McWherter Farms in Dresden is a fulfilled dream of late Gov. Ned Ray McWherter. Photo credit: Karen Pulfer Focht

Former Gov. Ned McWherter dreamed of owning a thriving cattle farm near his West Tennessee hometown of Palmersville in Weakley County. As part of that vision, he purchased 1,200 acres only a couple of farms away in Dresden. McWherter, who served as Tennessee’s governor from 1987 to 1995, spent many weekends on horseback there.

“He wanted to be a cowboy,” says Patterson Freeman, manager of what is now McWherter Farms.

Advertisement

However, McWherter’s 14 years as the state’s speaker of the House and two terms as governor kept him too busy to ever turn the farm into more than a hobby during his lifetime.

See more: Middle Tennessee Research Center Uses Horses to Manage Cattle

Photo credit: Karen Pulfer Focht

Growing McWherter Farms

When McWherter’s son, Mike, inherited the farm after his father passed in 2011, he wanted to use the land to honor the former governor’s passions for agriculture and cattle. So, in 2013, Mike McWherter called Freeman, who has an animal science degree from Mississippi State University and at the time was managing a purebred cattle farm in Jackson, Tennessee.

The two men made the hour drive north from Jackson to Dresden.

“We saw this big, vast farm here with a lot of acreage on it, with a lot of grass. There were a few cows here when we got here,” Freeman says. “But you just immediately pulled up the driveway and knew the place had all the potential in the world.”

And so began McWherter Farms.

It took several years to decide on the farm’s specialty. At first, they shipped all their bulls to Texas and focused on purebred females. About five years in, Freeman says, they “hit reset” and found their niche. Now, 10 years since first stepping foot on the Dresden farm, Freeman has grown the herd to about 300 cattle and developed the business into a premier supplier of registered Angus bulls throughout Tennessee and the Southeast.

Currently, about 200 of the farm’s 1,200 acres are used for grazing the herd, another 100 are designated for growing crops to make feed for the livestock, 300 to 350 acres are typically leased out to other farmers for planting and the rest are woodlands. The farm also leases another 200 acres for grazing.

Over 200 of the farm’s 1,200 acres are used for grazing the herd, and another 100 are designated for growing crops. Photo credit: Karen Pulfer Focht

Pasture to Plate

“We’re helping maintain the quality of meat that goes on the customer’s plate,” Freeman says. “Everything from the ground beef and flank steak to the ribeye steak, brisket and the roast is given top-notch care.”

With the help of McWherter’s herdsman, Colt Cardwell, Freeman breeds and sells purebred bulls to beef cattle farms that use the bulls to grow and maintain their own herds.

McWherter bulls are carefully bred to achieve a balance of genetic traits that will help mixed-breed cattle farmers maintain a healthy herd, quality meat and large animals. This means analyzing characteristics of the bulls including their offspring’s fertility, size and production of marbling, which is the healthy fat inside meat – something the Angus breed is known for.

“Thanks to advancing technology and expertise, we’’ve got ways of being able to know which animals do what’s the best,” Freeman says. “I may have one cow that excels in high in marbling, but she could use some help on the maternal side, as her mothering ability may not be as good as another cow. Then I go try to find a bull that may not have as much marbling – because the cow does – but his daughters have been proven to be better mothers. Then I mate that together and hope for the best of both.”

McWherter Farms farm manager Patterson Freeman (right) and herdsman Colt Cardwell manage 300 cattle on the farm in Dresden. Photo credit: Karen Pulfer Focht

Service in the Saddle

Bringing the former governor’s dream of cattle farming to life hasn’t been all business. It has also meant reflecting values the governor cherished.

“Honesty and integrity are some of the pillars that we’ve set for how we operate here,” Freeman says. “Even though the right decisions are hard decisions a lot of times, we make those because it’s what drives people to come back.”

Service is another value Freeman wants the farm to reflect, just as McWherter served Tennessee for many years.

See more:

Photo credit: Karen Pulfer Focht

“‘Service-driven’ is kind of our mantra, our calling card,” he says, and it’s one of the qualities that make the farm stand out. In fact, some customers have been attracted to the farm out of respect for the former governor – but it’s the values of integrity, honesty and service that kept them.

Fulfilling the governor’s dream has also meant countless hours in the saddle.

“We’re cowboys here. We ride horseback every day. We do things old school,” Freeman laughs. “We’re a little bit of a different look than a lot of the more modern cattle farmers in the state of Tennessee, to where the four-wheelers have replaced the horses. We keep the four-wheelers in the shed.”

And perhaps that’s exactly how Gov. McWherter, a true cowboy at heart, would’ve wanted his farm to be run.

See more: Q&A With Governor Bill Lee