I have fond memories of going alongside my grandaddies on their old farms, with all the small fields outlined with fence rows. Each field was unique in that the soil and tree lines were different. We would have some fields used for growing crops, while others were set aside for growing hay for the animals. Late in the fall, we would select and cut trees for firewood and pile the brush back into the fence rows for the small wildlife. Our farming equipment was small and seemed to always need working on at night. Between both of my grandaddies, they may have had 450 acres of land, and I got to split my summers and weekends with my dad working on both.
My wife and I wanted to raise our family on a working farm, so we were able to buy a small one and do just that. Over the years, we have raised row crops, cattle, and horses, and now have a Christmas tree farm going. I have started two new wooded areas, and quail are starting to make a home in these smaller fields.
You don’t see a lot of small working farms anymore. Many folks left this behind to find a factory job or a job with a steady income. Over time, these farmers sold their land to a larger farmer, removing the small fields and combining farms to form bigger plots of land as newer equipment became more powerful. Nowadays, most farmers run tractors over five hundred horsepower, pulling equipment over seventy feet wide on five to ten thousand acres.
As a farmer, it is important to know what is on your property and what is below your land because of the variety of work we do on a daily basis. Farm life may feel a long way from the city, but we still rely on many of the same underground utilities folks depend on every day: water, electric, gas, phone, and internet. Some of what’s below the surface isn’t just a service line feeding a home or barn — it can also be large natural gas transmission pipelines crossing open ground, running through permanent right-of-way easements.
As farms have changed hands, been consolidated, and had fence rows removed, pipeline corridors that once followed older boundaries can now cut across wide fields. These transmission pipelines can be easy to forget about until a project puts you right on top of one.
According to the Pipeline and Hazardous Materials Safety Administration (PHMSA), the U.S. has 300,000 miles of natural gas transmission pipeline. Tennessee has more than 14,000 miles of natural gas transmission lines with major routes crossing West Tennessee farmland, Middle Tennessee pasture, and East Tennessee valleys. These lines can be routed through rural corridors, agricultural land, rights-of-way, and utility easements. Transmission lines may be present even in areas that appear rural and undeveloped, making safe digging practices essential for farmers, ranchers, and landowners.
While the public can check the general location of transmission pipeline corridors by searching their county in PHMSA’s National Pipeline Mapping System (NPMS) at https://pvnpms.phmsa.dot.gov/PublicViewer, the maps are not exact. State law requires a notification to 811 so pipelines and other utilities can be marked before work starts that could cause a catastrophic, and possibly life-ending, utility strike.
Being there for our rural neighbors is why we at Tennessee 811 travel the state each fall, participating in pipeline safety programs and taking every opportunity to meet with farm groups and cattlemen associations. We also partner with neighboring state 811s — Arkansas, Mississippi, and Alabama — attending events like the Mid-South Farm and Gin Show in Memphis. This is a great place to meet with farmers and their families to talk about the importance of the 811 system and farm operations.
So, whether you are a new gardener or a fourth-generation farmer running over ten thousand acres, you run the risk of damaging utility services when you do not notify 811 before you dig. Take the time and call in a locate ticket and let utilities come out and mark the area so you will know what is around your work location.
Grandaddy knew every square inch of his land. He could tell stories of all that he saw in the fields and fence rows over the years. Sadly, like most of our grandaddies, they would not recognize their old farmland today. I will always cherish my memories, and I hope my grandkids remember the times we walked here along my fence rows and small fields. Take it from me: before you fire up your track hoe and start digging, play it safe and give 811 a call. We don’t want you to become a memory sooner than you have to be!”