By ANN HINCH
Assistant Editor

NASHVILLE, Tenn. — As the new state veterinarian for Tennessee, Dr. Charles Hatcher knows he has his work cut out for him, following a longtime, well-known figure in animal medicine.

“He was a wee little man, but he was a big man,” Hatcher said of his short former boss and colleague, Dr. Ron Wilson, who served as state vet for eight years before his death in late 2008 of cancer.
Both he and Tom Womack, Tennessee Department of Agriculture (TDA) executive assistant for public affairs, agreed Wilson was one of the most respected vets in the country and “an outstanding pathologist,” in Hatcher’s description, who also brought that knowledge to his unusual double posting as director of the state’s Kord Diagnostic Laboratory. Wilson was with the TDA for 25 years.
The state is separating the duties of state vet and Kord Lab director – Assistant State Vet Dr. Phillip Gordon has been interim director of that office and Dr. Ed McKinley is interim director of the lab.

Hatcher, who began part-time with the state vet’s office in 2004 as its Johnes Disease program coordinator, was eventually appointed its full-time animal ID coordinator. A 1984 graduate of the University of Tennessee College of Veterinary Medicine, Hatcher is a fifth-generation dairy, beef and seed farmer from Williamson County.

He had a large-animal practice in Russellville and Guthrie, Ky., for 10 years before moving back to Tennessee and establishing an on-farm mixed animal practice. Earlier this decade, he began scaling back on the practice and moved into public service work with the TDA, eventually leaving his business to his daughter and fellow UT grad, Dr. Jennifer Hatcher.

“I’ve got some arthritis in both wrists and I thought it was a good time to get away from some of the physical part of (practicing),” Hatcher said of his move to the TDA.

A chief concern of his is the growing interest of the general public in animal health issues and how they relate to human health. He sees public health as “so deeply connected” to animal health, and more rapid communication in the age of H5, H7 and H9 “avian flu” and H1N1 “swine flu” viruses makes it important to reassure people of the safety of their food supply.

From a practical standpoint, he said farmers are equally vested in animal health. “The healthier the animal, the more profitable they tend to be,” Hatcher said.

According to Womack, Hatcher understands livestock producers’ practical concerns. He said Hatcher started on-farm processing and direct marketing of dairy products on his farm, and sales through retail outlets a few years ago, after having first developed a private partnership with Middle Tennessee State University for MTSU to process those products for the first 18 months.

“Not only does he understand about animal science and animal health, he also knows what it means for farmers trying to sell their products,” Womack said – important in a state known for pioneering the concept of “value-added agriculture” in this region.
Other issues facing Tennessee livestock producers are similar to those across the country: balancing their animal husbandry methods against increasing public awareness for livestock welfare, animal waste disposal and, to a lesser extent, confined feeding operations (CAFOs) permitting (which the TDA handles jointly with the state’s Department of Environment and Conservation), to name a few.

Tennessee doesn’t have as many large-scale CAFOs as do farmers in other states, Hatcher said, though it does have some large dairies and poultry farms – and there aren’t many large hog producers left.

“Just by nature, we don’t have too many animals concentrated (into space) as elsewhere,” he said.

“In Tennessee, you’re never too far from people or water,” Womack agreed.

Another area in which he said Hatcher has been helping producers is through the TDA’s Agriculture Enhancement Program (TAEP).
Funded via state legislation, the TAEP is an annual cost-share program begun a few years ago to help farmers improve and expand their operations to improve their profitability.

One thing TAEP does is help eligible large-animal vets invest in specialized equipment, with the goal of retaining them in rural areas – a problem Tennessee shares with many other states.
For producers, there are programs to help with feeder cattle operations, cattle genetics, equipment procurement and hay and feed storage.

Finally, Hatcher wants to continue working with federal and local governments and officials to seek more assistance for Tennessee animal farmers.

“It’s just trying to build on the groundwork and the legacy Dr. Wilson had,” he said of his goal as state vet. “I’m just excited about the opportunity and I’m very humbled to follow Dr. Wilson.”