Farmers

Beef producers graduate master program

Left to right: Cody Kitts, Laura Nolen, Matt Tindell, Laurel Osborn, Jesse Lavender, Amanda Evans, Kathy Turpin, Ernie Poore, Mindy Grimm, Rick Roberts, Mary Flatford,David Lusk, Shannon DeWitt, Gary Kitts, Greg Vincent, Jeff Sellers

Commitment, complexity, flexibility and sternness are all features you will find in a beef cattle farmer. American cattle farmers are working harder today than ever to be successful in their industry, and it does not come easy. The devotion is met with long hours, rain when you don’t need it and drought when do. Broken fences, leaky barn roofs, breech calves, and flat tractor tires are nails found in the road of cattle farming.

Children at the Farmers Market

Children enjoying chalk at the farmers market

An outdoor farmers market, like the Union County Farmers Market at Wilson Park, is a wonderful place for a family outing. It should be fun for everyone and a fabulous learning experience for your children. The variety of sights, sounds and smells at the market automatically engage your child’s senses and are a fun way to foster curiosity, teach important skills and encourage them to think about where their food comes from. A few ideas to help you get started on a family outing to the market follow.

Beef Cattle Education

Pictured Left to Right: Back- Justin Utley, Jacob Mason, Robert Loy, Stephen Mitchell, James Yarber Jr., Robert Stooksbury, David Gray; Center- Curt Sawyer, Rick Roberts, Chris George; Front- Tim George, Kern Elkins, Jason West, Bobby Ray, Danny Stooksbury, Denny Bates

Raising beef is a very complex business. Knowing how to safely and sustainably run a beef cattle operation is key to profit and success. More Tennesseans are involved in beef production than any other agricultural enterprise. There are 79,000 farms in Tennessee and beef cattle are found on fifty-three percent of those. Tennessee is one of the top beef-producing states in the nation. Our great state ranks ninth in the nation in beef cow numbers and fifteenth in total cattle.