A lack of public support is allowing Tennessee’s oldest and most productive research dairy farm to be destroyed in a lakefront land-grab.
Which farm will never produce again ?
No. Knoxville is not flooded but one of Tennessee's oldest and most productive dairy farms is moving closer to being destroyed just the same. While Iowa farms will recover in a few years UT's Dairy Farm will not. Like so many other Tennessee farms, it will be destroyed soon by bulldozers to install a technology park - unless you raise your voice. After spending months trying to save this farm I have found only one reasonable explanation for why it is being destroyed -- lakefront land-grab "fever." " Why else would otherwise competent administrators and educators want to destroy the state's most productive dairy farm and most prominent symbol of Tennessee Agricultural education during the worst farming crisis since the dust bowl? " Why else would they be trying to weave a new technology park along the slope of a bluff between the flood plain and scenic highway while dodging prehistoric villages and a residential neighborhood when there are more suitable sites available? " Why would the UT Athletic Department insist on locating their new golf practice facility in the flood plain when there is a larger wooded lot with a large pond and rolling hills across the street? " Why would the City of Knoxville insist on putting a bicycle trail on a former farm when they could run it in front of a working farm that might interest kids in farming? " Why would the university build a new 120 room hotel and convention center when we have a new convention center and hotels less than two miles away? It is all about the view. Recently, world renowned architecture expert Robert Ivy visited Knoxville and was taking in the city. The Editor in Chief of Architectural Record, Ivy watched the sun setting over Tennessee's oldest dairy farm and noted that "It is rare that any university - or any institution for that matter - has such a pristine swath of land." Might someone explain to Mr. Ivy where our food comes from and where people learn how to make it cheaper and safer - if not right here at Tennessee's flagship land grant university? You might tell him that Tennessee already loses a farm this size every two days to development, while every day there are more people in our state to feed. I can't help but think that things would be different if on the UT Board of Trustees sat six farmers rather than six developers. One third of the development will go to private business initially. The rest might be sold off like UT Medical Center in the future. "But we are getting a new state-of-the-art farm in Blount County and the existing farm (dairy equipment) is obsolete" some will argue. However, from what I see on the nightly news, we need more farms -- not fewer. If the new Blount county farm is going to be a research dairy, then why not transform UT's Dairy Farm on Alcoa Hwy to a state-of-the-art production farm. Producing food for consumers and money for the university while continuing to provide a convenient farm for students to work showcases the state's commitment to agriculture. What is the solution? Simply, put the farm under historical protection and the non- lakefront sites will immediately become acceptable for the construction of the technology park with its vital research and economic growth potential. Find a cure for cancer in the hills and farm the bottom land! If you are a resident of Tennessee please contact your state representative and ask for a stay of demolition until legislation can be passed to place the UT Dairy Farm in Knoxville under historical protection. If you live in another state please contact your congressman and ask them to forward your concerns to their Tennessee colleagues. We need to speak up from every county and state. Please forward this to all farm supporters. Is there a second lake front farm in danger? I noticed the bridge has been widened to the UT Cattle farm just east of town. This farm also offers a stunning view that could easily lead to lakefront land-grab "fever." 06/22/08 - One letter I received talked about how the elite have never given agriculture any respect. While I had never heard it put in this context, I thought of one way to test this theory. This morning I was listening to part of a sports show on television. They were talking about how UT's football coach would probably get a lucrative pay raise, contract extension and buyout clause. The moderator said UT Athletic director Mike Hamilton would give it to the coach as a "statement of support. I suggest that someone ask Mike Hamilton to make a "statement of support" for agriculture by locating his golf practice facility somewhere other than the UT Dairy Farm and see what he says? After all while UT Athletics pays for his groceries, who grows them? Sam Mayo saveUTfarm.com
