Farm Profile: Rocky Field Farm

Wayne and Pamela Hughes of Rocky Field Farms are an example of conservation practices for today and tomorrow. This dedication comes from deep rooted values and love for the land.

They raise Angus beef, which is sold on-farm in Afton (Greene County) and at Boone Street Market, the year-round farmers market in Jonesborough.

Their farm business’ marketing message hones in on why their beef is an excellent product: “Our cattle graze freely on over 200 acres of all-natural pastures. No chemical herbicides or pesticides are used on any of our grasses. Our herd comprises purebred Angus genetics, and the mother cows are bred to registered Angus bulls. Our calves are raised strictly on their mother’s milk, and after weaning, they grow on chemical-free grass in our pasture. They finished the last 90-120 days before harvest on grass hay, grains, and Alfalfa hay, free choice.”

The Hughes family have been shaping this farm for generations. Hughes’ ancestors immigrated from Germany to Pennsylvania and came down the mountains until they landed in 1796 in northern Greene County on the banks of Lick Creek. Nine generations have lived on, owned, and farmed this land since their initial settling.

In an interview with ARCD and Land Trust for TN, Hughes describes the deep memories of the land.

“I remember the honeybees buzzing everywhere, getting stung every single day on my feet because I’d walk around barefoot,” he recalled. “My brothers and I would spend our days exploring the woods, playing games, and gathering with family for picnics and suppers.”

He continued, “We’d shuck corn under the shade tree in the front yard and can green beans. When I was little, my papaw would milk cows by hand, and my Mamaw and I would churn butter. We’d go out and pick poke greens in the spring. In the summer we’d pick blackberries, and in the fall, we’d pick pawpaw’s. We’d kill hogs and make sausage and cure hams. So, knowing the history and the heritage, and all my own memories and how it used to be, I started feeling like I wanted to restore Eden.”

Wayne and Pamela Hughes, acquired the original 50 acres in 1993 and have reclaimed and added to that initial acreage to the current total of 245 acres. 

“When my dad got sick, I bought the farm to keep it from being foreclosed. I stopped row crops and haying then converted everything to pasture, and now it’s solely a beef operation.”

A portion of this is under permanent conservation easement with The Land Trust for Tennessee. The easement allows for active agriculture and conservation of water, soil, and forest resources, but limits development.

He gets to continue to build those memories each day, and the decision to protect the farm under easement means generations for the future will be able to continue.

“When I was a boy there were Bob White Quail everywhere,” Hughes recalled. “There was a push in the 70s to modernize. He [Hughes’ father] plowed up the whole farm and replanted it with fescue and clover, etc. But those are not clump grasses like the natives (Indian grass, broom sage, blue stem, big blue stem), so the young quail can’t live there because they can’t walk through it, and it doesn’t provide cover.”

“When the local golf course was built, the flow of the stream was interrupted, and it killed off all the fish. That stream was full of suckers and Horny heads, minnows, and brook trout. I was lucky to have seen the place before and after. Just a few things like the reseeding of a farm and the construction of a lake at a golf course up stream was all it took to ruin an ecosystem. So, I realized at an early age how fragile the environment is. God made us stewards of the land and we ought to take care of it.”