Mamas, don’t let your babies grow up to be cowboys… Waylon and Willie

Andy Holt

“I always wanted to live on a farm,” said former Knoxvillian Andy Holt (no relation to the former president of the University of Tennessee). Young Holt served 10 years in the state House from Dresden, Tennessee, and now is living the good life with a nice salary from the TN Department of Agriculture (TDA).

“I actually grew up in the city of Knoxville until my parents were able to buy a house in Knox County,” he related in the November 9, 2012, TN Home and Farm magazine.

“I started working on that goal (to live on a farm) early on in life. I got involved in 4-H and FFA, where I raised sheep, had chickens and was involved with multiple agricultural activities. … Between high school and college, I … moved to Wyoming to work for three consecutive summers. I worked on a ranch as a cowboy … and that experience not only helped me grow up and become a man, it also convinced me of my love for agriculture.”

Now Andy and wife Ellie have seven children and a farm that grows pumpkins, pigs and pine trees. Ellie posted to Facebook.

And Andrew Holt, who took a job with the state after leaving the legislature, has been named deputy commission for TDA. Holt replaced Deputy Commissioner Jeff Aiken who retired.

Holt, 42, started in 2021 as director of business development for TDA.

“Andy’s wealth of experience and forward-thinking approach will ensure that our programs will continue to align with the needs of farmers and foresters in Tennessee,” said Commissioner Charlie Hatcher DVM.

Holt earned a bachelor’s degree from UT Knoxville in agricultural economics, followed by an MBA with focus on economics and finance from UT Martin. He was elected to the legislature in 2010 and served until November 2020, having opted not to file for re-election.

According to the most recent records we could find on a week when seemingly no one was at work, “Andrew Holt in 2021 was employed at Tennessee Department of Agriculture and had an annual salary of $93,800. This salary was 121 percent higher than the average and 132 percent higher than the median salary in Tennessee Department of Agriculture.”

Furthermore

Marion Barry, former mayor of Washington, D.C., also passed through Knoxville. After earning a master’s in chemistry from Fisk University, Barry moved here to enter UT’s Ph.D. program. But he dropped out to move to Washington, D.C., where he entered politics. His mayoral tenure was rocky and ultimately, he died. The Washington Post reports: “In keeping with Barry’s norm-defying career, the back of his (tombstone in Washington’s Congressional Cemetery) lists major donors.”

Jess Piper (former teacher) writes: “Over thirty percent of Missouri schools are on a four-day week because the state funding levels dropped. … Missouri starting teachers are 50th in the country for pay. We fund our classrooms at 49th in the country. We also just passed a school choice bill that will send $450 million to private religious schools.”