tennessee

Earlier this month, Secretary Tom Vilsack received a warm welcome from the record breaking crowd of more than 6,000 farmers, ranchers and farm industry leaders at the General Session of the 2012 Commodity Classic in Nashville. The night before, an audience of more than 250 farmers, conservationists, renewable energy experts, farm-industry leaders and students packed the Secretary's Town Hall Meeting, "Blueprint for a Rural America Built to Last," broadcast live on Rural TV with questions coming in from callers in 18 states and a nationwide audience.

Both events included spirited discussion on the future of commodity prices, crop insurance and other details for the next Farm Bill being considered by Congress this year. However, the biggest applause and cheers came at both events when the Secretary answered questions on farm-based renewable energy.

When most people think of Orlando, Florida, they envision exciting theme parks, Cinderella’s castle and a mouse with big ears.  But when USDA Secretary Tom Vilsack visited Orlando on February 24^th, it was with a different vision in mind.

How did USDA employees raise over 1.7 million pounds of food this summer for Feds Feed Families? The stories below provide a cross-country flavor of the many examples of generosity and creativity demonstrated at USDA field office’s food drives around the country.

On the West Coast, two field offices in California worked with producers to gather thousands of pounds of local produce for food banks. The Oroville Natural Resources Conservation Service (NRCS) Center partnered with Pacific Coast Producers to donate an astonishing 4,367 pounds of canned fruits to North State Food Bank.  The Dixon Service Center partnered with Robben Farms to collect 2,513 pounds of bagged, dry canario beans for the Food Bank of Contra Costa and Solano Counties.

Born and raised in New England I can’t claim to know the finer details and intricacies of the delicious and competitive world of barbeque.  So when I came to Tennessee to highlight economic development opportunities at Cumberland University’s Cumberland Culinary Center I was pleased to see first-hand just how intense that competition can be  and how that competition is fueling small business opportunities and growth in rural Tennessee.

Secretary Tom Vilsack recently joined a Round Table of regional stakeholders in Nashville to discuss ways that USDA can help rural fuel station owners and cooperatives increase the availability and use of flex-fuels. About eight million cars and trucks on the road in the U.S. today can use E85 fuel, but finding a station that can dispense renewable fuels can be a challenge.

Earlier this month, I joined colleagues from several USDA agencies in Knoxville, Tennessee to discuss biomass production and renewable energy opportunities with producers.  The event was sponsored by the Farm Foundation.

Space is filling up, but there are still a few openings available for landowners, farmers, producers, ranchers, and foresters who plan to attend the Renewable Energy Biomass Education Field Days event in Knoxville, Tennessee, from November 16-18.  There is no registration fee and a limited number of travel scholarships are available. This event is designed as an education Field Day—a hands-on opportunity for producers to gain practical, science-based information about implementing biomass-based renewable energy technologies and  making decisions about implementing renewable energy technologies in their respective operations.

There is new hope for more families in Clarksville, TN thanks to a larger WIC clinic opening to service expectant and new mothers and their children. WIC, the Special Supplemental Nutrition Program for Women, Infants and Children, provides Federal grants to states for supplemental foods, health care referrals, and nutrition education for low-income pregnant, breastfeeding, and non-breastfeeding postpartum women, and to infants and children up to age five who are found to be at nutritional risk I had the opportunity to go to Clarksville, Tenn., near Fort Campbell, Ky., to participate in a ceremony announcing the renovation of a portion of the Montgomery County Health Department which will now be a new “WIC Wing”.  The current WIC facility located several miles away is at capacity and the 10,000 square feet of new space will allow the Montgomery County Health Department to expand and serve new families and will improve WIC Program access.  Because of the co-location, WIC participants will also be able to take better advantage of other health services.

As USDA continues to roll out energy programs contained in the 2008 Farm Bill, more producers are expressing their interests in better understanding of renewable energy, reaching out to us to find out how to make informed decisions and decide if there are opportunities for them. Opportunities that include producing biomass for renewable energy, producing renewable energy, reducing energy costs, and developing a new and sustainable farm income source.

Farming for the Eldridge family began in the late 1800’s when Hoover Eldridge’s grandfather settled in the eastern portion of Stewart County, Tenn. Through the years the farming operation has consisted of producing crops such as corn, soybeans and tobacco, as well as a variety of livestock such as goats, chickens, pigs and beef cattle.