On a beautiful, sunny and 70-degree Wednesday afternoon in mid-April, the 114th Tennessee General Assembly passed the 2025-2026 fiscal budget for the Volunteer State. As it awaits signature by Gov. Bill Lee, here are a few items of mention related to Tennessee’s number one industry – agriculture.
Recurring allocations:
- $15 million for the Agricultural Enterprise Fund
- $5 million for the Tennessee Agricultural Enhancement Program (This brings the total amount to $31 million annually.)
- $1.5 million to the University of Tennessee Institute of Public Service for local government planning
- $1.5 million for the state meat inspection program
- $547,000 for the University of Tennessee Center for Profitable Agriculture for landowner education
Nonrecurring allocations:
- $90.5 million for FFA and 4-H camp infrastructure ($45.25 million to each organization)
- $25 million to establish the Farmland Preservation Fund
- $1.5 million for county and regional fair capital investments
- $1 million for AgLaunch
These numbers do not include millions of dollars for East and West Tennessee flood relief programs, which Tennessee Farm Bureau is in strong support of.
From a budgetary standpoint, Tennessee agriculture had a successful first half of the 114th General Assembly. TFBF thanks Gov. Lee and lawmakers for keeping Tennessee’s number one industry in mind and appreciates the commitment to investing in the future of the industry. More information and a full budget overview will be shared at a later date.
