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NACD’s 72nd Annual Meeting in Nashville was a great success.  With over 1,000 in attendance, the most in many years, TACD’s role from the Service Project at McGavock High School on Friday, the tour and Opry on Saturday, our booth on Soil Health and Grazing, the opening session on Monday to the TACD tours on Wednesday, TACD’s role was noted and successful.

Photo Carol Edwards
Carol Edwards, Davidson County SCD

First, I want to say a very big “thank you” to Carol Edwards from the Davidson County Soil Conservation District.  Carol and I have worked together since last summer assisting NACD and have worked intensely since November to ensure the success of the convention and TACD’s role.  I also want to thank Amy Dishner from Hawkins County and Daniel Rogers from Tipton County for volunteering with NACD and working from Saturday through Wednesday on the many tasks supporting the convention.

The NACD Executive Committee Service Project was with the McGavock High School FFA installing raised beds for use in the ag science classes.  Providing financial support was the Davidson County SCD, Five Rivers RC&D and the Davidson County Farm Bureau.  NACD Board Member Ray Weaver and President Kelly Stockton were also on hand to support the project.  Jeanne Eastham and Carter Harris also attended to capture photos and video of the event. See a photo gallery of the Service Project at the end of this article.

Our tours were sold out and we received many comments on the value and enjoyment attendees experienced.  On Saturday we had 56 for the Belmont and Travelers Rest tour and transported over 225 conventioneers to the Grand Ole Opry at the Ryman Theater in downtown Nashville that evening.  On Wednesday we had a full bus, 56, to both the Belle Mont tour and lunch and another to Lynchburg for lunch at Miss Mary Bobo’s and tour of the Jack Daniel’s distillery.  Helping with the tours we had TACD Vice President Jim Bledsoe for the Opry and the Lynchburg trip, Shorty Beaty from Hamilton, Donna Knox from Sequatchie, Amy Dishner and TCDEA President Janice Gilispie on all the tours.  Last but not least, Mendel Wade of Crocket County traveled as host on the Lynchburg trip on Wednesday before representing TN in the National Conservation Planning Partnership meeting on Thursday.  Also, Sara Steelman met the group in Lynchburg and assisted with lunch and the tour.  Sara also assisted with the Service Project at McGavock High School.

Photo Kelly Stockton
TACD President, Kelly Stockton

I must mention the Opening Ceremony on Monday.  President Stockton opened the meeting with the invocation, the award-winning Nashville Police Color Guard came next then the national anthem by Ashley Brooks from MTSU and three FFA members from McGavock High School led us in the pledge. To complete the opening Bob Strasser from the Davidson County Board provided a welcome to their District with a very well received history of his family farm in Davidson County and the history of agriculture and conservation in the county.  Bob then introduced Commissioner Jai Templeton doing the welcome to Tennessee.  It is always a pleasure to have the Commissioner support us with his background in ag in west Tennessee.  He just relates well to our group and we really appreciate him being there on a busy day for the administration with the state of the state address Monday evening.

The Sunshine Girls at the Leadership Luncheon

One of the biggest hits was the Sunshine Girls, Aspen and Nova Northcutt, who preformed during the Leadership Luncheon on Monday.  They are even better than when they were at the TACD convention in Franklin last year and we got hundreds of great comments on their performance.  These young performers are something and their dad and music teacher were pretty good too!

The Tennessee District employees decorated the tables for Monday Night’s Auction in Tennessee style with 275 Moon Pies donated by Hamilton County SCD, and enjoyed by all I’ll add, Nashville Guitar Picks and free Educational DVD’s by Cowboy Dan which were donated by Davidson County SCD.

West Tennessee Farmer Making a Difference in Soil Properties

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Alex Johnson of Henderson County, Tennessee is our 43rd Profiles of Soil Health Heroes. On May 3, 2018, I had the privilege of spending some time visiting with Alex, his father, Mr. Johnson, and Meredith Crosby, NRCS District Conservationist, Henderson and Decatur Counties. Alex is a retired physician who also farmed his final 10 years of his medical career, which was quite challenging. He now farms full-time with his father. Alex became interested in changing farming practices to improve soil health by reading about nutrient management and soil health changes. Once he tried it; he was hooked and has been consistently growing covers for the last five years. IMG 3904new

IMG 3899newThe Johnson farm is located in eastern Henderson county near Lexington, Tennessee. They farm upland loess fields (windblown silt) and creek and river bottoms. When we first went to the field for the interview for this article, Alex remarked that recent flooding on the Beech river showed muddy water coming off a nearby neighbor who uses tillage. In contrast, the water running off Alex's farm was clear. Many of the covers that we walked in were head high (6 feet) and some that were chest high (4.5 half feet). Alex told us that the cover crops are suppressing weeds, and he has reduced one herbicide spraying per year. He also uses IPM (Integrated Pest Management). He has reduced annual foliar fungicides. If scouting shows the need, he will apply them. He said that he is saving conservatively $34.00 per acre on herbicide and fungicide savings.

A Day with Blackberry Farm, Producing Organic Heirloom Vegetables Without Tilling

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IMG 3141newBlackberry Farm is a 4,200-acre luxury hotel resort located in Walland, Tennessee, near the Great Smoky Mountains National Park. Blackberry Farm wasIMG 3150newbuilt in 1939 and has evolved into the luxury resort in Blount County that it is today. My interest in Blackberry Farm began about a year ago in September, 2016. I was asked by Blount County Soil Conservation District's Conservation Director, Erich Henry to join him to work with Michael Washburn, Garden Manager at Blackberry Farm. In 2015, Michael became the garden manager. The garden consists of approximately 3 acres. The garden produces heirloom vegetables that are served at the resort's two kitchens. There is close correlation and team chemistry between the gardeners and the chefs.

I could tell when I first met Michael Washburn that he was a trained agronomist. He also had experience in restaurants, so again you could see a close correlation of producing and preparing the food. The garden produces food organically. They are not organic certified, but they grow food without chemicals and work on improving their most important natural resource, their soil. Some areas and especially one of the lower fields that had been regularly tilled in the past, were of particular interest. Here soil structure was still lacking. Michael had already followed some great conservation practices. They were making their own compost and applying it regularly. Michael had done research on biochar and constructed an outdoor stove to burn wood and collect the char. You can see the black char in the rows of vegetables. Compost is an active carbon source that feed soil biology. Biochar is a stable carbon source. Many of the chemical properties of soil from humus can be improved by adding bio-char. For background, go to Terra preta on Wikipedia, Terra preta is Portuguese for black soils. Michael is emulating Terra preta by adding bio-char.