IN THIS ISSUE... UT President and Administrative Staff Visit Middle Tennessee AgResearch and Education Center and Center for Profitable Agriculture

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1 Center for Profitable Agriculture Helping Farmers Quarterly Develop Progress Value-Added Report Enterprises IN THIS ISSUE... Progress Report 78, October 2017 UT President and Administrative Staff Visit MTREC and CPA Page Grass-Fed Beef Conference Conducted for the Second Consecutive Year Page 2 Value-Added Educational Workshops Conducted in Rural Counties Page 2 Governor Proclaims October Cooperative Month Page 2 Gamma Signa Delta Team Award Presented Page 3 Update on UT Extension Strategic Planning Team for Gifts, Grants and Fees Page 3 TDA Farmers Market Compliance Guide Updated Page 3 Lloyd and Nettie Downen Endowment Award Presented to Hal Pepper Page 3 TDA Announces Realignment to Focus on Agribusiness and Agricultural Advancement Page 4 UT President and Administrative Staff Visit Middle Tennessee AgResearch and Education Center and Center for Profitable Agriculture Members of our Center and the Middle Tennessee AgResearch and Education Center were pleased to host UT President Joe DiPietro and his administrative staff to Spring Hill on September 6. Those joining DiPietro from his office were David Miller, Tonja Johnson, and David Golden. Also joining from UTIA were Tim Cross, Robert Burns, Bill Brown, Lisa Stearns, and Keith Barber. Guests were treated to brief tour of the research center along with an opportunity to visit with Center employees and agriculture agents from nearby counties. Kevin Thompson, Justin Rhinehart, Renata Oakes, Rob Holland, Kevin Thompson, and Tiffany Howard made brief presentations.

2 2017 Grass-Fed Beef Conference Conducted for the Second Consecutive Year The 2017 Grass-Fed Beef Conference was conducted for the second consecutive year on June 28, 2017, in Spring Hill, Tennessee, and June 29, 2017 in Athens, Tennessee. The 2017 conference aimed to help producers address the challenges of managing forages, finishing cattle, and marketing beef using pasture-based production systems. The 2017 Grass-Fed Beef Conference was partially funded with a grant awarded by the Southern Extension Risk Management Education Center (SRMEC) and US Department of Agriculture s National Institute of Food and Agriculture. Ninety-seven people attended the conferences in Spring Hill and Athens. Based on the data collected from conference evaluations submitted by attendees, short-term impacts of the 2017 Grass-Fed Beef Conference included knowledge gains in the following areas listed in the below chart. Increased Knowledge/Understanding of: Knowledge Gain Grazing and forage management strategies for pasture-based finishing. 39% Forage species selection for grass-fed beef program. 51% Determining acreage needed for new forage crops. 51% Grass-fed beef nutrition requirements. 49% Special statements and claims labeling requirements for meat product labels. 84% Finishing cattle on farm s pasture. 23% Value-Added Educational Workshops Conducted in Rural Counties In fall 2016, the Center for Profitable Agriculture began an initiative to work with agriculture Extension agents in the state s most rural counties to deliver educational workshops on various value-added agriculture topics. Periodically, the Center pitched workshop ideas to the agriculture agents in the counties designated by ECD as economically distressed and to the agriculture agents in the counties designated by USDA as strike force counties. Over the twelve-month period from October 2016 to September 2017, 18 workshops were conducted for 428 participants in 15 counties. Governor Proclaims October Cooperative Month October is Cooperative Month in Tennessee and representatives from the Board of Directors for the Tennessee Council of Cooperatives recently met with Governor Bill Haslam for his signing of an official proclamation deeming it such. Cooperative month helps focus on the approximately 200 member-owned cooperative organizations that employ more than 6,000 individuals across the state. Cooperative businesses also impact the state s economy, rural communities, and the lives of Tennesseans through a wide array of products and services to member-owners. It is estimated that more than 75 percent of Tennessee rural residents are served by a cooperative. 2 P age

3 Gamma Sigma Delta Team Award Presented The Gamma Sigma Delta Team Award was presented to Rob Holland, Dwight Loveday, and Hal Pepper by UTIA Chancellor Tim Cross on July 28 in Knoxville. Justin Rhinehart and Megan Leffew were recognized but unable to attend the presentation. Beef cattle are raised in all ninety-five Tennessee s counties along with millions of acres of pasture to feed them. It adds up to half a billion dollars in economic impact statewide the state s top Ag commodity. The team s mission was to help Tennessee farmers produce the highest quality beef possible, and then market it nationally. The program emphasized information delivery to producers and direct marketers statewide, including more than sixty educational workshops, seminars, and webinars from 2011 to 2015, reaching nearly 3,000 producers. Farmers learned about meat cuts and quality assurance, curbing production costs and meeting safety standards. The program also included a number of farm tours, and the overall program resulted in a 150 percent increase in the number of farm-based retail meat permits issued by the Department of Agriculture. Team members are also quick to praise some thirty other Extension agents who assisted with this program. Update on UT Extension Strategic Planning Team for Gifts, Grants, and Fees Over the past three years, initiative teams have been diligently working to implement the action steps of our strategic plan. Many of you and your coworkers have been and continue to be involved in this important process. Much has been accomplished, and teams are transitioning to their sustainability plans. The following video report link features Rob Holland leader of the Gifts, Grants, and Fees Team discussing the work of the team. I hope you will take a few minutes to watch the video and learn about of our strategic plan work and accomplishments. As always, your feedback is welcome. youtube.com/watch?v=az0wp33rlpa&feature=youtu.be TDA Farmers Market Compliance Guide Updated In August, the Tennessee Department of Agriculture division of Consumer and Industry Services released the updated version of the Farmers Market State Compliance Guide. It is available on the TDA website at and is available in printed and pdf format. Our Center coordinated the distribution of printed copies to county agriculture agents interested in receiving them. In the first two weeks of availability, 29 county agents requested a total of 687 printed copies. The number of copies per county ranged from 5 to 75. Lloyd and Nettie Downen Endowmet Award Presented to Hal Pepper The University of Tennessee Institute of Agriculture recently presented several awards to top faculty, staff, researchers and Extension experts. More than two dozen people were recognized at UTIA s annual Awards and Promotions Luncheon held on the UTIA campus in Knoxville July 28, Many of the awards are gifts made possible by past faculty, alumni, and friends of the Institute. 3 P age

4 Hal Pepper, a value-added financial specialist with the Center for Profitable Agriculture, is the statewide winner of the Lloyd and Nettie Downen Endowment Award. The award is named for former UT Extension Dean Lloyd Downen and his wife Nettie. It recognizes faculty who serve in leadership roles, and includes a stipend for further leadership training. I m honored to receive the Lloyd and Nettie Downen Leadership Award, Pepper says. I look forward to having this opportunity to improve my skills working with farmers market managers and producers who are direct-marketing their products. I m humbled by this award, and hope to continue making an impact by serving Tennessee farm families for years to come. TDA Announces Realignment to Focus on Agribusiness and Agricultural Advancement Tennessee Commissioner of Agriculture recently announced a few changes and realignment of resources and staff positions within the department to better address agribusiness growth and development. He said I believe these changes will help us become more strategic in our efforts to facilitate agribusiness opportunities, particularly in our distressed and at-risk counties in Tennessee. This follows an extensive review of the Market Development Division s vision and structure, with considerable input from our employees, key partners, and industry. These changes also better align the department s goals and objectives with Governor Haslam s priorities, including recommendations of the Governor s Rural Challenge and the Rural Development Task Force. The division has been renamed Agricultural Advancement and the following key changes went into effect September 18, 2017: Assistant Commissioner Ed Harlan will head up a new agribusiness development team and will continue to focus on major ag industry development and recruitment efforts in partnership with the Tennessee Department of Economic and Community Development and local development officials. Using existing resources, five agribusiness development consultant positions have been established, each focused on a particular area of emphasis including two new areas of food and forest industry development. Other Agribusiness Development Consultant Team members include Louis Buck, who has recently taken on international trade on a full-time basis, and Wendy Sneed, who will continue to focus on livestock marketing with an emphasis on expanding meat processing opportunities. Debbie Ball, who has served as marketing director, will round out the Agribusiness Development Consultant Team and will continue to provide day-to-day management of Pick Tennessee Products, Specialty Crop Block Grants, and other programs, as well as supervision of ag marketing consultants, previously known as specialists. Their duties and responsibilities will be redefined in order to become more strategic in service delivery while maintaining current outreach and industry support. Creative and multimedia support for Pick Tennessee Products and other programs will be expanded under the direction of Assistant Commissioner Corinne Gould with the addition of longtime creative services coordinator Cynthia Kent to the public affairs team. 4 P age

5 In Memory. We in the Center for Profitable Agriculture are saddened by the death of Joe Pearson on Wednesday morning, August 30, 2017 at Vanderbilt University Medical Center in Nashville. A memorial service was held on Sunday, September 3, 2017 at First United Methodist Church in Columbia. Joe was born in Charlotte, North Carolina, on October 17, 1948, to Eldon Andrew and Ruth Woods Pearson. He was raised in Morristown, Tennessee, and graduated from Morristown-Hamblin East High School in Joe served his country in the United States Army from He attended the University of Tennessee, Knoxville, where he earned his bachelor s and master s degrees in animal science. He worked for the Tennessee Farm Bureau for forty-one years, where he served as chief administrative officer at the time of his death. Joe was an active member of First United Methodist Church where he served on many committees. He was a member of the Columbia Kiwanis Club, and he also served in many capacities throughout the community, the state, and the University of Tennessee. Joe was a friend to many and was known for his big smile, his big hugs, and his big appetite. He was an avid supporter of the Center for Profitable Agriculture and our staff members. He will be greatly missed. AG.TENNESSEE.EDU Center for Profitable Agriculture P.O. Box 1819, Spring Hill, TN ag.tennessee.edu/cpa Programs in agriculture and natural resources, 4-H youth development, family and consumer sciences, and resource development. University of Tennessee Institute of Agriculture, U.S. Department of Agriculture and county governments cooperating. UT Extension provides equal opportunities in programs and employment. 5 P age