[334] MTSU Teams With Cooperative Designed To Protect State's Farmers

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: March 3, 2010 EDITORIAL CONTACT: Lisa L. Rollins, 615-898-2919 or lrollins@mtsu.edu
MTSU TEAMS WITH COOPERATIVE DESIGNED TO PROTECT STATE’s FARMERS
(MURFREESBORO)—In a cooperative show of support for Tennessee’s farmers, representatives from several federal and state agencies, as well as nonprofit organizations, joined forces Feb. 16 at the Tennessee Capitol in Nashville to sign a memorandum of agreement created to help protect the state’s farms from development. Among those participating in the signing was Gov. Phil Bredesen, who remarked, “I am so pleased to see so many agencies and other groups committing to protecting Tennessee’s farms from development.” The Center for Historic Preservation at MTSU also is part of the cooperative, whose representatives have partnered to show their collective dedication to helping leverage resources to assist and inform farmers through the Tennessee Farmland Legacy Partnership. According to the USDA National Agricultural Statistics, the number of Tennessee farms decreased by 8,000 from 2003 to 2008. In that same time, the average annual loss of farming lands was 100,000 acres. Commissioner of Agriculture Ken Givens reminded those at the recent gathering that “agriculture is a $3 billion industry at the farm level.” Moreover, he added, “This partnership is about giving farm families options for keeping their land in sustainable production for future generations.” Caneta Skelley Hankins, assistant director of the CHP, said the goal of the cooperative effort is to help farmers stay on the farm and keep the land in agricultural production. Topics for workshops, publications, conferences, and a Web site will include current incentive programs as well as information on how to plan for farm ownership to continue to future generations. Modeled after programs in other states, another objective will be to work to match new farmers with experienced farmers, noted Hankins, who also serves as director of the Tennessee Century Farms Program. In addition to MTSU’s CHP, partners in the pro-farmer cooperative include the Tennessee Departments of Agriculture, Economic and Community Development, Environment and Conservation, and Tourist Development, along with the Tennessee Wildlife Resources Agency, Tennessee Farm Bureau Federation, the University of
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Tennessee Institute of Agriculture, the Land Trust for Tennessee, Cumberland Region Tomorrow, USDA National Resources Conservation Service and the USDA Rural Development. For more information about the Farmland Legacy Partnership, visit http://www.tennessee.gov/agriculture/marketing/legacy.html.

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• ATTENTION, MEDIA: To secure a jpeg of those represented at the signing or request an interview with the Center for Historic Preservation’s Caneta Hankins, please e-mail your request to Lisa L. Rollins at lrollins@mtsu.edu. The photo cutline is below.


PARTNERING FOR PRESERVATION: Representatives from several federal, state and nonprofit agencies teamed Feb. 16 to sign the Tennessee Farmland Legacy Partnership to help protect the state’s farmers from encroaching development. Among those present, from left, were Brandon Batey, Rutherford County Century Farmer; Caneta Hankins, assistant director for MTSU’s Center for Historic Preservation and director of the Tennessee Century Farms Program; John L. Batey, Rutherford County Century Farmer; Tennessee Gov. Phil Bredesen; Rosemary Owens, special assistant to MTSU’s provost for university and community partnerships; and farmer Craig Lynch.



With three Nobel Prize winners among its alumni and former faculty, Middle Tennessee State University confers master’s degrees in 10 areas, the Specialist in Education degree, the Doctor of Arts degree and the Doctor of Philosophy degree. MTSU is ranked among the top 100 public universities in the nation in the Forbes “America’s Best Colleges” 2009 survey.