Charlie Whitehead, a UTIA retiree and former Extension agent, recently received the Distinguished Service Award from the Tennessee Cattlemen’s Association. Whitehead was recognized for his many years of service to the livestock industry in Tennessee at the awards luncheon held in Murfreesboro on January 28, 2022.
Charlie Whitehead has been a cattleman all his life. He was raised on a farm in Blount County, Tennessee, where he showed steers in 4-H. He remembers one of the county shows being judged by a young Bill Tyrrell, a UT livestock specialist, who later became the first executive vice president of the Tennessee Cattlemen’s Association. Whitehead went on to UT and was on the livestock judging team. After graduation, he worked for a short period of time for Purina Feeds in Jamestown, Tennessee, before being appointed assistant county agent for UT Extension Fentress County. While serving as the 4-H agent in Fentress County, he promoted the beef cattle industry and many young agents in Extension learned a lot from his livestock experience. He tutored many young people in 4-H, including two exceptional 4-H’ers, Julius Johnson and Lacy Upchurch, who later became Tennessee Commissioner of Agriculture and President of Tennessee Farm Bureau, respectively.
Whitehead was appointed head of livestock grading with the Tennessee Department of Agriculture and served in that capacity for several years before developing and operating C & M Livestock Market in Jamestown. C & M became one of the premier markets for feeder cattle on the Cumberland Plateau. The C & M Market developed the first pre-conditioned feeder calf sale in the state of Tennessee which has led to lots of pre-conditioned cattle being sold from the farm since that beginning. C & M Ranch, which he also co-owned, provided the cattle and facilities for the training of livestock graders in Tennessee.
Lots of effort contributed to the Tennessee Cattleman’s Association becoming a viable organization and receiving a charter. With the dissolution of the Tennessee Livestock Association, there were about 1,400 former members of TLA who would likely become members of the Tennessee Cattlemen’s Association. These members needed to be notified of the organizational meeting to be held at the Extension office in Nashville. A core group of individuals who realized the significance of having an organization to promote the cattlemen’s interests met together to stuff the envelopes to send out to the individuals. These included Bill Tyrrell, who would become the first executive vice president, Bob Coley, who would become first association president, Lafayette Williams, Jim Neel, Harry Bryan, and Charlie Whitehead, who would be the first association vice president. With no operating capital, all of the people mentioned above became charter members providing a little seed money for the organization. As of January 2022, the association has grown to over 7,000 members and is one of the strongest associations in the United States.
About the same time TCA was being organized, Whitehead also helped organize the Tennessee Beef Industry Council and served on the original board of directors. He was a very integral person in negotiating some agreements with the various agricultural organizations in the state. The council has done a great job in promoting beef in the state, benefitting all cattlemen in Tennessee.
In 2009, Whitehead hosted a Tennessee agricultural reunion on his farm in Fentress County for cattlemen and livestock industry leaders. One hundred seventy people attended including most of the association’s founders.
One of Whitehead’s favorite activities is music and he has sung bass in The Brotherhood Gospel Quartet for over 50 years with the same group. In addition to Whitehead, the quartet consists of Jim Kirby, Freeman King, and Sam Beaty and entertained after a live auction at the first association convention held at Opryland Hotel.
Whitehead continued his involvement with the association by speaking at several livestock events promoting membership. At the age of eighty-six, Whitehead considers himself semi-retired and raises some stocker grazer cattle on his farm. As the owner of Whitehead Insurance, Inc, an independent insurance agency, he is providing insurance for people through his four locations in Maryville, Crossville, Oneida, and Jamestown.
Whitehead has four children: Judy, Harvey, Roger, and Karen; fourteen grandchildren; and fifteen great-grandchildren. The children’s mother, Emily Kyker Whitehead, passed in October of 2021. He is active with the American Red Cross, Gideons International, and a member of Allardt First Baptist Church in Fentress County.