Featured Image: Cows at the Beef Cattle Teaching Center on March 13, 2026 in Martin, Tennessee. (Pacer Photo / Darby Self)

In Gov. Bill Lee’s 2026-2027 proposed state budget, $4.23 million is allocated to an advanced Cattle Outreach and Workforce (COW) Facility to the University of Tennessee at Martin.

Individuals at UT Martin have been working nearly eight years to provide an advanced cattle facility that will better educate students and prepare them for the workforce. After years of hard work, the light at the end of the tunnel is shining through.

Todd Winters, dean of the UT Martin College of Agriculture and Applied Science, has worked hard to make this dream a reality. After many meetings with legislators, the Tennessee Department of Agriculture, university officials, the UT Institute of Agriculture and more, he spread awareness for the need for this facility. He received support from many groups, including UT System President Randy Boyd who made it a priority for the university system.

An advisory board of local cattle producers was formed to hear their opinions on what would be most beneficial for them. The board indicated there was a need for the facility to have an emphasis on reproduction.

“The facility is kind of going to be like a cattle IVF clinic out there,” Winters said. “We’ll have surrogate recipient animals and do embryo transfers to really improve the genetics of the beef cattle herd here in Tennessee.”

While the current 60-year-old facility has a setup for artificial insemination, the new facility is going to be much more advanced. It will allow students to work with updated technology and methods of artificial insemination. In addition, a classroom and laboratory are included at the new facility.

“All of our ag students can get something out of this,” Winters said.

For example, animal and vet science students can gain experience in reproductive technologies; plant and soil science students can work with forages; farm and ranch management students can get hands-on management experience.

UT Martin students will not be the only ones to reap the benefits of the COW facility.

Workshops on various topics such as artificial insemination, animal health and animal nutrition are planned to be provided to local producers and high school agricultural programs.

Danny Morris, a UT Martin agricultural economics professor, determined that the workshops and outreach programs would have an additional economic impact of $521,839 per year and the facility’s total economic impact would be $2,673,000. This study does not include the economic impact of graduates entering the workforce.

The budget still must go through the state legislature to get approval. From there, the university goes through a second planning stage that gets into the specifics of the architectural renderings.

If approved, the facility will be built on a 40-acre plot on Hyndsver Road in Martin near the Sheep and Goat Facility. It will include one classroom, one laboratory and a covered barn with a complete cattle working system.

Grace Gold, a junior animal science major at UT Martin, spoke on the new facility and the impact it will have on students. She grew up on a dairy farm and is certified in artificial insemination.

“It will definitely be nice having the classrooms there, so then you can just be right there with the cattle,” Gold said. “You can go out, and you can already have the cattle there in the chutes, ready to go.”

The COW facility will help make classes more efficient and give more opportunities for students to spend time with the cattle who haven’t had the chance before. With the diverse opportunities the proposed facility brings, Gold could see more classes being held in the facility with a hands-on component.

The Tennessee General Assembly is expected to vote on the 2026-2027 budget this spring. If the budget passes, the university will begin the second stage of planning and begin to move forward.

“It’ll be really beneficial for farmers, students and educators,” Gold said.