Dan N TN
New member
I'm from Eastern TN and have never lived anywhere else. I started farming with my uncle when I was 8 yrs old and it got into my blood. We had feeder steers,tobaccor (baccor), row crops and a small dairy operation. I had 12 great years to learn from my uncle before he passed on and I married and moved away...to the other end of the county. I went almost 10 years without owning livestock or equipment other than an old beat up Massey 35 that I graded my driveway and hauled in wood with. Several years after my wife and I divorced a met a wonderful woman and within 2 years we were married. Her father and I enjoyed farming together while we were dating but, unfortunately he passed on suddenly before my new wife and I were married our first year. It was hard for her and myself to move on and farm his land for the first year. Not, because we didn't know what to do but, because it just didn't feel right. After that time passed we really got into the swing of things and have progressed our farm into something that we believe her father would have been proud of. We took his words of wisdom from one of our last conversations we all had together and ran with it. He told us that only having 1 or 2 sources of income from a farm like ours was dangerous financially but, that having to many irons in the fire could be just and costly. We have kept the cattle operation going and expanded our excess hay profits, are working on a "niche" market for top quality alfalfa and are in the process of turning our farm into a working CSA (community supported agriculture) farm. So far we have introduced chickens for meat and eggs, meat rabbits, and diary goats. We only have small quanities as we are "feeling out the market" for these items in our area and we enjoy the fruits of our labor so they aren't a "dead expense" even if the market isn't strong enough to make any profits but covers our feed costs. We plan to grow even further in our operation as our children grow older and can take on more responsibilities. We hope to be growing produce such as sweet corns, peppers, tomatoes and other staples of the area. It is not always fun having so many "chores" to do after she and I both work 12 hr shifts at our day jobs or when all our friends are going out on their boats on saturdays while she and I are tending to hay but, she and I both were "infected" with farming genes and we wouldnt' have it any other way.
