Staff have received several new referrals from all the publicity surrounding recent farmer veteran events, from their great spokesperson, Charley Jordan, and from the Farmer Veteran Coalition Facebook post. RFD-TV did a great interview (click here to view) of Farmer Veteran Fellowship awardee and Homegrown By Heroes producer Charley Jordan of CircleJRanch. Charley, who was recently honored as the Most Improved Beginning Small Farmer at the Tennessee Small Farm Expo, is doing great things for fellow farmer veterans in Tennessee and telling his story through the Homegrown By Heroes label. It has over 1,300 reactions on Facebook and 200 shares!
Look for Charley Jordan on HGTV and GAC in the near future, as a Nashville production company reached out to him and they did a commercial for Kubota Tractor. It will focus on the brand itself and also on Charley's farm and the work he has done with farmer veterans.
TN AgrAbility planned a series of six beginning farmer workshops over the next year. The first one was on September 21, 2016, in Spring Hill, TN and the second was on November 9, 2014, in McDonald, TN. Each workshop was a full day of education for anyone with little or no farming background or experience desiring to start a farming enterprise. Program topics included the language of agriculture; a self-assessment to help identify goals, desires, and genuine commitment; basic crop and livestock needs; when to call a vet; evaluating land for suitability; equipment and tools; potential risks; introduction to the business side of farming, and AgrAbility/Farmer Veterans!
August ended with registration of 81 UT TSU Extension Staff for the Tennessee Ag RUN Ability 5K/2-mile WALK. Since UT and TSU Extension Services are promoting better health among staff, TAP and UT TSU Healthy Lifestyles Committee promoted this event during August for just UT and TSU Extension. See the flyer here.
Submitted by Joetta Turbeville White