10/06/2026
Agriculture in Fayette County is big business!!! We have many players and we want to showcase them/you. According to the latest census of agriculture, we have just under 900 farms and land in farms equates to just over 300,000 acres. The market value of products sold in Fayette County is $101,000,000. One of those commodities is beef. Our third story starts here:
Born and raised in Campbell, MN (population 301), I had a checklist of dreams that I wanted to fulfill in my lifetime. One of the many items on that list, was to someday have a farm. I dreamed of a large farm, but you will see God planned otherwise. As a teen, I spent my summers working with dad at the local John Deere dealership. Little did I know, I was working towards fulfilling that dream.
After college at Bemidji State University, I eventually landed a job with International Dairy Queen. I became a District Manager which had me moving to Columbia, Missouri. Little did I know, I would continue to move even farther south of my home. Through International DQ, I met my wife, Gale, who worked for the regional office located in Memphis. This is how I found my way to the great state of Tennessee.
I took a job in Memphis with CNA Insurance and continued with them for 20 plus years before becoming more involved with financial planning. I continued to work and still do, even after a couple of retirements, but I never gave up on my dream of owning land and having a farm. My wife and 4 kids knew I was a man of many dreams and watched and helped as I set out to pursue them.
In 2003, I saw a small blip of an ad in the Memphis Press Scimitar about some acreage for sale on Yager Rd. in Fayette County. We were always driving around looking at land we heard about or saw an ad about. This one sounded promising. When my wife first saw this land and we drove through it blindly almost landing in a pond, her first thought was, “get me out of here!” She thought there was no way that mess of trees, weeds, water, and old rundown buildings, could ever be made into anything. Well, we purchased it anyway. It was 76 acres which backed up to the Wolf River bottoms. It became a project family and friends got involved in. My boys cleared land (one time even starting an uncontrolled fire), old barns were knocked down, trees were cleared, and the work began.
Two ponds were dug and stocked right away. When digging the third pond, they hit a natural spring which made that one fill instantly with fresh cold water that my cows (that I didn’t have yet) would come to love. I was learning through lots of trial and error, hard work, disasters, and fun just what it was going to take to make this place into the farm I had dreamed of.
After my Sunday School class one Sunday, Phil Burrows mentioned putting cattle out there in the spring and selling them in the fall. I did this for about three years, as I worked to make continued improvements to the farm. The large barn that was left standing, was added on to, stalls made, fencing put in place, and my first John Deere tractor was put to work. I was going back to my roots.
Wesley Parks invited me to the Fayette County Livestock Association in 2006. These meetings became a source of friendships and information. Through this group, I met Jeff Via and got involved in classes where I learned how to properly raise and care for cattle and become a profitable farmer. At that time, I elected to switch to a cow/calf operation and purchased my breeding stock from Pedro Farms out of Iowa. I started out with 4 registered black angus heifers and a bull.
Matt Backus of Ames Plantation recommended I improve my genetics through AI. With his help and later the help of Barry Gray, I continued to work with AI. Now I have a registered herd of 25 mama cows and 1 bull. Following what I learned from the AG Program at UT, I switched to fall breeding schedule, which has worked so well for me. It allows my mamas to have the best grass when they need that high protein to prepare to give birth.
My farm is now divided into 6 pastures allowing for the rotation needed for grazing. I put in a fence line feeder too, which I use in early spring to keep the cows out of the mud and allow my fields to recover quicker. I’m currently working with Jeff Via to develop a 5-year plan to hopefully eliminate the need to feed hay more than 60 days a year.
My farm would not be where it is today without guidance and help from my great neighbor, Billy McClure who helps with equipment and spraying. I have Steve Burrows who helps me with fencing, and I purchase high-quality hay locally from Ralph Kimery. There are too many people to mention, who have helped along the way including family, friends, and young people interested in learning about the cattle business.
After joining the Fayette County Livestock Association, I soon became the Vice President. Wesley Parks recommended that I apply for the Tennessee Cattleman’s Association. I became a board member in 2020. The Board made me President Elect in 2023, leading me to become the President in 2025. I am currently serving in this role traveling throughout the state meeting with other Cattleman Associations, as well as attending events. I travel to Nashville and Washington yearly to meet with our elected officials to fight for our farmers and seek the best representation at the local, state, and national level.
So, what started as a childhood dream of owning a big farm and raising cattle, came to fruition in the form of a small farm of 76 acres, approximately 25 mama cows, a bull, and 3 miniature donkeys. Me, my wife, 4 kids, and soon to be 9 grandchildren have seen God bless this dream way beyond what we ever though could happen. It has become a beautiful haven of rest, as well as a working farm.
I thank everyone for your guidance, encouragement, knowledge, and friendship which helped me achieve this goal that was on a check off list of a small Minnesota kid. It is a dream come true. I hope to continue to be a big part of the cattle industry here in Tennessee and look forward to working with all the established farms, as well as leading youth into the industry.
