Peery Featured in Home and Farm Magazine

Brian Peery was recognized with an award at the Lewis County Board of Commissioners meeting Monday, September 26th. Peery was recently featured in Tennessee Home and Farm Magazine for being a fifth-generation farmer in addition to teaching high school agriculture and advising FFA in Lewis County.

The article reads as follows:

With roots deep in Lewis County and a heart for students, Brian Peery has made a mark on his community. From driving the school bus to being the fourth generation in his family to serve as county commissioner, he's done it all. But farm life has always been at the forefront for Peery, the fifth generation on his family's 178-year-old farm near Catheys Creek.

"I remember my father baling hay back in the day and thinking, 'My, oh my," Peery says. "He used to come in from his day job and get right to work on the farm. It always inspired me."

Peery's father eventually came back to the farm full time, putting together 650 acres of timber, tobacco, hogs and cows.

"My sister and I were given our first calves in second or third grade," Peery says. "When we sold the calves, we were able to use the money to pay for college."

Another key part of Peery's journey was his high school ag teacher, Joe Zumstein.

"My ag teacher made it fun," Peery says. "I learned what I needed to know as a country boy and much more when preparing for contests and leadership opportunities in FFA."

Zumstein's teaching spirit would be the motivation for Peery to earn a degree in agricultural education from Middle Tennessee State University.

"When I graduated from MTSU, I came back and helped my dad for a little bit, until a position opened up at the high school," Peery says. "I started teaching in 1993, which means this is 30 years 'I've been in the business,' as Zumstein used to say."

Teaching has been a fulfilling career for Peery.

"To watch students learn about and experience agriculture is so special, plus when you see them go on to excel and become our principal or county mayor or raise a family," he says. "I'm not bragging on me. I'm just tickled to death to be a small part of it."

Much like his father, after Peery finishes teaching, he works on the farm where he and his wife, Melanie, and their daughter, Emelia, raise cattle. Emelia is now in FFA, and the family is active at First United Methodist Church in Columbia. And in the midst of it all, Peery made his way to Farm Bureau.

"I have to give credit to the late Steven Worley for getting me started in Farm Bureau," Peery says. "Lewis County didn't have a Young Farmers and Ranchers chapter (then called Young Farmers & Homemakers), so he invited me to join Maury County's, and the rest is history."

Peery went on to start a YF&R chapter in Lewis County. He has been on the Lewis County board of directors since 1989, serving the past 22 years as county president.

"It's just something I absolutely love," Peery says. "Farm Bureau knows what must be done and they do it."

The ag teacher makes a special point to note what he's been able to do in Lewis County hasn't been him alone.

"It's not me," Peery says. "It's a whole lot of folks around me that have helped, especially when the going gets tough."