Tennessee Nominating Committee Election

Andy Davis

Sparta

Davis raises corn, wheat, soybeans, and sweet corn on over 3,000 acres of land and operates a trucking and custom farming business alongside his father and brothers at Davis Farms. He and his wife, Terra, also raise cattle and sweet corn and operate a small agritourism operation on their home farm. Andy and Terra have two children, Colson and Attie. After graduating from UT-Knoxville with a Master of Science in Ag Economics, Davis went on to obtain an MBA from UT-Martin. He also worked as a Loan Officer for Farm Credit Mid-America and as a Farm Management Specialist with UT Extension. Davis currently holds leadership positions with the White County Soil Conservation Board, White County Farm Bureau Board, White County Ag Committee, River Sparta Church and is a member of the Tennessee Corn Growers Association, and Tennessee Cattlemen’s Association.

Paul Davis

Lascassas

Davis owns 101 acres where he raises registered Angus bulls, farm to table beef and pork, and hay. Davis holds a Ph.D. in livestock nutrition and has 29 years’ experience in the livestock feed industry. He currently serves as a Board member for the White County Farmers Co-op. Davis’s prior experience includes serving as a member of the Murfreesboro Farm Credit Advisory Committee and on the boards of Cooperative Research Farms, the American Feed Industry Association, and the Tennessee Feed and Grain Association. He has also served multiple times on the Farm Credit Mid-America Nominating Committee.

Robert Elliott

Cedar Hill

Elliott works full-time as the District Sales Leader for Corteva Agriscience with the Pioneer and PhytoGen Seed brands managing 11 employees, all budgets, a large agriculture retail network of dealers, farmer success and sales numbers for Corn, Soybeans, Canola, and PhytoGen Cotton lines covering Middle, East, and Northwest Tennessee and all of Kentucky. He is a seventh-generation farmer who raises registered Angus cattle, dark fired and air cured tobacco, grass and bermuda hay, and greenhouse tobacco transplants with his family on 600 acres, of which he owns 35. He and his wife, Lindsay, and two daughters live on the farm today. Elliott is a Certified Crop Adviser and works in that capacity for his family farming operation and consults with large farming operations across Tennessee and Kentucky. He has been an active agriculture advocate through the Tennessee Farm Bureau Federation, 4-H programs, UTIA, and Alpha Gamma Rho. Elliott has served on the Farm Credit Mid-America Nominating Committee and is a member of the Farm Credit Mid-America Advocate Council.

Heather Hardy

Brownsville

Hardy farms diversified grain and cotton with her family. She previously worked off-farm for eight years interacting with growers in West Tennessee in small grain seed production and precision agriculture capacities. Hardy has served on the Farm Credit Mid-America Nominating Committee, is a member of the Farm Credit Mid-America Advocate Council, and previously served on the Farm Credit Mid-America Young, Beginning, and Small Farmer Advisory Board. She serves on the Board of Directors for the Halls First Methodist Church and is a part of the Haywood County Leadership Board of Directors where she chairs the Youth Leadership Committee.

Willis Jepson

Orlinda

Jepson is a seventh-generation farmer in his family farming business. He began a partnership with his parents after graduating from UT-Knoxville in 1999 and they currently operate 10,000 acres of corn, soybeans, wheat, watermelon, pumpkins, and dark tobacco. Jepson also holds many leadership positions and participates in organizations such as the Corn Growers Association, Small Grain Association, Farm Credit Mid-America Advocate Council, Robertson County Farm Bureau Board, National Watermelon Association, Soybean Growers Association, KY Ag Leadership Program, KY Corn Core Program, Top Tier Peer Group, Tennessee Agriculture Enhancement Program Board, Governor Bill Haslam Rural Challenge Committee, the Robertson County Economic Development Board, and the University of Tennessee Institute of Ag Advancement Board.

Tom McDow

Covington

McDow is a farmer with a family operation consisting of 3,500 acres of row crops, including corn, cotton, soybeans, wheat, and canola. He has farmed with his family and worked in the agricultural industry for Corteva for approximately 11 years. McDow has a Bachelor’s Degree in Agribusiness from Mississippi State University with a minor in economics and agronomy. His leadership positions include serving as the District Cotton Supply Lead for Corteva, the Vice Chairman of First Baptist Church Finance Committee and Vice Chairman of the Tipton County Young Farmers. McDow currently serves on the Farm Credit Mid-America Advocate Council.

Ben Sanders

Columbia

Sanders is the Executive Director of Government Affairs for Farm Bureau Insurance of Tennessee. He also runs a 150-head commercial Angus cow/calf operation and raises wheat and millet hay on 600 owned and 150 leased acres. He serves on the Farm Credit Mid-America Advocate Council and has served on the Farm Credit Mid-America Nominating Committee. He has had leadership roles with the Tennessee 4-H Foundation, Tennessee 4-H Alumni, University of Tennessee Alumni Association, University of Tennessee AGR Alumni Association, and is a member of the Tennessee Cattlemen’s Association and the National Cattlemen’s Association.

Brett Sivert

Whitesburg

Sivert and his family run a 200 head cow/calf operation and grows hay alongside his wife in Whitesburg. He is the co-owner of Quest Enterprise Inc. which is located in Rogersville, TN and services mainly the southeastern part of the U.S., specializing in trucking, excavating, new construction, concrete and millwright. He attended Tusculum College in Greeneville, TN with a major in business. Sivert is currently a member of his local Farm Bureau and previously served two years on the state board of the Tennessee Young Farmers and Ranchers.

Dan Strasser

Chapel Hill

Strasser is Director of Special Programs for Tennessee Farm Bureau Federation, a role in which he focuses on helping farmers through education and leadership development. Born and raised in a dairy farming family, Strasser and his wife are raising their family on the same farm. He partners with neighboring farmers who produce row crops, hay and livestock on portions of his land. Strasser obtained a Bachelor of Science Degree in Agriculture Education from the University of Tennessee at Martin. He currently serves as Vice President on the Tennessee Council of Cooperatives Board, Chairman of the Board for Chesterton Academy of the Incarnation, and the State Coordinator for Tennessee Young Farmers and Ranchers.

Brandon Whitt

Murfreesboro

Whitt is an eigth-generation farmer on his family farm comprised of row crops and specialty crops on 400 owned and 1,900 leased acres. His farm operation includes “you pick” strawberries, hay and custom milling and bagging of grains grown on the farm. Whitt previously served on the Board of Directors of the Tennessee Farm Bureau, including serving as Young Farmer President. He received the American Farm Bureau’s National Young Farmer of the Year award and served as Chairman of the Rutherford County Ag Committee. He has served on the Farm Credit Mid-America Nominating Committee. Whitt also owns and operates Volunteer Mission grain, which is an initiative to promote and connect, primarily century and multi-century farms, with direct-to-market end users in the Volunteer State.