Tennessee Lawmakers to Celebrate "Ag Day on the Hill"

NASHVILLE – Tennessee lawmakers will celebrate Ag Day on the Hill on April 2 at Legislative Plaza. The day will highlight the importance of farming and forestry to the state of Tennessee.

Ag Day on the Hill will feature a variety of exhibits and activities including:

• A milking contest between Senate and House members
• A cattle weighing contest 
• Live animals – cattle, goats, pigs, chicken, sheep, bees, mules and horses
• Crops and farm equipment
• Special presentations to the House Agriculture Committee

Ag Day on the Hill will begin at 8 a.m. with displays from agricultural organizations lining the halls while the contests, live animals, crops and farm equipment will be located at the courtyard entrance to Legislative Plaza. The annual milking contest will take place at 9:45 a.m. Special presentations to the House Agriculture and Natural Resources Committee get underway at 10:30 a.m. The winner of the cattle weighing contest, to be announced during the committee meeting, will receive a Pick Tennessee Products gift basket.

Ag Day on the Hill will again benefit Second Harvest Food Bank of Middle Tennessee, which will have collection bins available at Legislative Plaza throughout the day. Participants, exhibitors and visitors are encouraged to bring nonperishable items for donation. The Farm and Forest Families of Tennessee organization will present a check to Second Harvest in honor of the milking contest winner.

Tennessee has 77,300 farms representing 10.8 million acres in production. More than half of the state, 14 million acres, is in mostly privately owned hardwood forests. Tennessee’s top agricultural commodities include cattle, soybeans, poultry, corn, cotton, greenhouse and nursery products, timber, dairy products, wheat, tobacco and hay.  Agriculture and forestry contribute more than $71 billion a year to the state’s economy and employs nearly 364,000 residents.