Putnam and Smith Counties Host 2025 YF&R Fall Tour

Tennessee Farm Bureau's 2025 Young Farmers & Ranchers Fall Educational Tour was recently hosted by Putnam and Smith County Farm Bureaus and YF&R programs. Close to 200 young farmers from across the Volunteer State attended and had the opportunity to tour farms and agribusinesses in both counties.

"I'm proud to be able to show off the great farms we have here in Smith County," said Holly Harper, Smith County YF&R member and one organizer of the event. "It was a great opportunity to show other farmers from across the state the diversification we have here - from forage, Angus genetics, pumpkins, watermelons, strawberries, and then in Putnam County, we saw buffalo too, so just wonderful to be a part of this."

The group started in Putnam County on Friday evening where the Excellence in Agriculture contest was held and folks enjoyed dinner, fellowship and a high school rodeo. Saturday was a full day of tours, starting at Lazy G Ranch, a unique ranch featuring bison and chuck wagons. Attendees then visited Dillard Angus, a family-run registered Angus farm raising quality cattle with care, stewardship and tradition since 1962. Kyle Owens Farm was next where they raise corn, soybeans, wheat and tobacco, a unique crop not too many grow in this region of Tennessee anymore.

"As far as I know, there is only myself and two others who still grow tobacco in Smith County - 20 years ago, there were gobs and gobs of farmers growing it," said Kyle Owen. "But it was amazing to me to see these young farmers taking photos of these barns. Some of them have never seen it before or been around it much, and I was glad to be able to give them a short glimpse of how it is grown and what all goes into producing it."

The last stop on the tour was Catesa Farms, a more than 9,000-acre row crop farm where George McDonald and his family also raise watermelons, strawberries and pumpkins, plus operate Cumberland Valley Ag, providing fuel, seed, fertilizer and grain services. Catesa Farms was proud to be the host of the event's banquet, where the 2025 Excellence in Agriculture winner was announced. This year's winner was Alyssa Clements of Clay County.

"It's an honor to win this award," said Clements. "I'm getting close to aging out of Young Farmers & Ranchers and it is a great to capstone my experience in this organization with this achievement."

All in all, an extremely successful tour thanks to a lot of hard work and effort by both Putnam and Smith County YF&R members. Tennessee young farmers look forward to and invite anyone between the ages of 18-35 to next year's Fall Educational Tour in Greene and Washington Counties. More information can be found at tnfarmbureau.org/yfrfalltour.