News Around the Institute
Grain Bin Accident Prevention
Tennessee Grain Bin Safety and Rescue Awareness Training, a partnership between Tennessee AgrAbility, a UT and Tennessee State University Extension program, and the Tennessee Association of Rescue Squads, was first held in 2020. Since then more than 500 participants—including farmers, producers, UT Extension agents, and rescue personnel, many of whom are volunteers in rural communities—have completed the training. During the training, instructors share the story of Hudson Corum, a five-year-old boy who died in a Lawrence County grain bin in 2018. Since then, his family has helped encourage rescue personnel to be trained and knowledgeable about farm equipment. Last November, the training was put into action in Lawrence County when a farmer became trapped in the dry corn of his grain bin. The farmer was rescued unharmed. Read more about the training and Hudson’s story in Our Tennessee.
They Are Outstanding in Their Field
Toni Wang is a Charles E. Wharton Institute Professor who is working to address challenges in food and biomaterial production. Two current projects involve improving the quality of frozen food and the freezing stability of high-moisture dairy products. “I am passionate about sharing my knowledge and skills with the graduate and undergraduate students I teach in and out of the classroom,” she says. Wang was drawn to food science after originally planning to be a pharmacist, and she continues to “enjoy how chemistry plays a significant role in food quality and human health.”
Cymone Merritt is an Extension agent in Shelby County who helps inspire healthy lifestyle choices. She supervises and trains program assistants in West Tennessee and teaches nutrition classes in the community. “I really enjoy teaching kids about eating healthy and introducing new fruits and vegetables to them. I love seeing the way they respond to tasting a new vegetable that they thought wouldn’t be appetizing but now enjoy,” she says.
Luke Hadden graduated from the Herbert College of Agriculture in 2014 with a bachelor’s degree in forest resource management. As a forester with the Tennessee Wildlife Resources Agency, Hadden supervises the forestry work units in the North Cumberland and Catoosa Wildlife Management Areas. “UTIA has opened doors for me that I would not have had otherwise. The UT network is so large, it has been extremely easy to make professional connections. Many of the people I work with have degrees from UT Knoxville, so it truly feels like extended family,” he says.
The people who make up the UT Institute of Agriculture are the driving force behind the Real. Life. Solutions. we create and deliver.
Plummer Returns to UTIA as Dean
Becoming the sixth dean of the fifty-year-old College of Veterinary Medicine is a homecoming for new dean Paul J. Plummer and his family. The large animal veterinarian and third-generation UT graduate earned his bachelor’s degree in microbiology from UT Knoxville in 1999 and his DVM in 2000. Plummer traces his interest in working with animals to spending summers on his family’s East Tennessee farm and helping his uncle on veterinary farm calls.
“Early in my childhood, I fondly remember attending field days with my grandfather on what is now the Northeast Tennessee AgResearch and Education Center,” Plummer says. “It laid an indelible image in my mind of what it meant to work to improve the lives of rural communities and agricultural producers around the state.” Plummer returns to the college after serving as associate dean of research and graduate studies for the College of Veterinary Medicine at Iowa State University, where he also was a professor and Anderson Endowed Chair in Veterinary Sciences and earned his PhD in veterinary microbiology in 2009.
New Institute Leaders Appointed
Niki Labbé is the new director of the Center for Renewable Carbon. A professor in the School of Natural Resources since 2016, she served as the center’s assistant director for two and a half years. Labbé is leading the newly funded circular bioeconomy program as part of the UT-Oak Ridge Innovation Institute initiative.
Professor Chris Boyer is the new head of the Department of Agricultural and Resource Economics. Boyer served as assistant department head for the previous year and joined the department in 2012. His teaching and research focus on farm business management.
The new director of the Ames AgResearch and Education Center is a familiar face on the farm. Matthew Backus previously served as assistant director at the center in Grand Junction, Tennessee, with longtime director Rick Carlisle, who retired earlier this year. Backus (BS animal science ’07, MS animal science ’14) joined UTIA in 2012 as manager of the internationally renowned Angus herd at Ames and previously oversaw the UT Beef Heifer Development Program at the Middle Tennessee AgResearch and Education Center in Lewisburg, Tennessee.
National Standout Students
Herbert College of Agriculture student Katie Collins is the first Tennessean to win the National 4-H Council’s Youth in Action Award, which recognizes projects that are making a positive impact in their communities. Her “See Yourself in Agriculture” project stemmed from working with students in the classroom and seeing them struggle to connect the dots between the food in their lunch boxes to agriculture. Growing up on a Tennessee dairy farm in Dickson, Tennessee, Collins understands the agriculture industry as a whole and how it works together. Through her program, students are introduced to a variety of agricultural industries and professionals to show that agriculture is many things. She is a junior majoring in food and agricultural business.
Animal science senior Ella McLerran brought home the top national prize in the American Farm Bureau Young Farmers & Ranchers Collegiate Discussion Meet. Contestants talk about a specific agricultural topic, answer questions, and respond to comments about it as if it were a committee meeting. McLerran’s topic was the Farm Bureau’s role and future direction in welcoming and engaging diverse communities. She won the state meet to qualify for the national competition. “This experience has shaped me into a more adept communicator and conscientious leader, demonstrating the power of open dialogue and collaborative problem-solving,” she says. Read about what attracted McLerran and other current students to Herbert.
Next Generation Poultry Facility Coming Soon
The Middle Tennessee AgResearch and Education Center in Spring Hill will be the site of a state-of-the-art, next-generation poultry research and education facility. Poultry is a $10 billion industry in Tennessee, and about 45 percent of the world’s broiler meat can be traced to Tennessee’s primary breeder operations and genetics. Construction on the facility is projected to be completed in late 2025.
Students Practice Zoo Medicine in Belize
College of Veterinary Medicine students cared for wildlife and zoo animals in Belize as part of a two-week rotation offered in spring 2024. Clinical students practice all aspects of case management, record keeping, prescribing, and lab work. “UTCVM’s rotation at the Belize Zoo offers a unique experience, allowing students to gain clinical experience with a range of species while learning about the importance of husbandry and the biodiversity of Belize,” says student Kyle Weaver about her experience. “I feel incredibly lucky to have the opportunity to learn and grow with such an amazing team in this beautiful place and to see firsthand their impressive conservation efforts.”
Bringing Volunteers to Southeast Asia
Through a $5 million grant, the Smith Center for International Sustainable Agriculture is working to build more resilient and inclusive food systems in Cambodia, the Philippines, and Vietnam. The key is the involvement of youth as the population of these countries trends younger and is dependent on agriculture for their livelihoods. The Smith International Center is the lead partner for the Agricultural Leaders of Tomorrow (ALOFT) regional farmer-to-farmer program for Southeast Asia, and the work is funded through the John Ogonowski and Doug Bereuter Farmer-to-Farmer (F2F) Program. There’s potential for a further $25 million in funding from the United States Agency for International Development. F2F provides technical assistance from US volunteers to farmers and agricultural groups in foreign countries to promote sustainable improvements in food security and agricultural production, processing, and marketing. ALOFT partners with youth-led and youth-serving institutions and draws on the experience of UTIA, through programs such as 4-H, to empower youth in agriculture.
4-H Agents in Every County
Tennessee 4-H, which traces its roots to the early 1900s, is the largest youth organization in the state, and now UT Extension has a dedicated 4-H agent in every county to meet the demand. These hires were made possible through a $2.2 million increase in legislative funding approved in 2021. Many of the new agents hired, or whose duties shifted to 4-H, work in thirty-two counties, which were or are still considered economically distressed. These Extension agents say not having to juggle more than one area helps them and the people they serve. “Now that I’m 100 percent 4-H, I can devote 100 percent of my time to students, add more programming, and introduce things,” says Van Buren County 4-H agent Shelby Christian-Boyer. Read more about the impact of 4-H agents in Our Tennessee.
Starting With Plants: The Circular Bioeconomy of Sustainable Auto Manufacturing Materials
A team of UT AgResearch and Oak Ridge National Laboratory scientists studying sustainable carbon materials for auto manufacturing was selected for a $20 million Convergent Research Initiative of the UT-Oak Ridge Innovation Institute. The circular bioeconomy team leaders are Niki Labbé, professor and director of the Center for Renewable Carbon, and Erin Webb, a 1999 Herbert College of Agriculture agricultural engineering graduate and senior research and development engineer at ORNL. The grant provides for the hiring of ten new faculty positions paired with postdoctoral researchers and graduate students. The goal in a circular bioeconomy is to reduce waste going to landfills and use plant-based feedstocks to create fuels and products like bioplastics and textiles. Instead of recycling at the end, the process begins with plants as the foundation, and that entire process promotes decarbonization and supports farms and related industries.
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