10/08/2026
Every few weeks we load birds for the processor. 🐓
That truck runs on diesel. So does the tractor that carries hay to the cattle, the one that cuts the hay, and every delivery route into Knoxville.
Here's the part most folks don't know: the fuel we buy for the tractors is dyed red. Same diesel, just untaxed, because it's meant for equipment that never touches a public road. Running it in a road vehicle is against the law, and they do check.
The state paused that rule through the end of this month. So for a few more weeks, the red fuel can go in the trucks too. About fifty cents a gallon.
WVLT came out to the farm yesterday and asked what that does to an operation our size. They walked the pastures and got the birds and the cattle on camera. Clip's in the comments if you want to see the place.
Short version: it helps. It doesn't fix anything. And it's gone October 31.
None of this shows up as a line on a package of chicken. All of it's in there.
Everybody's feeling this one, not just farmers. Y'all are paying it at the pump same as we are.
New here? We're a family farm in Blaine, about 30 minutes outside Knoxville. Chicken, pork, and beef raised on pasture and sold straight to families around here.
Did y'all know about the red fuel? Tell us below!