As a lifelong farmer, Atwater understands the real struggle of Tennessee's farmers. I am committed to balancing the scales of justice for farmers, farmland, forestry, wetlands, and natural terrains across the State of Tennessee. I know the pros and cons of the USDA and the Farm Bureau Agency, which has caused many farmers to fold and lose their family farms.

PROBLEM STATEMENTS:

(a) Traditionally, in the State of Tennessee, small row farmers and foresters have been left out of the economic equation. To address the holistic issues, Atwater will address poverty, food insecurity, social issues, mental health, economic inequities, housing disparities, drug disparities, lack of health care, school inequalities, domestic violence, infrastructure, and bioenergy strategies.

(b) This is a farm genocide. Row crop farmers, who have been the backbone of Tennessee’s agriculture industry for several decades, are now navigating earth-shaking shifts in global markets after two years of devastating losses due to tariffs.

(c) A combination of high input costs, storms, drought, high interest rates, geopolitical changes, trade disruption during tariff negotiations, and lower commodity prices caused an economic disaster amongst Tennessee farmers.

(d) Producers of cotton, soybeans, corn, and wheat and soybean combination ended 2025 with a combined $192 million loss, according to estimates from the University of Tennessee Institute of Agriculture. The university initially estimated a combined loss of $476 million, but the loss was partially offset by federal aid and crop insurance payments. That is on top of an estimated combined loss of $298 million in 2024.

(e) The problem is enormous, and there is no single solution. There is no government, whether state or federal, that can cure the economic loss that has occurred over the last couple of years, but the next Governor can be creative in the approach of innovative strategies. Atwater, as the next Governor, is up for the challenge as a lifelong farmer.

(f) Tennessee ranks 22nd in the nation for agricultural exports, sending $2.77 billion in agricultural and forestry products to other countries in 2024.

(g) Level playing field with Brazil, Argentina, China, Mexico, and whoever else Tennessee's farmers are competing against.

In the first 90 days, the newly elected Governor will design and create a Tennessee People’s Fresh Food First Garden (TPFFFG) where large acres of city-owned or county-owned land will be used to construct a hefty community farm with a collaboration agreement to assist in poverty and nutritional sustainability.

This farm will encompass the youth and elders in the community to work together and learn from each other thus encouraging an intergenerational relationship. These creative and necessary community farm jobs will be created for the youth and senior citizens which they will be given stipends to assist with their property taxes, purchase medication, repairs on home, assist with extra-curriculum activities or assist with utility bills.

Possibly, a sizable vacant parcel and buildings that are available from former tax incentive recipients who left owing the state and cities millions of dollars can be utilized to meet the humanity of the citizens.

This project could be the solution to Tennessee’s family hunger and also a food distribution center for families, day care centers, schools, nursing homes, homeless shelters and church programs.

The State of Tennessee with the collaboration of USDA will tilled the soil, install solar panels and rain barrels to keep operational cost down. Renewable energy and recycling will sustain this community farm. The Tennessee People’s Fresh Food First Garden could also sustain small businesses in underserved communities such as financially strapped restaurants, farmer’s markets, bakery, pizzerias and herbalists.

Atwater's Goal and Strategies:

Foundational Holistic F.A.R.M Concerns:

Traditionally, in the State of Tennessee, small row farmers and foresters have been left out of the economic equation. To address the holistic issues, Atwater will address poverty, food insecurity, social issues, mental health, housing disparities, drug disparities, lack of health care, domestic violence, and infrastructure.

• As the next Governor of the State of Tennessee, no citizen in rural Tennessee should be living in a third-world country without running water, modern electricity, food accessibility, healthcare, mental health counseling, drug counseling, and low livable wages.

• In rural Tennessee, women should not be living in a domestic violence situation with no effective means of community outreach or protection. This epidemic will not go unnoticed under the Atwater administration. There are no sustainable crisis centers in these rural communities. Atwater will place her finger on the pulse of the rural communities to protect women at all costs.

• With manufacturing companies and Data Centers such as xAI, Blue Oval, and ICE Detention Centers, these companies should be producing cost-of-living wages with medical benefits, and Tennesseans should have Community Benefit Agreements, especially if these companies have received tax incentives or PILOT (Payment-in-lieu-of-taxes) from the State of Tennessee.

• Atwater's main goal is to preserve our farms in Tennessee to secure a generation of food sources and sustainability. Out-of-towners and foreigners are buying up the State of Tennessee. There is an intentional attack on our farmland for the use of data centers and housing development, with a high cost of living. Farmers living in poverty are being forced to relinquish their family farms.

FARMLAND PRESERVATION PLAN:

Tennessee's Farmland Preservation Program, managed by (F.A.R.M.), helps counties create plans to protect agricultural land, minimize land-use conflicts, and promote soil/water conservation. Certified plans will enable landowners to claim state income tax credits if they meet conservation standards, are in a designated zoning district, or are in an Agricultural Enterprise Area (AEA).

• Tennessee Farmland Preservation Planning: Counties develop these non-binding guidance documents to establish a local vision for agricultural preservation, mapping out areas intended for long-term farming.

• Farmland Preservation Zoning: Local governments adopt zoning ordinances to protect farmland, which can make landowners eligible for tax credits.
  

• Income Tax Credits: Farmers in certified areas can claim a per-acre tax credit (up to annually) if they comply with county land and water conservation standards, which often include nutrient management plans.

• Agricultural Enterprise Areas (AEAs): Communities can petition to designate these areas to support targeted agricultural development and preservation.

Atwater's Infrastructure and Bioenergy Products Policy

• Help farmers and local governments preserve agricultural land, protect water/soil, and minimize development conflicts. Provide income tax credits to farmers in designated areas who comply with soil and water conservation standards.

• Farmland Preservation Zoning

• Farmland Preservation Plan

• Designated Tennessee Agricultural Enterprise Areas

• Farmland Opportunity Zone Funds -$50 million dollars (Allocation from the Tennessee Assistance for Needy Families), TANF funds - rent, food accessibility, revitalization, sustainability, Homestead, HUD, and the Tennessee Agriculture Department)

• Increase the creative use of soybean and corn to support Tennesseans and neighboring states for alternative uses such as transportation fuel, corn-burning stoves, etc.

• The state's agriculture department is looking to help farmers diversify their crops and sell goods to more international customers.

• Identify state, corporation, philanthropic, and non-profit support for infrastructure as a major immediate need for row crop farmers, particularly those in West Tennessee, which has the greatest concentration of soybean production.

• Tennessee will move into the top 10 over the next five years.

• Tennessee’s hardwood timber industry saw high returns when it focused on marketing a single commodity to a single emerging international market, and wants to replicate that model in partnership with national export councils for soybeans, grain, and cotton.

• Identify state support for infrastructure as a major immediate need for row crop farmers, particularly those in West Tennessee, which has the greatest concentration of soybean production.

• Infrastructure must be addressed: To export their crops, farmers must first get them to barges on the Mississippi River. That becomes more difficult when one of the few roads available to transport goods to the river is flooded, such as in Dyer County, a short, flood-prone roadway called Bungie Road represents the last two miles to get crops from fields to a grain elevator on the river’s edge to get to international markets. This is probably the most important infrastructure need that we have in the state. We can produce all the grain we want, but if we can’t get it into a domestic or an international market, we will defeat the purpose.

• As the next Governor, the state will contribute $10 million dollars to move the roads out of the floodplains.

• Advocate for more short-line railroad infrastructure. Collaborating with traditional railroad companies to modernize these railroad tracks as a means to increase infrastructure for international trade.

• Promote and design an oil crushing facility where soybeans are separated into oil and meal in Tennessee. Crush facilities will be under construction in Tennessee that will be used to send their soybeans to other countries for processing. The oil can be used for biofuels, for industrial uses, and in food. $10 million dollars will be allocated to this initiative.

• Increase and recalculate the percentage of corn to produce ethanol by 60% in the next four years. Tennessee uses about 46% of its corn to produce ethanol at three plants in the state, but has yet to gain ground in other bioenergy industries. High domestic demand for biofuels is being driven by Western states, including California, Washington, and Oregon, due to their environmental policies.

• Oil crushing is an opportunity for farmers to advance, especially if the Tennessee Department of Agriculture can get the Environmental Protection Agency to realign its focus on the renewable fuel standards. We need to be able to take Tennessee crops and convert them into energy resources that we can sell.

• Increase USDA and Farm Agency participation for black and brown farmers to bring about equity due to traditional disparities.

• Advocate for stricter farm preservation regulations to augment the use of data centers, manufacturing companies, and detention centers.

Atwater's State-Funded Renewable Energy Plan for Tennessee Farms

A New Role For Tennessee Farms In the Energy Transition:

Fossil fuel use accounts for around 17% of agricultural greenhouse-gas emissions. While this is not the largest share of the sector’s footprint, reducing it is vital to achieve climate neutrality. Renewable energy can help cut these emissions while also protecting farms from volatile energy markets and strengthening local energy security.

Alternative energy sources for farms, including solar, wind, biomass, and geothermal, reduce operational costs, increase energy independence, and promote sustainability. In combination with energy conservation practices, farmers can produce their own energy to become even more self-sufficient by reducing external inputs. Not only does renewable energy help the farmer save money, but it also combats the effects of global warming. Biomass, geothermal, hydroelectric, solar, and wind power can produce electricity for heating, lighting, and fuel for use on the farm. We must retrofit small farms to make them sustainable. Finding financial incentives for installing and running these systems.

Top Alternative Energy Sources for Farms

• Solar Power & Agri-voltaics: Photovoltaic (PV) panels power irrigation pumps, lighting, and greenhouses. Agri-voltaics, or dual-use solar, combines solar energy generation with agricultural production, such as grazing sheep or growing crops under elevated panels.

• Wind Energy: Small-scale or large-scale wind turbines can power farm operations or be used for net metering, taking up little space and allowing farming to continue around them.

• Biomass and Anaerobic Digesters: Organic waste (crops, manure) can be converted to energy via combustion or anaerobic digesters. Methane captured from dairy manure can produce electricity and heat for farm use.

• Biofuels/Biodiesel: Farmers can produce biodiesel or ethanol from on-farm crops to fuel machinery and vehicles.

• Geothermal Energy: Ground-source heat pumps can provide efficient heating and cooling for farm buildings and greenhouses.

• Solar Space Heating: Solar space-heating systems can be used in livestock, dairy, and other agriculture operations that have significant space heating requirements. For example, modern pig and poultry farms raise animals in enclosed buildings with carefully controlled temperatures that help maximize animal health and growth. In addition, these facilities often have high ventilation needs in order to remove moisture, toxic gases, odors, and dust. Properly designed solar space-heating systems can help meet both of these needs.

• Solar greenhouses: Solar greenhouses are designed to collect solar energy during sunny days and also to store heat for use at night or during periods when it is cloudy. They can either stand alone or be attached to houses or barns. A solar greenhouse may be an underground pit, a shed-type structure, or a quonset hut. Large-scale producers use free-standing solar greenhouses, while attached structures are primarily used by home-scale growers.

• Solar Crop Drying: Farmers have been using the sun to dry crops for centuries. You can take advantage of this technology simply by allowing crops to dry naturally in the field, or by spreading grain and fruit out in the sun after harvesting. Today’s solar dryers are designed to provide protection from insects, rodents, birds, as well as weather. A basic solar dryer consists of an enclosure or shed, screened drying trays or racks, and a solar collector. The design of a solar crop drying system needn’t be complicated — it can simply be a glazed box with a dark-colored interior to collect solar energy, which heats the air inside the box. The heated air is then moved through the crop material either by natural convection or with a fan.

• Solar Water Heating: Water heating can account for as much as 25 percent of a typical family’s energy costs and up to 40 percent of the energy used in a typical dairy operation. A properly sized solar water-heating system could cut those costs in half. Hot water is also needed for pen and equipment cleaning and a host of other agricultural uses.

• Grid-Connected Systems: In grid-connected systems, the only additional equipment required is a power conditioning unit (inverter) that makes the turbine output electrically compatible with the utility grid. Usually, batteries are not needed. Small wind energy systems can be connected to the electricity distribution system and are called grid-connected systems. A grid-connected wind turbine can reduce your consumption of utility-supplied electricity for lighting, appliances, and electric heat. If the turbine cannot deliver the amount of energy you need, the utility makes up the difference. When the wind system produces more electricity than the household requires, the excess is sent or sold to the utility.

• Corn-burning furnaces: Corn-burning furnaces are specialized biomass heating systems that burn dried, shelled corn or wood pellets to provide cost-effective residential or commercial heating. These systems often use a hopper to automatically feed corn into a firepot, controlled by a thermostat. They offer an eco-friendly alternative to fossil fuels, producing high BTUs and efficient heat, often without EPA certification requirements.

• H2 Dual Power Tractors: H2 Dual Power Tractors run on a combination of hydrogen and diesel,  producing much lower CO2 and NOX emissions with no loss of torque or power. Hydrogen can be produced on-site by splitting water into hydrogen and oxygen using renewable electricity from solar, wind, or hydropower.

• Biodiesel (B20-B100): Produced from vegetable oils, animal fats, or recycled grease. It is compatible with most diesel engines, though high blends might require engine modifications.

• Renewable Diesel: A "drop-in" fuel, often Hydrotreated Vegetable Oil (HVO), which is chemically similar to petroleum diesel and requires no engine changes.

• Ethanol: Cleaner-burning and potentially lower-cost ( cheaper) than diesel. While typically for spark-ignition engines, E98 technology is emerging for high-horsepower tractors.

• Methane/Biogas: Produced from farm waste (anaerobic digesters). Methane-powered tractors are increasingly viewed as a viable on-farm energy solution.

• Electric/Battery: Suitable for smaller tractors or specialized tasks where frequent recharging/swapping is possible, but currently limited for high-power, long-duration farm work.

Artificial Intelligence Operated Driving Tractor:

AI farm tractors are autonomous, self-driving machines using GPS, cameras, and machine learning to perform agricultural tasks like tilling, planting, and spraying without human operators. These systems,, such as those developed by John Deere and Monarch Tractor, aim to solve labor shortages, enhance efficiency, and reduce chemical use by allowing precise, 360-degree monitoring and remote, app-based control. This tractor could be used as a shared co-op for small farmers who may not have the budget of large-scale operations, thus aiding in the preservation of farmlands.

As a farmer and a child who grew up on a farm, Atwater knows that Rural Broadband access is essential for farmers and ranchers to follow commodity markets, communicate with customers, and access new markets around the world, especially with the AI-operated driving tractor.

Problem Statements:

(a) Based on 2023–2026 data, approximately 37% of rural Tennesseans do not have home access to high-speed broadband, a figure that directly impacts the state's rural farming population, while this represents a significant digital divide.

(b) Access Rate: Roughly one in three (37%) rural residents in Tennessee lack broadband access, though some estimates from early 2026 suggest only about 43,000 locations (households and businesses) remain unserved.

(c) The Agriculture Impact: Lack of reliable, high-speed internet (defined by the FCC as 25/3 Mbps, or higher for precision agriculture) hinders farmers' ability to use modern, data-driven, yield-maximizing techniques.

(d) Current Progress: As the next Governor of the State of Tennessee, I will ensure that I follow up on this commitment to rural Tennessee. As of March 2026, Tennessee is investing over $400 million in federal BEAD (Broadband Equity, Access and Deployment) funding to close the remaining gap, aiming for 100% connectivity by 2028.

(e) Barriers for Rural Farmers

• Cost: Even when broadband is available, it is often too expensive for low-income rural households.

• Infrastructure Challenges: The high cost of laying fiber in low-density rural areas has historically limited access.

• Adoption vs. Access: While access has increased, "adoption" (the rate at which people actually purchase and use the service) lags, with some rural projects seeing utilization rates as low as 40–60%.

Rural Broadband:

• Rural broadband is essential to modern agriculture, the farmers and ranchers who grow our food, and the quality of life for rural Americans. Atwater will use the Farm Bureau's support, using the Universal Service Fund to expand broadband deployment to rural areas. We also support using a combination of tax incentives, grants, and/or regulations to increase the use of broadband access in rural areas.

• Precision Agriculture: Farmers and ranchers depend on broadband just as they do highways, railways, and waterways to ship food, fuel, and fiber across the country and around the world. Many of the latest yield-maximizing farming techniques require broadband connections for data collection and analysis performed both on the farm and in remote data centers. However, 18 percent of U.S. farms have no access to the Internet according to the USDA report, “Farm Computer Usage and Ownership, 2021.”

  America’s farmers and ranchers embrace technology that allows their farming businesses to be more efficient, economical, and environmentally friendly. Today’s farmers and ranchers are using precision agricultural techniques to make decisions that impact the amount of fertilizer a farmer needs to purchase and apply to the field, the amount of water needed to sustain the crop, and the amount and type of herbicides or pesticides the farmer may need to apply. These are only a few examples of the ways farmers use broadband connectivity to achieve optimal yield, lower environmental impact, and maximize profits.

  Farmers and ranchers rely on broadband access to manage and operate successful businesses, the same as small businesses do in urban and suburban America. Access to broadband is essential for farmers and ranchers to follow commodity markets, communicate with their customers, gain access to new markets around the world, and, increasingly, for regulatory compliance.

• Quality of Life: Rural communities need access to health care, government services, and educational and business opportunities. For many rural communities, access can only be gained by using broadband services and sophisticated technologies that require high-speed connections. According to the Federal Communications Commission, 17 percent of rural Americans lack access to 25 Mbps/3 Mbps service, compared to only 1 percent of urban Americans. Current and future generations of rural Americans will be left behind their fellow citizens if they are without affordable high-speed broadband service that enables them to tap into health care and educational services, government agencies, and new business opportunities.

RURAL TENNESSEE TRANSPORTATION CONNECTION

As the next potential Governor of the State of Tennessee, I will bring rural counties to the table of economic equity and adequate road infrastructure.

(a) Address the disparities in how rural Tennessee has been treated compared to urban and Metro Tennessee.

(b) Engaging the public early and appropriately allows agencies to make better-informed decisions through collaborative efforts and builds mutual understanding and trust between the agencies and the public they serve.

(c) Addressing predominantly rural counties, Tennessee’s rural transportation system plays a vital role in Tennessee’s economy.

(d) Historically, rural communities receive less attention from the federal and state governments compared to urban communities in terms of mobility issues. Moreover, due to barriers with regard to technology, geographic location, and resources, rural communities often hold a different array of views and concerns on issues pertaining to their own specific transportation needs.

(e) Conducting meaningful public engagement with these communities can help agencies to access first-hand information about community-specific issues and concerns otherwise unknown to the agency.

(f) Effective rural community engagement can flag potential controversies, solutions to problems that best meet their needs, and provide feedback on how to get the community involved.

(g) Strategies that work for engaging communities in urban settings may not work in the same way in rural communities; transportation, technology, and resources vary widely.

(h) Community outreach via social media seems effective to connect and communicate with a broader demographic in rural communities. However, because of a lack of consistent internet and cell phone coverage in rural communities, social media should be viewed as a complementary communication strategy, but one that is incomplete.

(i) Virtual meetings are also problematic because of internet coverage. Though this does have the potential to increase community engagement, virtual meetings cannot replace in-person meetings in rural communities.

(j) Securing the support of influential community leaders and elected officials is vital to improving engagement and successful implementation of the project.

(k) Transparency and open communication are vital in rural communities from the onset of a project. This will increase trust in TDOT and make citizens feel as if they have an impact on the projects that are planned for their communities.

(l) Rural Engagement Meetings and Communications will be the key to pulling rural counties back into the realm of economic equity and inclusion.

(m) Engaging with Rural Community Leaders. In rural communities, TDOT needs to work with and have the support of community leaders. This will get more community members involved and result in better engagement. It is recommended that TDOT work with elected officials, local planning departments, local road committees, leaders of civic organizations, the chamber of commerce, and city staff when planning community engagement activities. Because most community leaders are actively involved in many aspects of the community, they are able to see the big picture of need and impact of transportation projects in their community development. So, TDOT officials should follow the chain of command of local elected officials before communicating with the community.

(n) Consideration of Generational Differences in Shifts in Transportation Planning. The generational divide is prominent in rural communities with an aging population and outflow of younger members. In rural communities, baby boomers and Generation X are more likely to be engaged with TDOT projects. However, this presents unique challenges due to generational differences, such as meetings not representing the entire community. Younger Millennials and Gen Z’s preferences for more public and green transportation projects may not be well supported in the communities. Generational shift is also visible in technology use, as the younger generation is more tech-savvy. Therefore, TDOT needs to be creative in striking a balance between the needs of the generational groups in the community in their transportation plans and designs. In every step of rural engagement, TDOT should strive for multiple strategies to entice different generations in effective engagement.

(o) Empowering the rural community in decision-making, to address decades of rural neglect and oversight.

TDOC AND RURAL COUNTY ROAD INFRASTRUCTURE

Traveling across the State of Tennessee, this was a major concern for rural Tennesseans. As the next potential Governor of the State of Tennessee, I offer these recommendations to better bridge the relationship with this governmental entity and rural counties, especially those affected by storm and drought damages.

• Regarding how TDOT should engage in rural communities, the statements that reached consensus led to the following recommendations: • Keep lines of communication open between TDOT and the community.

• Have a designated liaison between TDOT and community leaders.

• Listen to feedback from the community to make sure the community is engaged with TDOT projects.

• Treat all communities with the same level of respect, regardless of their size.

• Focus on the positive impacts of their projects when engaging with communities.

• Understand the needs of rural communities are different than the needs of larger cities.

• Advertise what the meetings are specifically about.

• Pay attention to more than what the most influential people in rural communities want. • Think about what other rural areas will be impacted by projects.

• Do more to seek community input on projects.

• Do surveys within communities to get people's opinions.

• Explain the project’s timeline to community members.

• Understand that rural communities are often skeptical of government.

• Work with the community on the next steps of the project.

• Have a presence in the community so TDOT is treated less like an outsider.

• Use visual and interactive tools during meetings to engage rural communities (for example, digital maps, scenario building, user-friendly interactive websites, and infographics).

• Have visual and interactive tools available on the TDOT website to engage rural communities (for example, digital maps, scenario building, user-friendly interactive websites, and infographics).

• Follow up on how they have incorporated the feedback received at town hall meetings.

• Allow community members to submit questions and comments on their website before town hall meetings. • Conduct short informal polls of community interests and perceptions.

Regarding how TDOT should engage with community leaders, the statements that reached consensus lead to the following recommendations:

• Have support from community leaders.

• Hold educational workshops about what TDOT does to help community leaders understand TDOT's role.

• Work closely with elected officials.

• Communicate with the aldermen and county commissioners.

• Work closely with local planning departments.

• Communicate with leaders of local civic organizations.

• Work with the local Road Committee.

• Work with community leaders (nongovernment officials). Work with the Chamber of Commerce director.

• Work with the staff of local government officials.

• Work with the Public Works Director.

• Work with the Senator and House Representative.

TENNESSEE'S RURAL SCHOOLS OVERLOOKED AMID URBAN FOCUS

Rural vs. Urban — Tennesseans living in rural counties had higher poverty rates and lower incomes than those in urban counties. In rural counties, 16.5% of residents were in poverty compared to 13.9% in urban counties. (3) The median household income for each of Tennessee’s 72 rural counties was $55,869, on average, compared to $68,778 for the state’s 23 urban counties.

(c) For almost a decade, Tennessee has focused its school improvement work on its big cities where large numbers of students are of color, live in extreme poverty, and have disabilities.

(b) But a new report says rural schools also face significant challenges in providing an equitable education to a third of the state’s students, all while serving a growing Latino population drawn to those areas mostly by agricultural work.

(c) High poverty rates, lower median household income, opioid addiction, and limited access to technology and healthcare are among the issues in rural Tennessee, where fewer people are likely to attend college, and more are likely to receive food stamps than their urban counterparts, according to economic research.

(d) With less industry and lower local tax bases to support their schools, rural districts also struggle to recruit, support, and retain effective educators.

(e)Tennessee’s challenges mirror rural America, where school communities are being stretched by scarce resources and the need for more educators equipped to teach language skills to students from immigrant families.

(f) Many of the issues that persist in our urban areas are challenges in our rural ones too, and we’ve got to find ways to look at different dimensions of the same problems.

(g) State to revise its education funding formula to take rural needs into account by providing each school with a flat rate, then distributing extra money based on the number of students who are from low-income families, struggle with a disability, are learning to speak English, or attend rural schools.

(h) Adopt student-based budgeting, which distributes funds to schools according to student characteristics and needs.

(i) The state should provide financial incentives to get more teachers in schools that are experiencing shortages due either to geography or content.

(j) Based on state and federal data, tours should be performed of rural areas to interview teachers, principals, and district staff to assess the needs of these rural schools.

(k) Just as Memphis is distinct from Nashville, Knoxville, or Chattanooga, Tennessee’s small towns and rural communities shouldn’t be painted with a broad brush. Rural is not a monolith but a compilation of hundreds of unique communities and circumstances.