Our mission is to support young, aspiring, beginning, and BIPOC farmers through community-building, resource and knowledge sharing, and advocacy.
Since 2019, we’ve been a farmer-focused, farmer-led organization
Goals and Objectives
SUPPORT
Support Cooperative Farming - SeTNYF will work to create an environment of collaboration and cooperation with regional farmers and other community members and will explore cooperative opportunities that could expand our current markets and allow young farmers pathways to enter the marketplace.
These cooperative opportunities include, but are not limited to: expanding local animal protein sales; marketing aggregation and distribution of farm products; purchasing and sharing inputs and equipment; sharing labor (work parties, apprenticeships, employees); elderberry processing and marketing; and supporting and enhancing existing structures/organizations such as food hubs and markets.
Share Knowledge - SeTNYF will support farmer to farmer training, will help to disseminate relevant information and educational resources, and will support farmers as they pursue educational opportunities.
Support Apprenticeships & Mentorships - SeTNYF will create and/or support mutually beneficial opportunities which provide established farms with labor while providing work experience, education and a pathway to farming for aspiring professional farmers.
ADVOCACY
Analyze and Advocate Policies - SeTNYF will stay abreast of local, state, national policies, proposed or passed, which impact agriculture, in order to provide members with analysis and help organize collective action. SeTNYF will advocate for policies which foster the health and well-being of our farms, communities, and planet.
Promote Policies to Address Climate Change - SeTNYF will promote and support regenerative practices that reduce carbon emissions and increase carbon sequestration with the belief that small farms have a pivotal role to play in reversing the climate crisis.
Address Regulations - SeTNYF will address regulations which affect young farmers and will advocate for scalable regulations that promote reasonable governance without undue burden. SeTNYF will also work to deconstruct the blind partisanship around regulation by speaking up about the real effects of regulation/de-regulation on our farms and on the health and well-being of our communities.
Promote Land Access - SeTNYF will forge partnerships and advocate for policies that promote land access for young and beginning farmers.
Our Team
Jess Wilson
Jess grew up on a dairy farm in central New York state and studied sustainable agriculture at Sterling College in Vermont before following her love to southeast Tennessee where she has grown vegetables, chickens, goats, sheep, and children for the past 18 years. She is passionate about building soil, building community, and ensuring a future for agriculture (and humanity).
Ali Simpson
Ali spent the first part of her career in publishing and at Habitat for Humanity and SCORE, a national nonprofit with a mission to provide education and resources to aspiring small business owners. After a year of working at farms across the U.S. through WWOOF, she decided to pursue her dream of starting her own small farm.
Ali and her partner, Tim, grow vegetables and raise livestock at Kimberly Ann Farms in Ten Mile, Tennessee. With a shared passion for sustainable, small-scale agriculture, they hope to grow and raise healthy food for their community for many years to come.
Mattie Sienknecht
Mattie began her farming career on a production vegetable operation in Portland, OR just after graduating college. She has since developed a passion for both veggies and livestock (especially sheep) and has returned to Southern Appalachia where she was born and raised. She hopes to keep farming in the South for as long as she is able and feels strongly about drawing more young and beginning farmers into our vibrant community. Mattie believes that collaborative, hyper-local food systems are the future, and she can often be found daydreaming about all of the wonderful things farmers can accomplish when they lean on one another for support!
Emily Heid
Emily was one of our founding chapter members back in 2019. As she walks her own path in farming, helping her husband as he manages Cove Creek Farm's pastured pig operation and tending her own small herd of dairy goats, Emily is super excited to work for and with other beginning farmers to create a brighter future for agriculture.
Randall Tomlinson
Randall stumbled into farming at the age of nineteen while in search of his life's purpose. He has pursued his passion in organic vegetables, permaculture, grazing and multispecies management, and eventually fell in love with dairying at Sequatchie Cove Creamery. He continues to follow his passions, highest among which, are providing pathways for careers in southern agriculture.
Kelsey Keener
Kelsey is a second-generation regenerative farmer. Growing up at Sequatchie Cove Farm, Kelsey experienced firsthand both the beauty and struggle of making a living off the land while also tending it in the most environmentally balanced way. Now he is raising his own children on the farm (3rd generation) with his wife Ashley. While the farm is well-recognized and supported by the local community, Kelsey still feels there is much missing - that we, as a society, no longer have a support structure for folks wanting to make a living from the land. Kelsey sees this Young Farmers chapter as a way toward reconnecting the community and supporting those who wish to take part in this farming journey.
Kelsey Freshour
Tegan Alspaugh
Thank you to our former team members who have shaped the chapter.
Afreen Taqui, Leadership Team 2023-2024
Melonie Sherman, Leadership Team 2022-2024
Emma Busby, Project Coordinator 2021-2023
Matt Sparacio, Leadership Team 2019-2023
Jamar Sanders, Leadership Team 2023
Hudson Myracle, Leadership Team 2022-2023
Ritchie Wai, Leadership Team 2019-2022
Michael Klug, Leadership Team 2019-2020