When a five-year-old boy trotted through the patch of bright orange pumpkins, his future in agriculture was just beginning.
Jacob Heiskell, son of Jason Heiskell and a junior at Union County High School, can be found at his dad and grandfather James' service station, Heiskell’s, at the corner of Hwy. 33 and Heiskell Road in the heart of Maynardville, selling his pumpkins directly across from where they were planted.
What started out as Jacob helping his father grow pumpkins at the young age of five has now led to a young entrepreneur taking on the family tradition.
Jacob, like many others in rural East Tennessee, grew up around agriculture.
“A lot of my spare time has gone to working around agriculture, including working with cattle and gardening,” he said.
This year, he won numerous best in shows with his pumpkins in the East Tennessee FFA contest at the Tennessee Valley Fair, as well as placing first in the biggest field pumpkin contest.
His winning field pumpkin weighed in at 175 pounds.
Not only has Jacob taken on this business endeavor and won a few blue ribbons along the way, he has also started connecting with fellow farmers in the community.
This year, he has set up with Allen Beeler at the family service station to sell pumpkins and mums together for the fall season.
In terms of what is next for this young agriculturist, Jacob has thought about allowing community members to pick their own pumpkins and may consider this idea in future growing seasons.
This year has been the largest crop so far, and he hopes to continue growing his crop as the years continue.
Jacob is not sure on what is to come for the future quite yet, but he knows that he wants it to include some form of agriculture.
“I have always dreamed of having my own farm,” he said.
Some of Jacob’s biggest influences have been his grandfather James and his great uncle Mike Heiskell. Mike has worked in agriculture for many years as he was the Claiborne County Extension agent through the University of Tennessee.
Mike has been showing Jacob the ins and outs of agriculture alongside the rest of his family for as long as he can remember.
Along with this interest in agriculture, Jacob obtains his entrepreneurship qualities from his grandfather. James is well-known in the community and has owned and operated the longest running service station in Maynardville for 54 years now.
Jacob has many attributing factors to his future success through his family’s work in agriculture as well as in our community, and it is no secret that the young Heiskell has many opportunities ahead.