Jepson Family Farms

12/25/2024

Merry Christmas to all!

12/25/2024

Recently, I overheard three people discussing the ending of Yellowstone.

After about 45 minutes they said how sad it was when they showed the empty barn.

One lady said it brought her to tears; one of the men agreed....said even he almost cried.

And it bothered the dickens out of me.

At this point, I interrupted their conversation and said if you thought the ending of a made up TV show that made millions of dollars was sad, you should see it happen in real life.

Everyday, sadly, there is a family that loads the last cow on a trailer, they close the barn door for the last time, they sell dirt that has been in their family for generations all because they can't afford to do it anymore.

They can't afford to feed their family anymore, they can't afford to feed America anymore.

If the Yellowstone fairytale made you sad, take a good look at farmers and ranchers. I'm not a rancher nor am I any longer a farmer, but I know plenty.

Sadly I also know way to many FORMER farmers and ranchers and they never made millions not even close to it.

So, let's all pitch in and help our farmers and ranchers whenever, and however possible by buying direct, and/or attending farmers markets. Many now have websites wereby you can buy direct and have farm fresh food delivered to your door.
-credit to original author (unkown)

12/23/2024

Explore the shrinking land challenge that details how solar farms, wind farms, and urban development are competing with prime agricultural land and threateni...

12/18/2024

12/16/2024

Farmers would much rather have access to markets and true supply and demand to create profitability than government handouts. That being said anything that hurts farm families hurts our rural economies in many ways. Farmers have very little power to negotiate the cost of inputs or the price of our output. It’s not a very good business model. When tractor sales slump Deere and Case simply slow production and layoff workers and call them back once the storm has subsided. Fertilizer manufacturers and energy producers stall supply until the market prices offer them profits needed to suit their margin targets. Farmers can’t idle land and animals. We have land and machinery debt to service. We have to put in a crop and hope the weather and markets cooperate to give us a chance at turning a profit and paying our bills.

If you eat this involves you as well. When farmers are distressed the banks simply cut off the money and sell the farmer out. We lose farmers every year. The situation at the farm level is the worst it’s been since the 1980’s. We simply cannot allow a repeat of the exodus of farm families from the land that we saw in the 80’s. Farmers can’t buy up any land sold to cover other farmer’s debts. Outside investors are buying up farmland left and right already. If we let too much land get in the hands of billionaires, large grocery chains and institutional investors they can consolidate the food industry to a point where they can simply idle farms to decrease supply to raise prices. This is where the pain comes in for consumers. Imagine an integrated system of ownership and control that allows a few companies to control our food supply and consumer prices. It’s not a road we can afford to go down as a society. American food policy has always been to encourage over production to keep prices cheap for consumers. Occasionally, offering help to farmers is congruent to doing so. Our legislators must act to bridge the capital gap to keep families on farms.

Farm groups nationally are urging Congress to resolve the impasse on economic aid for farmers in a year-end funding package. Agricultural leaders in Congress are blaming the other party for the breakdown in talks.

12/05/2024

A bygone era. The to***co business is in if’s waning days and very shortly it will only be a memory to a lucky few of us.

11/28/2024

We have so much to be thankful for!

11/21/2024

Of the 72.5 million children in the United States, only about 1 million of those live on farms.
Think about what this means for the future of agriculture...

10/17/2024

It’s always nice hosting the LMT group. Thanks for stopping by!

10/11/2024

Did you know there are 63,105 farms covering 10.7 million acres in Tennessee, which is 41% of the state’s 26.4 million land acres? Here in Robertson County, there are 1,117 farms covering 200,408 acres. One thing's for sure, farming isn't easy. It's a 24/7 operation, at the mercy of Mother Nature, reliable equipment, a strong workforce, and a global trade market. A solid fact you've heard before: no farmers, no food. Have you thanked a farmer today?

Couple of other fun farming facts on this fabulous Friday:
• Market value of Tennessee agricultural products sold is $5.16 billion, $2.16 billion for livestock and $3 billion for crops (including $430.6 million for nursery and greenhouse products).
• Robertson County’s top agricultural commodities: corn, wheat, soybeans, livestock and poultry. Honorable mention: to***co with 68 farms covering 3,150 acres and producing 7,598,533 pounds annually.
• Tennessee’s largest export markets: China, Canada, Turkey, the Netherlands.
• Nearly 43,000 Tennesseans are employed by food and agriculture establishments.

📸 cred: aerial photo captured by URBAN HILL Photography, pilot David Bliss, takeoff/landing at the Springfield-Robertson County Airport.

09/11/2024

09/09/2024

Today is World Agriculture Day - a day celebrating the agriculturists who work diligently to produce the food, fiber, and fuel for our world. We're thankful for their hard work and the food on our table.

09/04/2024

The next generation on a learning journey this week.

Mac is ready for Tennessee FFA’s Future Farmer Conference this week at Camp Clements!