INDIAN MOUND, Tenn. (WTVF) – Bobby Darnell isn’t sure what he’s going to do.
Last week, all of his farm equipment sat idle, unless the fertilizer truck got stuck in the mud. The amount of rain Middle Tennessee experienced in May was substantial, leaving the ground too soft in places.
His bright green tobacco plants were stored in a wooden box of water next to the barn, a sight that would soon be lost in Tennessee. Darnell is one of the last farmers still growing this labor-intensive crop.
“Tobacco is almost gone in Tennessee,” said Darnell, who kicked aside a stalk of tobacco from the barn floor. “None of my children want to use tobacco. They hate it. Tobacco is about to end in the United States.”
Don’t you remember what tobacco plants look like? Watch Darnell’s story in the player above.
Darnell’s family has been growing tobacco since the 19th century. Tobacco has been a staple in Tennessee since before it became a state. However, tobacco farming is changing, and the precipitous decline of tobacco farmers began to slow in 2002. While many still smoke and smoke, tobacco is also being floated in from foreign countries, muddying the water for farmers. local.
“I’ll tell you this,” Darnell said. “I’m living. I’m not making money. I’m paying my bills, but we’re selling things. If I don’t, I don’t know what we’re going to do. We’re doing everything we can to keep the There will be no farms left.”
How many tobacco farms are there in Tennessee?
Tobacco farms have all but disappeared in Tennessee.
In 1992, there were almost 23,000 on the landscape.
Now, that number barely exceeds 200.
Darnell is now only growing 40 acres of the crop, which he blames on the tobacco companies for giving such a low allotment or amount of acreage.
“We were growing 125 acres of tobacco,” Darnell said. “And now the tobacco companies have cut and cut and cut. They cut some people by 58% and cut others out completely.
Tobacco farms have received allocations for decades, a precedent that has been set so as not to oversaturate the market with too much of the crop when it was thriving. Many Tennessee farmers were offered a government buyout to stop growing tobacco, especially after tobacco companies faced scrutiny of the real health problems the crop could cause when smoked and dipped.
The Tennessee counties that border Kentucky have always grown the most, as Darnell has witnessed. The Stewart-Montgomery county line runs through his farm.
What is the future?
The Darnells are trying everything they know.
Although the fertilizer truck was stuck, that didn’t stop the rest of the family from raking and baling hay. Three generations worked together on the farm from the field to the cattle pasture.
Darnell said they are doing everything they can to generate income outside of tobacco, knowing that one day the family farm will not produce that crop.
However, he is not sure if that will be in his lifetime.
“Most farmers stop doing it when they die,” Darnell said. “I don’t know many retired farmers. Do you?”
Emily R. West/WTVF
By 2027, the amount of land lost is expected to increase to 2 million acres.
I found this study from the University of Tennessee Agricultural Institute that showed this dilemma.
Over the past five years, Williamson County has lost the most agricultural land to development. This is because the population has increased significantly in Williamson. According to the US census, a quarter of a million people currently live there.
Get to know The Cherry and why they keep farming by tapping the link.
Emily R. West/WTVF
With the disappearance of farmland, I had to discover where they went and were lost.
Sumner County was suffering a similar fate to Williamson.
From 2014 to 2023, Sumner County lost more than 15,000 acres of land to development, both residential and commercial.
On average, 63,537 acres are developed annually in Tennessee, according to UT economist Charley Martinez. However, since 2017, that number has skyrocketed to an average of more than 86,000 acres.
Sumner County ranks ninth in Tennessee in terms of transitioning from farmland to homes or commercial real estate as of 2017.
You can tap the link to read why this group of people said they will fight against farmland development.
Emily R. West/WTVF
Andrew Dixon talks to his son, Carter, who was standing in the soybean field on June 3, 2024, in Estill Springs, Tennessee.
Although Franklin County agriculture produced an economic impact of $162 million, the rolling farmland located in the Monteagle Mountain Valley has been slowly affected by development.
Franklin County has lost the most acres since 2014. It amounted to 26,000.
The Dixons don’t want their farmland to be part of the statistics.
In an effort to diversify the farm, Dixon is the head manager of Granddaddy’s Farm, a family-friendly fall experience that includes pumpkin patches, corn mazes, a kiddie zone, mudslides, pig races, flowers and food.
At this time, three generations are farming together. Andrew is the fourth generation. He hopes his son Carter will be interested in becoming the fifth.
You can read about the Dixons and generational farming in Tennessee by tapping this link.
Farmland and Tennessee
Are you watching farmland disappear or land change in your neighborhood? Please tell me.
I’ve been working on stories about the pull between agriculture and development. I came to this topic because of a line from an August press release from the University of Tennessee Agricultural Institute. He pointed to a study on the disappearance of agricultural land that an economist had conducted. I found the economist, talked to him, and compiled the data for our NewsChannel 5 viewing area, which covers 45 counties in Tennessee.
Now I’m exploring how this affects you. If you want to talk, my email is emily.west@newschannel5.com.
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