Tennessee Home & Farm Radio TN Home and Farm Radio

June is Dairy month, and all month long we highlight the dairy industry and the impact it has on our state. On this episode, local dairy farmer, Laura Purtle joins us to talk about challenges within the industry and how her family's historic Jersey operation has survived through the years.

For more than 30 years Ag In The Classroom has helped educate kids about where their food comes from. Program Director, Chris Fleming, explains how they are continuing efforts to bring ag education into the classroom.

Most of the state is behind in planting due to large amounts of rain. Farmers explain how tough it's been trying to get a crop in the ground with the wet conditions.

Ag groups in Carter County recently held a dinner for farmers to discuss safety and mental health on the farm. Organizers wanted farmers to leave the night feeling appreciated and for them to know they are not alone.

The House Agriculture Committee held a mark-up session for the farm bill Thursday. Micheal Clements shares more on the future of the legislation.

Clements: Lawmakers in the House of Representatives began the first major steps to reaching the finish line for a new farm bill. However, Joe Gilson, American Farm Bureau Federation Government Affairs Director, says the bill needs bipartisan support to move forward.
Gilson: With the tight margins in the House--Republicans have a majority of five--we need the bill to be a bipartisan bill, otherwise, this will not make it to the House floor. We know that there are some Republicans who will vote against any new spending. And so, this bill, if it has a chance to make it in this Congress, needs to be done with bipartisanship, and that's what we hope to see.
Clements: Gilson says history shows the farm bill has always been a bipartisan effort, bringing broad swaths of food and agriculture together.
Gilson: The Farm Bill has always been done in a bipartisan basis with a coalition of nutrition, environmental and farm commodity organizations, and constituents from across the country supporting this. We need to keep that coalition together to get the bill across the finish line, and farmers and ranchers across the country need to see investments made in the farm safety net.
Clements: Gilson says Farm Bureau supports the bill presented by House Agriculture Committee Chair Glenn "GT" Thompson.
Gilson: His mark has some huge investments made to the farm safety net in Title I, he also has a provision in there to maintain interstate commerce for agricultural products, which deals with what California has done with Proposition 12. Chairman Thompson also has improvements to the dairy program and there's more conservation resources to help farmers protect resources they've been entrusted with.
Clements: Learn more at fb.org/farmbill. Micheal Clements, Washington.

On this Memorial Day as we celebrate with family and friend it’s important to always remember those men and women that paid the ultimate sacrifice for our freedoms.







Lee Maddox: The Sacrifice for Freedom: Welcome and Hello again everyone for Tennessee Home and Farm Radio. I’m Lee Maddox

Joe Alexander: The fallen soldiers reside in American flag

Lee Maddox: On this Memorial Day, as we celebrate with family and friends, it’s important to always remember those men and women that paid the ultimate sacrifice for our freedoms. And for Loudon County’s Joe Alexander Memorial Day and every day will always be time for reflection for his brothers he lost in Vietnam in 1968

Joe Alexander: I went into the battle with about 40 paratroopers, and of the 40, 8 were killed in action. 13 were wounded in the ones who weren’t wounded, and including those who were, who did survive all survivors were scarred for life.

Lee Maddox: Joe Alexander was a platoon leader in the third battalion of the 506 Airborne Infantry Regiment, and he himself was wounded five times. And he’s thankful that he grew up on the farm in Loudoun County and credits the values he learned there for helping him through his time in Vietnam.

Joe Alexander: And those kinds of things. Were so critical in not just my life but particularly in the military service as a as a patriot in our country,

Lee Maddox: Alexander says Memorial Day should always be remembered by all Americans,

Joe Alexander: Beginning of the Revolutionary War that has died on our behalf so we can have a free country. We can be a sovereign country, we can govern ourselves because so many people have sacrificed their lives but I encourage everyone to take just a moment and it wouldn’t take long during Memorial Day to remember those people who gave their lives in sacrifice in service to our country.

Lee Maddox: And for Tennessee Home and Farm Radio. I’m Lee Maddox