[179] Tennessee Century Farms On Quilt Trails To Be Honored At Farmland Legacy Conference

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: November 1, 2010
CONTACT: Caneta Hankins, Center for Historic Preservation, 615-898-2947

TENNESSEE CENTURY FARMS ON QUILT TRAILS TO BE HONORED AT FARMLAND LEGACY CONFERENCE

Registration is now open for the Tennessee Farmland Legacy Conference, which will take place on Nov. 11-12 at the Music Road Hotel and Convention Center in Pigeon Forge, Tenn. Farmers, landowners and community leaders will have the opportunity to learn about protecting and growing today’s farms for tomorrow’s families and communities.
The conference will include presentations on farm estate planning, profitability and timber management for landowners, along with planning techniques that protect farmland while enhancing economic growth for community leaders. Presenters will explain how communities and farmers can benefit from working together.
The closing event on Friday, Nov. 12, will recognize Tennessee Century Farms, that have been in the same family for at least 100 years, and also participate in the Appalachian and Upper Cumberland Quilt Trails.
“We are pleased to announce that Blythe Semmer, of the Advisory Council on Historic Preservation in Washington, D.C., who also is a member of the McMahan Century Farm family of Sevier County, will make remarks at the luncheon,” said Caneta Hankins, director of the Tennessee Century Farms Program at the Center for Historic Preservation at Middle Tennessee State University. “If your Century Farm is on one of these quilt trails and you have not received information or have not yet responded to information received, you still have time to make plans to attend the conference and/or the Century Farms luncheon,” Hankins said.
Call the Center for Historic Preservation at Middle Tennessee State University at 615/898-2947 or e-mail chankins@mtsu.edu for details before Nov. 5.
The conference is being conducted through the Tennessee Farmland Legacy Partnership. Members include the Tennessee Department of Agriculture; Cumberland Region Tomorrow; MTSU’s Center for Historic Preservation; the state Department of Economic and Community Development, Department of Environment and Conservation; and Department of Tourist Development; Tennessee Wildlife Resources Agency; Tennessee Farm Bureau Federation; The Land Trust for Tennessee; The University of Tennessee Institute of Agriculture; USDA Natural Resources Conservation Service and USDA Rural Development.
Register for the conference at www.farmlandlegacy.org or by calling 865-974-0280.

Founded in 1911, Middle Tennessee State University is a Tennessee Board of Regents institution located in Murfreesboro and is the state’s largest public undergraduate institution. MTSU now boasts one of the nation’s first master’s degree programs in horse science, and the Council of Graduate Schools in Washington, D.C., acclaims MTSU’s Master of Science in Professional Science degree—the only one in Tennessee—as a model program. This fall, MTSU unveiled three new doctoral degrees in the sciences.