Photo credit: Nathan Lambrecht

If you place a pin almost perfectly between the city of Murfreesboro and the town of Woodbury, you’ll land on the community of Readyville. Located on the east fork of the Stones River, this rural area is where the legacy of the Barker family farm began.

“My grandparents married in 1914, and they bought the farm we’re still on today,” says Mark Barker, the third generation on the family farm.

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Mark is the eldest of three children with his siblings, Boyd and John Barker. All three sons loved being a part of the farm growing up but also knew it was smart to pursue an education. Mark graduated from Woodbury High School in 1973, then went on to receive his bachelor’s degree in animal science from nearby Middle Tennessee State University in 1977. The family farmed together for a while, but when the financial stress of the 1980s hit, John started working off the farm and, in 1995, Boyd went to work for the Tennessee Department of Agriculture.

“When I graduated college, my father was getting older and he didn’t have much help, so it was a good fit at the time,” Mark says. “We have been fortunate to be able to expand the farm gradually.”

Growing up, the family had hogs, cattle, hay and some row crops. They left the hog business in 2000, when Mark decided to increase the cattle herd.

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In 1976, Mark married his wife, Cindy, and they built a house on the farm a year later. The couple raised two children there.

Today, the family has 200 mostly commercial cattle with Angus, Hereford and Charolais influence. They also buy calves to train to eat at bunk feeders and prepare to be sold through the United Producers Inc. video sale. The farm also grows 800 acres of corn and soybeans and 300 acres of hay.

Though neither of the Barkers’ children is directly involved in the farm today, the couple’s grandson helps a lot on the farm and hopes maybe he can take over one day.

“We work daily to ensure the next generation can be here on the farm, which means we must conserve our soil and be sustainable,” Mark says. “But that sustainability buzzword doesn’t always take into consideration the operation must be financially sustainable too – a lot of folks don’t think about that.”

Photo credit: Nathan Lambrecht

Off the farm, the Barkers have always been devoted to their church, New Hope Church of Christ. And in keeping with the family tradition, the Barker family is active in Farm Bureau. Mark remembers going to annual meetings when they were in grade school, with his mother serving as chair of Cannon County Farm Bureau Women and his father always involved with the county Farm Bureau board.

“After I got out of college, I started in what was (then called) Young Farmers and Homemakers,” Mark says. “I really enjoyed the friendships and even now, I see people at Farm Bureau meetings who were students with me at the same time and it just all feels like one big family.”

See more: County Farm Bureau Presidents Lead Grassroots Organization

Mark wasn’t the only Barker to be involved in the program. All three brothers participated, and each won the state discussion meet – a unique and prestigious accomplishment in the Farm Bureau world. Boyd also went on to be named the state Young Farmer of the Year. All three remain active in the organization today, with Mark serving on the Cannon County board of directors for more than 20 years, 11 of those as county president.

“Rural issues are quite different than urban issues, and Farm Bureau ensures we stay on the right path with legislation impacting rural Tennessee,” Mark says. “I believe we’re going to be just as needed in the next 100 years as we were the past 100, maybe even more so as the demographics of America change.”