Benchmarks 2022 | Section C | Agriculture

SECTION C

AGRICULTURE

The Greeneville Sun Benchmarks Edition March 19, 2022

Page 2C

The Greeneville Sun Benchmarks Edition

GreenevilleSun.com

Saturday, March 19, 2022

PHOTO SPECIAL TO THE SUN

Research Center Director Justin McKinney holds some fresh cut alfalfa. The center planted 55 acres of the forage to support its animal and veterinary science programs.

PHOTO SPECIAL TO THE SUN

The Northeast Tennessee AgResearch and Education Center may have a different name, but it has not forgotten its roots as workers still labored to cut tobacco stalks in August of 2021.

UT Agriculture Research Station Undergoes Overhaul

BY SPENCER MORRELL STAFF WRITER

E

stablished in 1932 at the University of Tennessee’s Tobacco Experiment Station, the agricultural research facility on East Allens Bridge Road became known as the Northeast Tennessee AgResearch and Education Center in 2021.

While being most wellknown for its research on burley tobacco production, the center has now diversified into many different areas of agriculture research, and the new name of the center is meant to reflect that change.

“We have begun work in row crops in 2021 and brought back animal science work, much of which had been absent for 30 or 40 years,” Research Center Director Justin McKinney said. “Row crops are becoming more and more important in this region.”

The center also began conducting educational sessions regarding consumer horticulture in 2021.

“We have blueberries and strawberries planted on the center. With help from the UT Extension Office and the Big Spring Master Gardeners we teach people the basics of agriculture and gardening,” McKinney said.

“It especially helps people that are new to the area that are interested in agriculture to know what grows here and the best practices here.”

The center began emphasizing work with corn as part of its new initiatives with row crops.

“We are testing different varieties of corn to see how well they perform in this region. Each year, the

PHOTO SPECIAL TO THE SUN

Once harvested and cured, workers at the UT Research Center stripped the leaves off of the tobacco stalks in November 2021 that had been picked in August.

information from our corn study will be collected and published for the public to see so that farmers can know which varieties grow the best here. Those varieties can be purchased at your local Farmer’s Co-Op,” McKinney said.

The center also started experimental work with soybeans in 2021.

“We began a soybean breeding program looking at experimental lines of soybeans and comparing them against current lines to see how they grow in this region in relation to the current lines,” McKinney said.

Beginning in January 2022 the center began

working more with cattle in conjunction with the Veterinarian School located at UT Knoxville through the help of a grant from the USDA. UT Vet School large-animal students come to the center in Greene County to learn more about cattle and their possible health issues. McKinney says that the students began studying about bovine viral diarrhea, or BVD, while at the center.

McKinney also said that scientists are working at the center to find ways to prevent aborted calves.

“We are working with scientists on finding the things that can cause abortions or

slipped calves. That fetal environment is what we are really on the cutting edge of research with.,” McKinney said.

The center also began providing beef to all of the dining halls at the University of Tennessee, Knoxville through a cooperation with the university’s food vendor Aramark.

“For all these years we didn’t really have any active animal science research in Northeast Tennessee. Now that has come back. We have come full circle, especially with Greene County being the second highest cattle producing county in the state,” McKinney said.

However, the center has not forgotten about its roots in tobacco research.

“Even though things are completely different than they used to be, we still have five to seven acres of tobacco here at the center,” McKinney said. “Right now, Bob Miller, who recently retired, has come back out part-time to finish up some breeding work on finding varieties of tobacco that are less harmful to the human body. When he finishes that he will go back into full retirement.”

McKinney sees the changes that occurred at the center in 2021 as positive.

“We have completely

transitioned the center from a single commodity to all of these other elements that we have been able to add to our research portfolio. We think that is very applicable to the taxpayers that support us and the farmer that we are here to find solutions for. We want to be able to develop new techniques and ideas that will serve farmers well in the region,” McKinney said.

“We are the only research center east of Knoxville so it is important that people know that we are here and that we are working to be an asset to farmers and a pillar of the community.”

PHOTO SPECIAL TO THE SUN PHOTO SPECIAL TO THE SUN

Rows of soybeans were planted at the UT Research Center for the first time in four decades in 2021.

A new soybean research crop was harvested at the UT Research Center in November 2021.

Benchmarks C Story Index

Benchmarks C Advertisers Index

UT Agriculture Research Station Undergoes Overhaul ....................................................... 2 Raising Beef Cattle, Other Farming Activities Persevere .................................................... 3 4-H Remains Active In Greene County ................................................................................ 5 Report To The Governor Reveals Gains In All Major Agricultural Sectors ........................ 6 Companies Make Advancements In Livestock Technology ................................................8

Farm & Produce Guide ........................................................................................................ 5 Funeral Home Guide ...........................................................................................................4 Greene County Kubota ........................................................................................................8 Greeneville Oil & Petroleum ................................................................................................ 3 Plumbing Guide ................................................................................................................... 4 Restaurant Guide ................................................................................................................. 6 Tax Guide ............................................................................................................................. 7

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Saturday, March 19, 2022

The Greeneville Sun Benchmarks Edition

Page 3C

SUN PHOTO BY KEN LITTLE

Farmers Livestock Market at 336 Bohannan Ave. was sold in early 2022 to two buyers from Washington County. The business is now known as Volunteer Stockyards.

Raising Beef Cattle, Other Farming Activities Persevere

BY KEN LITTLE STAFF WRITER

A

griculture remains a way of life in Greene County.

There are nearly 70,000 farms in the state, according to Farm Bureau Insurance of Tennessee.

Less than 200 are in Greene County.

The county once had a thriving agricultural economy based on beef cattle, tobacco and dairy products.

Raising cattle remains a generational tradition for many.

SEE CATTLE ON PAGE 4C

This photo of a busy day at Farmers Livestock Market in the 1970s is displayed in the business office on Bohannan Avenue. The business is now known as Volunteer Stockyards after being acquired in early 2022 by new owners.

Page 4C

The Greeneville Sun Benchmarks Edition

GreenevilleSun.com

Saturday, March 19, 2022

SUN PHOTO BY KEN LITTLE

Customers come from the region and nearby states for the regular cattle auction held at Volunteer Stockyards on Bohannan Avenue, formerly known as Farmers Livestock Market. These trucks and cattle trailers were parked in the business lot during an auction in March.

CATTLE CONTINUED FROM PAGE 3C

Tennessee is one of the top beef-producing states in the U.S., and Greene County is routinely one of the leading counties for beef production.

The state had an inventory of nearly 1.75 million cattle and calves in January, according to the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s National Agricultural Statistics Service. Beef cattle are consistently among the top three agricultural commodities in Tennessee, accounting for 16.7% of all agriculture cash receipts in 2021.

In 2020, cattle and calves generated $487.7 million in cash receipts, according to Farm Bureau Insurance of Tennessee.

One Greene County institution came under new ownership in 2022. The former Farmers Livestock Market, at 336 Bohannan Ave., was acquired from the McNeese family. The business is now known as Volunteer Stockyards.

The business owners are Robert Jason Day and Chadwick J. Fleenor, both of Washington County.

Day said in March that improvements are planned at the business, which was operated for about 75 years by the McNeese family.

“I think right now (the market) is doing really well.

Cow prices are up. As we’re getting into spring, I think we will do really well,” Day said. “It’s a seller’s market right now.”

The business attracts customers from a wide area.

“There are all kinds of

different buyers here, different packing companies and there’s a lot of other people buying stuff here,” Day said. “We get people from North Carolina, Virginia and (Tennessee) up toward Knoxville and a lot of local people as well.”

All agricultural operations in Greene County were affected by the COVID-19 pandemic. As the virus subsided in spring 2022, events in Europe occurred that may affect Tennessee farmers.

“Russia’s recent military action in Ukraine significantly increased the uncertainty of agricultural supply and demand conditions in the region and globally,” Nashville commodity broker and consultant Christopher B. Swift wrote in a commentary on his website, www.shootinthebull.com.

The U.S. imports about 80 percent of the fertilizer and fertilizer components it uses. Local farmers have reported increases in the price of feed corn, hay and fertilizer. Increased fuel prices also have an impact on agriculture, as does a shortage of workers.

Milton Orr, director of the University of Tennessee Extension office in Greene County, also raises registered Angus cattle. He said in a 2021 interview that a beef farmer’s herd is able to feed twice as many people as a herd of the same size fed 70 or so years ago, while using a third of the land and and less than half the water.

Modern farmers achieve those results while reducing their carbon footprint more than 68%, Orr said.

Orr estimated about 20

dairy farms remained operational in Greene County in 2021, far fewer than 25 years ago.

The 2017 Census of Agriculture identified 206 farms in Greene County encompassing 34,979 acres of farmland. Between 2012 and 2017, the last year statistics were available, 53 farms went under in Greene County.

“Most farms lost were mid-size farms,” according to the census.

One bright spot in the Greene County agriculture picture is the growth of agritourism as a means of providing additional revenue.

The Tennessee Department of Agriculture’s Biennial Report for 2020 noted 37,668 licensed agricultural operations in Tennessee.

The most recent tally by

county available, the 2017 U.S. Census of Agriculture Data by Tennessee County for Farms Selling Agricultural Products Directly to Consumers for Human Consumption, showed Greene county had 96 such farming operations that garnered $267,000 in sales.

There are about 800 Pick Tennessee Product businesses in the state that offer agritourism activities such as wagon rides, fishing, equine stabling and trails, Christmas trees, pick your own, on-farm lodging, wineries, distilleries, and breweries.

Orr said that farmers have embraced technology and agricultural science to maintain a competitive advantage.

Americans enjoy what Orr said is demonstrably

SUN PHOTO BY KEN LITTLE

A crowd of buyers and sellers participated in a cattle auction in March at Volunteer Stockyards, formerly known as the Farmers Livestock Market, on Bohannan Avenue in Greeneville.

the “cheapest and safest food supply in the world.”

Orr noted that agriculture involves far more than

food.

“Everything we wear or eat goes back to agriculture,” he said.

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The Greeneville Sun Benchmarks Edition

Page 5C

PHOTO SPECIAL TO THE SUN

Mackenzie Castro and Elaina Philbeck enjoyed gem mining during the 4-H Camp Traveling Road Show in 2021, held at the Clyde Austin 4-H Center. They discovered some rose quartz from the Black Hills of South Dakota.

Orr: 4-H Remains Active In Greene County

BY CICELY BABB STAFF WRITER

A

s school took on a more typical appearance in the second year of the pandemic, the local 4-H Youth programming has continued, and local University of Tennessee Agriculture Extension Director Milton Orr said he is hopeful for more opportunities in 2022.

“COVID has been a struggle for us for the past two year, and even this past

year while schools have had a semblance of normal, it is still a challenge for us to get schedules adjusted to meet with clubs,” Orr said. “The good news is that the Horse Club, Shooting Sports Club and livestock project group have been active.”

Those groups provide opportunities for students to practice working with areas of interest within agriculture and meet like-minded students from other parts of the county.

“They allow kids from across the county that

have an interest in one of those projects to come together and prepare for a show,” Orr explained. “The shooting club is practicing to shoot clays in the state competition, and we had one young man come in second place last year in the state, so those projects are going really well.”

He said the majority of students who compete through 4-H project groups or clubs are in fourth through eighth grades.

“There are a lot of opportunities at the high school

level to occupy youths’ time.

We work with FFA on a lot of projects, and depending on the project a child is interested in, most likely it exists in both, so basically they have twice as many competition opportunities,” said Orr. To operate during the pandemic, Orr said extension offices across the state have followed guidance from the CDC as well as from UT. “The guidelines and restrictions have challenged us to find alternative ways to keep youth interested and involved. It just takes a

little head scratching to get it done,” Orr said. “We have been limited to keep groups below 50 people, so that has been a challenge for us as well as other things that limited our activities, particularly scheduling, so we are basically trying to overcome that. We have also been minus an agent for about four months now, and that has also been a huge challenge.”

Orr said the extension office is in the process of evaluating applicants for the position and will begin

conducting interviews soon in hopes of filling the position by May. He also said 4-H is preparing to announce summer camp plans for the local Clyde Austin 4-H Center in mid-June.

“We’ll be looking for about 50 kids that want to come out and have a really fun time at camp this year,” he said.

For more information about local 4-H programming, visit greene.tennessee.edu/4-h-youth-development/.

Farm & Produce Guide

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Page 6C

The Greeneville Sun Benchmarks Edition

GreenevilleSun.com

Saturday, March 19, 2022

UTIA

Researchers from the University of Tennessee Institute of Agriculture outline gains in all major agricultural sectors in this year’s economic report to the governor.

Report To The Governor Reveals Gains In All Major Agricultural Sectors KNOXVILLE — Researchers from the University of Tennessee Institute of Agriculture outlined gains in all major agricultural sectors in a 2021 economic report to the governor, a marked improvement from the previous fiscal year that reflected depressed global demand for U.S. exports tied to the COVID-19 pandemic and continued trade tensions.

Tennessee’s agri-forestry industrial complex encompasses the supply chain from farm and forest to the manufacturer and is a vital part of the state’s economy. Accounting for multiplier effects, the complex provides an estimated $79.3 billion to Tennessee’s economy and accounts for 339,400 jobs.

Farm receipts in Tennessee totaled $3.6 billion, with approximately 65.5% of this value coming from crops and 34.5% from animals and animal products. In terms of harvested acreage, Tennessee’s four

largest row crops include soybeans (1.47 million acres, down 9% from 2020); corn (970,000 acres, up 18%); wheat (330,000 acres, up 43%); and cotton (270,000 acres, down 4%).

“The dominant factors for producer profitability in 2022 will be input prices and availability, particularly fertilizer and crop protection products,” said crop marketing specialist Aaron Smith, an associate professor in the Department of Agricultural and Resource Economics.

Cattle and calves represent the third largest agricultural sector in the state with cash receipts totaling $512.5 million, which accounts for 14.3% of total agricultural cash receipts.

Total beef export value over the first eight months of 2021 totaled nearly $5.96 billion, an increase of 36% compared to 2020.

“Looking into 2022, the livestock, poultry and dairy industries will continue to

navigate the changes to the domestic and international markets brought on by the pandemic,” said livestock marketing specialist Andrew Griffith, an associate professor of agricultural and resource economics. “The cattle and beef industry will look to expand as prices increase, while the hog and pork industry will follow export demand. Beef and pork demand are both expected to remain strong, which will further support prices.”

Total U.S. agricultural and related exports were $186.8 billion in 2021, up 23% from 2020. This overall increase is attributed to the nation recovering from the pandemic and increased export sales to China, up 89% from the previous fiscal year. The increase is a result of the U.S.-China Phase One Trade Agreement where the Chinese government agreed to purchase $80 billion in U.S. agricultural products over a two-year period. In 2021,

China surpassed Canada as the leading destination market for U.S. agricultural and related exports, with purchases totaling $36.2 billion.

The factors affecting exports at the national level directly impact Tennessee exports. The state’s agricultural and related exports totaled $2.2 billion in 2021, up $325 million or 17% when compared to the previous fiscal year. Tennessee experienced increases in all major categories in 2021. Consumer-oriented exports, which includes meat and dairy products, processed food products and distilled spirts, were up $138 million. Exports of bulk agricultural commodities, which include cotton, tobacco and soybeans, were up $104 million. Exports of intermediate products, such as soybean meal and oil and other feeds, were up $51 million. Related products exports, mostly comprised of forest products, were up

$32 million.

The U.S. Department of Agriculture projected 2022 agricultural exports could reach a record year at $177.5 billion, primarily due to higher projected exports of soybeans and cotton.

“While these projected increases should bode well for Tennessee in the coming year, there are two major issues that could affect Tennessee agricultural production and trade: the recent rise in fertilizer prices and container freight rates,” said UTIA trade expert Andrew Muhammad, a professor of agricultural and resource economics.

The report also highlighted Tennessee’s rural infrastructure needs. The state’s off-farm storage capacity is projected to be short by roughly 57 million bushels, while the state’s road and highway system — the major mode of transporting agricultural products — has deteriorated due to insufficient state

and federal funding. As of 2021, approximately 14% of Tennessee’s major roads are in poor or mediocre condition, while 4% of the state’s bridges are rated poor or structurally deficient. Other infrastructure needs highlighted in the report include broadband and water/ wastewater.

The following researchers from the Department of Agricultural and Resource Economics provided the agri-forestry analyses: Kimberly Jensen, Burton English, Jamey Menard, Andrew Griffith, David Hughes, Andrew Muhammad, Aaron Smith, Sreedhar Upendram and Edward Yu. The complete economic report to the governor is prepared by the Boyd Center for Business and Economic Research at UT’s Haslam College of Business. The full report is available at https://haslam. utk.edu/?haslam_whitepaper=economic-report-to-the-governor-2022.

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TAX GUIDE

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Page 8C

The Greeneville Sun Benchmarks Edition

Saturday, March 19, 2022

GreenevilleSun.com

Companies Make Advancements In Livestock Technology

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onsumer demand drives changes in industry, and the agricultural sector is no exception. Consumer demands for improved animal welfare have led to changes in the livestock sector, and various technologies have been developed and are in development to help this particular segment of the agricultural industry thrive.

According to the Animal AgTech Innovation Summit, various startups have developed technologies that can make the livestock industry more sustainable and efficient.

TREATMENT The Israeli firm Armenta has developed a non-antibiotic treatment for bovine mastitis that utilizes acoustic pulse technology. The treatment has a 70 percent cure rate.

Another firm working to treat livestock is the United States-based General Probiotics.

Animal AgTech reports that General Probiotics develops cellbots and antimicrobial probiotics that eliminate harmful pathogens in livestock.

That can reduce dependency on antibiotics and make food production safer.

WELFARE Faromatics, a firm based in Spain, has combined robotics, artificial intelligence and big data to improve animal welfare and farm productivity. One Faromatics product utilizes a robot suspended from a ceiling to monitor certain variables, including equipment function and health and welfare, that affect broiler chickens.

The American firm Swinetech utilizes voice recognition and computer vision technology in its SmartGuard product to prevent piglet deaths from crushing and starvation. The product also makes it possible to track and facilitate obstetrical assistance.

OPERATIONS Based in Uganda, Jaguza Tech has developed a livestock management system that utilizes sensors, data science and machine learning to improve the efficiency, productivity and sustainability of modern farm operations. Farmers can utilize Jaguza to perform a host of functions, including monitoring their animals’ health and identifying their livestock.

The Netherlands-based H2Oalert is a water control management system that checks the quality and quantity of cattle drinking water in real time. The management system also checks for pollution and malfunctions in the water supply.

Livestock technology continues to advance, and firms across the globe are developing new products and platforms to help livestock farmers make their operations more efficient, sustainable and productive.

METRO CREATIVE

Various startups have developed technologies that can make the livestock industry more sustainable and efficient.

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