Who We Are:   The Farm & Forest Families of Tennessee (TFFFT) is a not-for-profit, non-political coalition of organizations dedicated to promoting agriculture and forestry.  It serves as a network for sharing information and supports existing awareness and educational activities of its members.  Our family currently includes the following organizations:

Our Roots:  The Farm & Forest Families of Tennessee is an outgrowth of the Governor's Council on Agriculture and Forestry, a blue-ribbon panel of industry leaders charged with developing a strategy for the growth and development of agriculture and forestry in Tennessee.  The council recognized that most citizens are now two and three generations removed from the farm and lack a general understanding of today's agriculture and forestry.  The Council also recognized that changing demographics shape future opportunities and challenges facing the farm families and forest landowners.   Findings of research conducted by the University of Tennessee and the American Farm Bureau Federation underscored how consumers were losing their sense of connection to farm and forests.  For example:

As a result, the Council recommended the formation of an industry-wide group to increase public awareness and to enhance the image of farming and forestry in Tennessee.

News Release: Ag Day Honors Farmers, Celebrates Future Read the Governor's Proclamation Go to the National Ag Day Website

Facts About Agriculture and Forestry in Tennessee:

• More than 400,000 Tennesseans are employed in farm and forest-related jobs, including production, processing, marketing and sales
• Total farm assets exceed $20.6 billion
• The total industrial output of Tennessee's forest products industry is $15.5 billion
• Cash income from farming and timber totals more than $2.5 billion
• Tennessee Farm Bureau Federation membership is more than 498,000
• There are 91,000 farms in the state.
• Spending on farm production exceeds $2.3 billion
• Tennessee has more than 163,000 4-H members and more than 21,000 students who are enrolled in high school agriculture education programs
• With more than 199,000 horses, Tennessee ranks third behind only California and Texas in the number of horses
• Nearly half of Tennessee's land area, or 11.8 million acres, is in farmland
• Tennessee is a national leader in the development of "no-till" farming, a soil conservation practice where the ground is not plowed before planting seed
• Tennessee has 13 million acres of forests, of which 80 percent is owned by private, non-industrial landowners
• Tennessee leads the nation in production of hardwood flooring and is one of the nation's leading exporters of hardwood lumber

A Reunion of Farm & Forest Families With Consumers:

Since 1997, member organizations have met to share information and coordinate public information activities.  In its first year, the group commissioned additional research and conducted a statewide radio advertising campaign for National Agriculture Day.  From this foundation, the organization has grown in size and expanded the scope of activities.  In early 1999, it was officially chartered as a not-for-profit corporation.

With the aid of one of Nashville's most respected marketing communications firms, The Family has developed a comprehensive public information campaign that includes statewide advertising, publicity and promotional events.

The public information program focuses on helping consumers make a renewed connection between the products they use in everyday life and the farm and forest families who produce them.

Our Family Tradition:

Our Mission:

Help Shape our Family Future:

The Farm and Forest Families of Tennessee provides everyone in agribusiness and forestry an opportunity to work together for mutually beneficial goals.  Involvement in this organization creates an opportunity to network and cooperate.  Through a unified effort, we become a stronger, more effective voice for agriculture and forestry.

Every organization involved in serving the farm and forest community, as well as every company providing consumers products from the farms and forests, has a stake in the future of The Farm & Forest Families of Tennessee.  Join us today and help shape our family's future!