For the love
of farming Wheat is among the grains Bryan Grain distributes to other companies like Southeastern Mills.
Bryan Grain uses modern technology, traditional values BY MELISSA SMITH
In 2017, the Ardmore Connection will honor the importance of agriculture in our community. Look for a story in each issue.
J
ohn Bryan points to a framed feed bag hanging on the wall of his home office. It’s from his father’s business, Dellrose Grain and Feed Company. A rose is depicted on the aged fabric. While many would see this as just a piece of material, it means something much more to the son. It’s a piece of his heritage. A source of pride. The bag represents the hard work of his father, and seeing it every day encourages John Bryan to carry on his father’s legacy. John S. Bryan Sr. owned an elevator company in Dellrose. A grain elevator is a tower with a bucket on a conveyer belt that carries the grain from a lower level, like a truck, and deposits it into a silo to be stored. He
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operated this business from the 1940s until the 1960s, and he passed away in 1970. Now, John Bryan and his wife, Debbie, use modern technology to help buy and distribute grain for their business, Bryan Grain Inc., throughout the southeast. The couple met while playing for rival basketball teams in high school, and now they work together daily to successfully run their business. “She wanted a country boy, and she got one,” John Bryan says with a laugh. Debbie Bryan played basketball for Giles County High School, and John Bryan played for Elkton High School. Both were on alltournament teams, and both were named most valuable player in the county during their time in high school. Debbie Bryan also holds the single-game scoring record at Giles County High School with 53 points in one game.
The couple purchased several hundred acres of farmland in Dellrose. “We were more into farming, but we still had ties to feed and grain through the years,” John Bryan says. In 1987, John Bryan began acquiring semitrucks and started hauling grain for farmers. After successfully opening the grain mill in Dellrose on their property, the Bryans’ company soon outgrew that location, and they purchased another facility in Lawrenceburg, Tennessee, which is about 40 miles away.
HOW IT WORKS The Dellrose facility can hold about 500,000 bushels of grain, while the Lawrenceburg facility boasts a space that can house 1.1 million bushels. Bryan Grain purchases grain from farmers and then sells to companies who use the Ardmore Telephone Company