He’s a seventh-generation farmer from Robertson County
FRANKLIN, Tenn. – Willis Jepson, a seventh-generation farmer from Robertson County, has been named the 2026 Tennessee Farmer of the Year. Through his commitment to agricultural excellence, conservation stewardship and leadership within Tennessee’s number one and most important industry, Jepson exemplifies the best of Tennessee agriculture.
As the seventh generation on his family’s original home place, Jepson is proud to be farming land that’s been in his family since 1806. Today, more than two centuries later, Jepson continues the family’s agricultural legacy alongside his father and two sons.
Jepson Family Farms is a diversified operation spanning Robertson and Sumner counties in Tennessee and Simpson County in Kentucky. The family raises corn, soybeans, wheat, tobacco, canola, barley, watermelons and pumpkins. Their diverse crop portfolio enables them to serve a variety of markets, helping provide food, feed, seed and renewable fuel products to consumers across the country. Wheat grown on the farm is milled into flour, soybeans are produced for seed and corn is marketed for livestock feed and ethanol production. The family’s canola crop contributes to the production of biofuels and their watermelons can be found in grocery stores anywhere from Miami to Maine. Jepson is particularly proud of the farm’s tobacco operation, which continues producing dark-fired tobacco – a specialized crop and unique tradition deeply rooted in the culture and history of the Kentucky-Tennessee border.
In addition to managing impressive and vast agricultural enterprises, Jepson also takes the time for responsible land stewardship. The farm has cover crops and performs other conservation practices to help improve soil health, protect natural resources and ensure the land remains productive for generations to come.
“We’re blessed with what the Lord has given us here to be a part of and take care of,” said Jepson. “People in a lot of industries talk about wanting to do something that matters. I look around at the farm and think, ‘if this doesn’t matter, I don’t know what does.’ I’d rather be right here looking at these crops than anywhere else in the world.”
That calling and so much more is why Jepson was named Tennessee Farmer of the Year during the inaugural Tennessee Farm Bureau Foundation Harvesting Hope Gala. The award is a joint effort between Tennessee Farm Bureau Federation and the University of Tennessee Institute of Agriculture to recognize the leadership, innovation and individual contributions of Tennessee’s farmers.
As state winner, thanks to the gracious sponsorship of Can-Am and Ford, Tennessee Truck Plant, Jepson receives a Can-Am Defender HD11 XT CAB valued at $30,000 and an all-expense-paid trip for two to the American Farm Bureau Convention in January 2027.