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Coffee County alumni returns as Agriculture Advisor

For Coffee County School’s newest Agriculture Advisor Joshua Barnard Jr., the transition from one time student and FFA member to instructor is something both unexpected and enjoyable.

“It is definitely different being on the other side of the desk,” Barnard, a 2018 CCCHS graduate, said. “The really cool thing is I came back in as a professional and I have been treated as a professional and that is fantastic.”

A native of Hillsboro, the 23-year-old Barnard said his interest in agriculture dates back to childhood when his parents moved from a house in town to a farm.

“When I was little mom and dad had a house in town and at about the age of five I guess, I was fascinated…farm, farm, farm and they wanted to build a house and they actually went and bought a farm because of me,” he said.

The family began sheep before switching to cattle before Barnard began attending college at Tennessee Tech University.

“We had laying houses for several years,” Barnard said. “About 12,000 birds and picking up 10-12,000 eggs a day, and so that was kind of the peak of my interests.”

Barnard said the Future Farmers of America program is something he participated in during all four years of his high school career and is a program near and dear to his heart.

Originally a pre-veterinary medicine major, Barnard said he eventually decided to switch gears.

“I worked on the university farm, Shipley Farm, from January of my freshman year all the way through college,” he said. “I was working out there, my least favorite thing in the world to do is fencing, I hate fencing and we were fencing one day and it was pretty, I was having fun, doing all this stuff and I said why can’t I do this everyday.”

Barnard then changed his major from pre-veterinary medicine to animal science.

After earning his degree, Barnard said he did not expect to return to teach for Coffee County.

“I never figured this position would still be open when I graduated,” he said. “It was one of those things that just worked out perfect.”

“Throughout high school I was in FFA from freshman year until senior year. I was President two years, my sophomore and junior year. Went to Coffee County. I went to this exact classroom. I was in animal science, I competed nationally in (Extemporaneous Public Speaking), won state and then went on to nationals and competed in most all the CDEs.”

Barnard is looking forward to growing the program as he moves forward in his teaching career.

“I want this program to grow, I want people, especially the community and when I say community I mean society as a whole, to look at agriculture in a different light,” Barnard said. “There is a stigma around agriculture that we are all just farmers, or it is all just dirt.”

Barnard said he realizes that many people in the Coffee County community are aware about what all goes into farming, and what it takes to be successful, but he would like to see that understanding strengthened outside of agriculture based communities.

“There are a lot of people that don’t see the other facets of agriculture that aren’t just being on the farm day in and day out,” he said. “I want my students to know that there are majors from Ag business to Ag engineering to different parts of animal agriculture that aren’t just being on the farm.”