 million. In addition to that, Chairman of the House Agriculture Committee Stratton Bone and Representative John Litz and other rural lawmakers, as well as Senator Lowe Feeney on the senate side were active to get these dollars increased with $10 million in what we call nonrecurring dollars. If there is a federal stimulus package passed, the second one, we will get an additional $10 million so that would take our program back up to a level of $26.3 million.” There are seven program areas farmers can apply for cost share dollars in and each area has a program goal to measure success. Cattle Genetics – to increase the marketability and reputa-
Storage – to improve long term feed storage, cost efficiency and feed quality; Grain Storage – to improve quantity, quality and marketing through proper storage and management; Producer Diversification – to encourage agricultural producers to expand or improve their operations through the production of diversified agricultural products in these industry sectors: agritoursim, aquaculture, fruits and vegetables, honey bees, horticulture, organics, value-added products and viticulture; and Verified Incentive Program – to increase the value and marketability of Tennessee feeder cattle. Each year the TAEP program accepts applications for a specified period, this year the first week of June was the window farmers had to get their applications in, and the monies are distributed on a first-come, firstserve basis until the fund runs out. Overall, the program has been a huge success, with so many applications
average has almost two projects that folks request. We’re hopeful we can fund all of those, and we’re pleased with the success we’ve had with the ag enhancement program. Just one pro-
gram for example, with the hay storage we have built upwards of around 3,000 hay storage barns since the beginning and farmers can get anywhere from 35 percent cost share on those storage buildings,” Givens said. The program’s continuing success can be attributed to the unswerving commitment of Tennessee and its lawmakers to supporting Tennessee’s agricultural community. Thanks to the efforts of the General Assembly and the support of the Governor, the Tennessee Agriculture Enhancement Program is still going strong and more and more farmers are taking advantage of the opportunity to get cost share money to make needed improvements to their farming operations. t tion of Tennessee’s cattle; Livestock Equipment – to improve long term livestock husbandry and management capabilities and enhance farm safety; Hay Storage – to improve quantity and nutritional quality by using proper storage and management; Livestock Feed
coming in that not all of the projects could be approved before the money allotted for that fiscal year ran out. “It’s just been a wonderful program. To date for this year we are upwards of around 3,300 separate applications, and each application on
TENNESSEE AG ENHANCEMENT PROGRAM (FY 2006-2010 which is still in progress. Information is current as of 6/11/10.)
Number of projects
Dollars in projects