Farm Development on Breakfield Road

By Gina Raicovich and David Haskell , Special to the Messenger

The University Farm is growing, and we need your help. In the coming months, we’ll be bringing beekeeping and small livestock operations to Breakfield Road. Our new projects will teach us what kind of operations will best complement the land and the educational mission of our program. They will also give our summer interns some great opportunities for hands-on learning. These are exciting developments, and we hope that the community will enjoy seeing these examples of education in action. 

Over the next couple of years, what are now abandoned agricultural fields and outbuildings will be filled with new life, enlivening the view along Breakfield Road. This spring and summer you can expect to see goats and pigs in the paddocks around the barn and old dairy, cover crops in the fields next to the old dairy and chickens in the University garden. These projects will entail the need for close attention to neighborliness and animal welfare by the larger Sewanee community. In particular, it will be important to honor the existing Domain rules about dogs: keeping them under control at all times. University rules currently do not allow dog owners to leave their pets to roam unsupervised; adherence to this rule will be all the more important as the University’s agricultural projects continue to grow. 

Even the most well-mannered of family pets can forget its good upbringing if it gets in with livestock. 

The livestock will be well-fenced, and we ask that visitors not reach inside the fencing or attempt to feed the animals. Please enjoy the animals’ antics and beauty from outside the fence. This will ensure the welfare of both people and animals. Dietary novelties or food “treats” can be particularly dangerous. 

Too much attention, especially boisterous attention from strangers, can also cause harm. If you are interested in visiting with the animals please refer to our website, <www5.sewanee.edu/academics/farm/>, for special events and volunteer hours when farm personnel will be available to help you.

The changes on Breakfield Road are part of the University’s plan to renew and refine the agrarian practices that were a part of life on the Mountain for many decades. This work is part of a larger sustainability initiative, aimed at making the University a national leader in environmental studies. Our goal is to grow an ecologically sensitive agricultural operation that will feed bodies and minds.